to move to London?

[londonba]

I started a Civil Service job in my current town. My role doesn’t require being based at any specific office. The job could be carried out completely remotely and my team are based across the UK. The civil service implements hybrid working, therefore every office for my department was on the location list of the job advert, including London…

current I get the national salary, if I moved to London I’d get London weighting and be on £43.7k a year. Would this be enough to live in London as a single person?

if you have civil service experience, what are the chances my manager would agree to give me the weighting if I move and want to keep my job? I suppose I can start applying for new jobs if they can’t transfer my location to the London office.

aibu to consider moving due to COL? I am from London and am deeply unhappy not being there, I did move to a cheaper area but it hasn’t really worked out for me. I am also mid-20s and have no dependents.

Mumsnet hates London FYI!

But I've had London weighting for all my jobs here in civil, could only afford flat shares in nice places that are not too far out but had plenty of money (on 45k) to live and had a blast! Flatshare is fun in 20s and your salary will only increase (hopefully)
Or you could move less central and have a small flat to yourself but more of a ballache and less London vibe. Just my opinion tho

Thanks for replying, sounds like my dream life!

Ideally I want my own place just because I’ve lived in house shares, lots of my friends have left London so I may have to consider living with randoms which is a bit scary!

I think it would very much depend on what location is listed on your contract. If it's not London, and the job doesn't need you to move to London, you'd struggle to get the weighting (at least in my dept).

Totally yes! At your age on that salary you’ll be fine - it should only go up and you’ll have a blast. London in your 20s is brilliant, I wish I had never left and now it’s too late for me to move back. Do it!

London Weighting is not based on where you live, it’s based on which office is your “home” office. If you are able to change your home office to London you will get LW, however a number of depts have paused recruitment into London offices, as the CS seeks to move more roles out of London. Paying LW will also increase the pay budget, so deffo check with manager first

Can’t advise much about the civil service but if you want to move to London anyway go for it OP!

It’s great fun in your mid 20’s I made the same move at that age and haven’t looked back. If you are even remotely sporty you can get involved with tag rugby/netball etc to make lots of new friends.

I get the fear of house sharing but you could have a look on spare room and go and see a few smaller flat shares with one or two others. You might find one that suits you and it is nice to have a flat mate sometimes! You’ll be fine on that salary. I would say that any London weighting increase will definitely get eaten up though. Accommodation much more pricey and it’s a lot more social as no one ever has to drive home so typically more cash being spent going out. If you were moving just for the salary bump I would say don’t do it but it’s where you are from and it sounds like it’s the right move for you any way!

Would you be buying or renting?
Although I agree with the others - they wont just start paying because you've moved.

In my 20s I would not live anywhere else....so many opportunities!

I would say you’re unlikely to be able to change your office to London. I work in the civil service and a colleague recently tried to do the same thing. She was told no because the civil service has to meet a quota of jobs/roles outside London and moving people back into London doesn’t support their leveling up agenda.

I also don’t think you could afford your own place in London on that salary. Have you seen how much London rent has increased in the past 12 months? It’s staggering.

I moved to South london for a civil service job 22yrs ago. I am not sure what the approach is if you move to london, you’d need to contact HR. Trust me the extra salary doesn’t account for the extra rent etc, but I love living near London. I’m in Zone 6, my rent for a 2 bed flat is £1295 here. I’m looking to buy, but need 300k, which I can borrow now I’ve been promoted to G7. But I am also looking at potentially moving back north. 5k less salary, but my money would go a lot further

I live and work in central London and love it.

However, it's obviously expensive.

Would you consider another city?

Manchester is a pretty cool and buzzing place to live with lots going on. It's much cheaper too.

Obviously, like London, some parts are much nicer than others.

London weighting doesn't cover the difference in cost of living op.

Check out rental costs in the part of of London you'd like to live and factor in transport costs... everything else is more expensive here too...

I LOVE London. But it's bloody expensive. Be realistic & look at your take home & decide OP.

You may well find your current department won't let you change location but the Civil Service is huge and lots of them are still London based - you could apply for a job in a different department and transfer. I love living in London and at your age I'd want to even more.

However I think you should do the maths on living costs too. A houseshare is probably the only way - check to see what a 1 bed rental costs these days (plus you aren't sharing other costs). My utilities & council tax cost about £220 per month (and of course gas & electric have shot up), plus another £120+ for Tube to the office 3 days a week (from Zone 2, so not that far out) and for going out on weekends. That's before food, clothes, mobile, a social life, trains outside London or holidays. It's do-able but you would have to budget.

I'd find out whether you'd actually get the London weighting, if it's your choice to move there rather than a requirement of the job. The salary sounds OK, you'd probably have to flat share if you want to live centrally but I'd totally to do it, you'll have an amazing time.

Also - I never found London that much more expensive than the rest of south england. Yes rent is more, but some councils in London have cheap council tax, bills like water, energy and WiFi are not more expensive, buses are cheap. I used to take the bus to a big budget supermarket (the 'local' ones are expensive), cycle to work, take a packed lunch, go to friends for drinks, and there's so much free stuff on at the weekend.

I’d try and do it. The LW doesn’t touch the sides but if they allow it (unlikely) you can then apply for London roles.
What area of CS? Which London location would you pick? You may find it’s a bit odd if you don’t have a team there as it’s just you coming in to a booked desk and sitting in silence with other randomers.

I currently don’t have a team based in my office! It is weird. Have to put in twice as much effort to network in the office.

I suppose central or west London is ideal?

It’s hard to explain what exactly my career path is! My new role is a bit of a generalist - team leadership, project management, subject matter expertise, data analysis, working with ministers if that makes sense? Overall I’d describe it as a strategy role - I think roles like “head of X” or performance lead or analyst would be the next logical step.

something about London makes me more ambitious- guess it’s the cost of living! It’s the one place where I feel happy, I’ve tried chewier cities but don’t feel like myself

Oh dear, I meant cheaper cities not chewier 🤦‍♀️