My professional salary only just covers my rent. How can this be?

[Rentmakesmepoor]

I am an occupational therapist in the NHS. I am a single parent. After tax, student loan and pension I take home roughly £1900.
I live in the South East of England. My rent is £1750 a month for a 3 bed, SMALL semi detached house with a courtyard garden

How is it that we have got to the point in this country that my salary literally just pays for my rent and nothing else??

I am permanently skint. I am not looking for solutions as I do nd claim everything I can (which is not alot).

But how can this be?

Can I also add I hold a BSc, a PhD and a PGCE? Teaching has never been well paid, but current levels for teachers, nurses, paramedics etc are insulting and rely on our ‘professionalism’ to keep going.

That’s shocking. Phil Spencer did a good documentary on the housing crisis years ago and appears to only be getting worse. As for landlords 60% of them have loans/mortgages on the properties so it’s not surprising that costs have been passed on to tenants. Im
mot sure what the answer is.

And yet the Leave voters don’t want to allow other nationalities in to fill the vacancies. The irony of it all.

Wages can’t get higher, the cost of living must get lower. That’s the only way to fix this mess.

Lodger not an option?

We saw who had professionalism during covid. I will bite my tongue rather than derail this thread.

I’m not sure what you mean, but I know that I worked really hard during that time. Teaching online and Teacher Assessed Grades. It was crazy.

Does the SE not need occupational therapists then?

@mumda I’m sure the lodger would be thrilled to share a room with OP, take her sofa with 4 kids walking around or even better a triple bunk bed with 2 of her children.

The OZP omitted to say her household income is nearly £4000 a month. I doubt a lodger is necessary.

@Wakintoblueskies it’s not a race to the bottom. Even if it is that much, you seem to be forgetting how expensive everything else is. Nobody’s rent should nearly equal their salary, the OP shouldn’t have to be reliant on benefits.

People working full time in skilled roles within the medical profession shouldn't need to claim benefits in order to have what even this tory government deems a reasonable minimum living standard is I think one of the issues.

There are other supplementary issues too - wage top up benefits cost us all billions every year, and every year there are women (because it is mostly women let's face it) who face a catastrophic drop in income once their youngest hits 18 and the benefits stop - and for why? They are still working just as hard. But they lose thousands of pounds of their household income.

Just think how much better it would be if they were earning enough to not need benefits, right the way through their children's childhoods, through their middle age and up to the point of pension.

Many years ago, when I was a newly qualified solicitor I lived in a house share with several other people. The thought did not occur to live alone. I therefore paid cheaper rent and was able to save for several years to buy my own place.Why do you need such a large place to yourself? Most people even when they buy their own place get lodgers if single.

People working full time in skilled roles within the medical profession shouldn't need to claim benefits in order to have what even this tory government deems a reasonable minimum living standard

💯

This is a ridiculous comment. She has 4 kids.

The OP has four kids. Houseshares don't really work in that scenario.

I'm surprised that a solicitor would display such poor reading comprehension tbh.

It has been calculated more than once on this thread. There is no 'even' about it.

I'd like to live in a much nicer location. I don't because I can't afford it. What happens when I can't afford this place? I will move even further out. Because until the housing situation improves, there is simply no point continuously increasing people's salaries only for them to spend even more on housing because you can surely appreciate that the more people earn, the more the housing in desirable locations will increase in line with the increased wages.

My thoughts exactly. Duh. House share for a single mum with 4 kids. Any takers?

Its because Margaret thatcher sold off the council housing

Because she has 4 children!

Its because Margaret thatcher sold off the council housing

Partly. Also because labour didn't build any. Also because labour continued with Thatcher's policy of de industrialisation thus cutting huge swathes through union representation. And got rid of clause four. Also because the Actual Labour Party chose to roll out a full scale programme of benefits for workers rather than supporting unions to require employers including the state to pay decent wages. And because the Tories have been literally printing money and creating new credit lines since 2008, to the point that money just doesn't mean the same as it used to, and there's loads less of it anyway for the average worker, while those who have any spare cash at all get to hoover up what assets there are, housing being one of those assets.

‘The north’ is crying out for doctors? And the quality of life is ‘far better’ 😂😂😂

You’re right that some towns in the north of England are crying out for doctors. The one that springs to mind immediately is Boston, Lincolnshire. Have you ever been to Boston? It’s a fucking shithole. As are most Lincolnshire towns, IMO. Where on Earth are you getting this idea that the whole of ‘the north’ is a wondrous place where everything is cheap and life is just so good? I’m guessing you’ve never been up t’North? We do still have bills to pay, you know. And the bigger cities and towns - the ones people actually visit because they’re nice and have a vibrancy about them - are only marginally cheaper than the South to live in, and AREN’T CRYING OUT FOR ANYONE!

The generalisations that get bandied about on MN are as idiotic as most posters are horrible. Don’t say such stupid things.

I live North wilts and rent is still at least £1100 for a small three bed. Salary would be the same as OP.

The point is, OP is right that it’s not fair. Especially for a role that requires a degree to be taking home not that much more than me in a sales role where I only work 30 hours!!

Your benefits take account of the
high rent you pay. Taking account of cb and uc you have a similar take home income to someone on around £80k. If rent was less you would presumably get less uc. I am glad you are able
To claim what you can and can therefore afford adequate housing for your children and it is vital that people can continue to afford to live in our cities.

My salary is around £80k and my housing cost around £2k. If i moaned about that i would rightly get my arse handed to me on a plate.

Cost of living is ridiculous though.

Your post may have hit the nail on the head. Getting a degree is no longer the route to success. This is an interesting piece https://hbr.org/2023/02/how-important-is-a-college-degree-compared-to-experience

Years ago nursing training happened on the wards. Pre 2009, a degree was not a requirement. Some people like to say they have a degree and that is worth it for them but for others, a degree just means student debt.

My DH did a masters because his degree did not open any doors for him when he was last looking for a job because everyone had one. He is now talking about doing a second masters. I have to wonder if the cost of additional degrees is the reason they are now required.