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?

Your rent is extortionate. Find somewhere cheaper.

Yeah I am shocked at this too. Any affordability check would have thrown up red flags. Depends what OP was earning when she moved in though, and how much the rent was.

I am assuming the rent was lower when she moved in. I think you need to earn 2.5x the rent? Something like that? But it is based on pretax salary….

Until a couple of decades ago, people with low incomes have still managed to live somewhere in London and the South East. Obviously not the Windsors and Kensingtons, but somewhere.

OP knows it's an expensive part of the country and there are far cheaper regions to live, but asks, "how have we got to this point?". Because it is absurd that we've arrived at a time where normal jobs don't enable normal housing in significant parts of the country.

They shouldn't, but I suspect it might have to come to that before anything is actually done.

@Rentmakesmepoor My professional Salary pays for my 2 bed terrace with no garden or parking and I manage because I live to my means. Just because I choose to live in a smaller house should my employer pay me a smaller salary?

You have chosen a 3 bed semi so pay for it, you don't get a pay rise because you chose to rent a nicer home.

😂😂😂

It is hardly nasty to point out that two incomes is more than one, it is just reality

the point could have been made without implying the OP is too stupid to have worked it out herself and that single mothers and their families are lesser. No one ever uses the term “not rocket science” in a respectful way.

The rent near where I live is even higher. I live in the neighbouring suburb where property prices are lower because its outside the catchment area of a good school and also not seen as a great area. I'd much prefer to live in the neighbouring suburb. I'd much prefer my kids to be eligible for the better school. I'd much prefer not to make an one hour round trip to bring my kids to their school every day but I can't afford to live in the better area without ending up in a similar position to you OP. You can't afford to live where you are living. I'm not sure that I can agree with 'your area needs OTs so you should be able to live there'. A huge number of people commute to their workplace.

Here's a novel idea - why not rent something cheaper? 🙄

Less bedrooms, not semi detached, no garden, in a not so nice part ?

Revolutionary I know

A 3 bed semi where I live is around 550-700pcm. I think the rent seems really high. Could you stay in the area but move somewhere slightly cheaper? Just to free up a couple of hundred pounds even

Huge numbers of people commute.
It would be great if they didn't have to but that is the reality for a lot of people.
I don't see why NHS workers are different tbh.

I find if you are single everything is a struggle.

One wage in the public sector is a stretch where ever you live

My kids are adults so I get no other money than my wage . I'm ok , but if I lived for further south I wouldn't be .

I live in the south east. And I would really like people like OTs and SALTs, teachers and people who work all sorts of other services to be able to live here too - I don’t mean in my specific village but in my county. Commuting from cheaper housing could cost more than the rent! I don’t want all the OTs to move to the NW.

It is hard for you OP.
Could you rent out one room to an adult boarder?
Boarders used to be very common back thirty years ago (or maybe it was just the people I knew - who had them).

It’s absolutely shit. I live in the SE and rents are even higher where I am.

We don’t know how many children OP has or their ages. There’s no point her moving to County Durham if she’s getting free childcare for three kids from her local family is there? Totally false economy.

We need a massive overhaul of housing so that people in OPs position have access to council owned housing with lower rent. And of course, better pay.

Exactly this. I dislike posts whinging that rent is so high in a nice area. Do what the rest of us do and move to a less desirable area.

“Huge numbers of people commute”

yeah but they commute if it is cheaper overall

in many parts of the SE the costs of commuting for the kind of salary the OP is talking about would wipe out any savings made on cheaper housing

It’s nothing new though. Back in 1989 my staff nurse salary didn’t cover the mortgage on my 2 bed terrace house up north either. That house was 12 months later rented out for the same as the mortgage had been.

maybe even the shit areas have high rent

You do realise that a massive number of people would like to live near their families so they have help with childcare? But they can't afford to so they don't...... and yes they have to pay more in childcare but thats the reality for tens of thousands of people.

Your rent is extortionate, that's why.

And if the non resident parent blocks this? Or moving would mean loss of family support and massive childcare costs?

Get a smaller house. Move to a cheaper area. Change your job for a better-paid one. Emigrate.

Nobody does BUT its not the responsibility of the individuals concerned.