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?

Not sure what band you are, would it pay you to move into the private sector, just done a quick google, average salary in the private sector is £28-45,000, with loads of overtime you could be earning more.

@Magicpaintbrush The reality is that someone earning around £30K can't afford to buy in the SE, unless they are married or buying with a partner.

Most of them rent or live at home till they are 30+ to save a deposit.

It's always been like this for decades. I was a professional in the public sector and 30 years ago I lived in the most expensive county in the UK. A mortgage was unaffordable on my income then.

If your actual income is more than £1900 because you're receiving benefits then your post is a bit disingenous. I get your point is about housing but we all knows its subsidised for many.

I hear you, professional jobs that you train for needs to pay enough for people to live on but the reality is something else.
In your situation, is there any reason why you’re living in your area like childcare help, the other parent, or similar? Because in your situation, I’ll look for another role in a cheaper location if I have no reason to stay there.
DH is an OT and used to work in Oxford so he commutes over an hour each way everyday to work. At the time, he said none of his colleagues live there, everyone commuted as they can’t afford to live on their NHS salary in that location. It’s even worse as there was no London weighing. We are a two income household but it’s a no brainier, we have to live closer to my work as the location is cheaper. He now works closer to home anyway.

And many landlords have not faced rising costs but have put the rent up anyway.

The op was probably approved for the Rental as part of a couple. The problem the op has is she is currently all be it expensively housed but she won't pass affordability checks on another cheaper house in the south east so she wouldn't be able to move to a slightly cheaper area. Social housing would probably be a no chance.

It has got to the point that people can't afford to live in the south east and that's going to take massive adjustments to change. It's the reason my own DD rejected a job for £5k more in the south east for a northern city when she graduated, she knew she couldn't afford life despite the higher salary.

Edited as cross posted with op

That is how much houses are in the south-east. I live here too. That's standard for a small three bed house across Bucks.

For those suggesting she move - get a grip. That's where her job is. And no it's not her fault that wages are low and private rentals are INSANE. It's because we've had a shit incompetent government letting that happen for bloody years, hence the cost of living crisis we're now in. You can only 'cut your cloth' up to a point. God knows where it'll all end.

There some comments on here which seem to suggest the OP is at fault for living in the south east.

I'm guessing, like me, OP grew up in the SE and her family and support networks are nearby. OP, being (I guess) about 35 and also a Occupational Therapist didn't personally cause under investment in the North and didn't write the policies which caused the skewed house prices either. Unless she's living in London, there will be no "London weighting" on her wages - she'll be earning the same as an OT living in Burnley. I'd suggest that maybe OP is simply looking for a bit of a sympathetic ear here when she's struggling.

OP - it's really, really shit to be faced with a choice between being skint and moving away from what you know and love, from your kids' schools and your support networks. I'm so sorry you're struggling with this. I hope you find a solution soon. I have no magic bullet, but I am growing my own food, eating veggie, batch cooking (slow cooker is a godsend), using TopCashback and Quidco on purchases, selling books/DVDs using Ziffit and eBay/vinted too. Doesn't cure anything, but it all adds up xx

Your child's father has died?

That's very sad, of course.

Were you married and did you get any life insurance or his pension?

It's impossible to advise when you aren't being totally honest about the amount of benefits you get. If you are under 45 and were married you can claim a widow's pension.

The reality is your rent is too high and the only options you have are to move somewhere cheaper and try to be promoted to increase your salary.

If your actual income is more than £1900 because you're receiving benefits then your post is a bit disingenous.

This.

And as for upping your children away from their schools and grandparents, sadly that is what many of us have to do.

Anyone who has grandparents in other countries do the best they can with regular phonecalls and whatsapp calls.

Is there a possibility of living with the children's grandparents as they live in the area you want to live in? I know people who have live in timber houses in their parent's gardens. They are sold as 'summer houses' or 'offices' but people live in them.

Stop being goady. Her post is not disingenuous.
She made it clear in the op that she already gets all the top ups she’s entitled to.
The point of the post was that someone with a professional job that needs training for should be able to afford to live on their salary in the location where they work but this isn’t the case for many.

Some people on here are so mean, it's always a race to the bottom with them. 'I had to live in a run down dustbin with no heating or running water but I was able to pay tax to my billionaire overlords so I was happy'

People on professional salaries should be able to live in nice areas. Radical idea; everyone should be able to live somewhere nice, all areas should be nice! There should be investment in social housing and rent caps and properly matched wages with COL but of course we have a government who would rather pay their mates millions and create tax loopholes for their billionaire buddies than support 'average' people. The corruption and cruelty of this government knows no bounds.

Lots of people saying 'rents are £600' etc where I am - that's good but that's not where the OP is. To rent a house on our street is currently £2800 a month; we couldn't afford to rent the house we have bought. The buy to let boom has been disastrous for everyone except landlords.

Sorry op that some people here think you should be flogged and made to walk naked through the town holding a sign saying 'shame' because you've had the audacity to be a single parent who doesn't want to live in someone's garage or rent out her bedroom to a rando. The 'it was alright for me' crowd don't seem to understand that we should want life to get better for others.

Does the father pay maintenance? Do you get any additional support re. benefits? Often the cost of moving outweighs the potential saving but might be worth a look just to check. My friend for example was commuting 30 minutes to work, looked at areas 30 minutes from her job and found a lovely town that was much cheaper so her commute is still same time but she's in a different, cheaper area.

The OP's husband has died.
I expect, like most married couples, you don't expect your DH to die leaving you with a child to bring up alone.
I'm sorry OP, its not right that you are paid so poorly for such an important role. I think in your situation I would consider moving to a different area and seeing if your parents would consider a move?

If your actual income is more than £1900 because you're receiving benefits then your post is a bit disingenous. I get your point is about housing but we all knows its subsidised for many

How is it disingenuous?
The OP clearly says her salary barely covers her rent. Which is true....?
(She also mentions she claims some benefits which she's entitled to, but even then it's tight)

The OP's husband has died.
I expect, like most married couples, you don't expect your DH to die leaving you with a child to bring up alone.

She didn't say they were married.

If they weren't she wouldn't I expect be eligible for some benefits for widows, or anything from his own pension if he had one.

It’s because you live in the south east, I don’t think anyone expects anyone except investment bankers to have a comfortable standard of living in that part of the country. Definitely not a band 5 in the NHS single parent (which I have been myself and was able to manage fine in the midlands) I had to leave friends and family to leave London but can appreciate is very difficult if elderly parents etc that might be relying on you etc

@Nowanextraone I am not bloody choosing to

It is a choice to live in a 3 bedroom house when you can't afford it.

It's your location. If healthcare workers are dirven out of areas due to costs, market forces will bring them down again as the area will become less appealing. Capitalsim is a fiunny old game.

£2k is the average rent for a 3-bed where I live. It's 50 miles from London.

I think there should be an addition to public sector salaries in high rent areas, like London weighting.

Anecdotally. I do some recruitment in public sector. In a recent national trawl we ended up with 150 successful candidates offered posts. Mostly new graduates. The candidates indicated their top 3 preferences for location.
24 were needed in London. (£2.5k location uplift)
We got half what we needed for south London and none for west London.
Graduates didn’t seem keen on the £29k jobs where 1 bedroom flats are £1100…
The tories are trying ‘levelling up’ but meanwhile the SE needs workers who can afford to live locally.

I am in an unglamorous town just outside London and a very small 3 bed semi would be around £1700-1800 rental.
To buy it would be £5-600k. An interest only Loan of 500k would be £2.5 per month at 6% so it’s not all greedy landlords.
There are just too many people for the housing stock. Students and immigrants in overcrowded homes can afford to pay more than families. Can’t see it ending anytime soon however hard the government try and get everyone to live in Stoke.

I’m an OT in the NHS, top of band 6 and full time take home is just under £2500 (student loan paid off). I taken a days annual leave today as i’m overwhelmed with the crap that comes from working in the NHS.

People won’t want to hear me say this but I’m struggling too with nursery fees etc. I spend a small fortune on petrol for my job and my car is falling apart and I don’t get enough mileage etc back to cover it.

My only option as I see it is to leave the NHS and so that’s what I’m planning. Sorry to hear you’re in this position OP, I wish I had a better suggestion!

It's not right. It's completely unreasonable but sadly unsurprising.

Because capitalism is shit and landlords are bastards.

Because the Tory government is trying to run down the NHS.

Some of the comments on here are pretty horrible. What's going on - some kind of north/south divide. I am a single full-time working mum living in the south east and just about getting by too - what are we meant to do, all move to Newcastle? Yeah that's really practical. I think once again there are just some MN posters who like to be goady and have a pop whenever they can.

Just to be clear, I was not asking for advice. I was posting about my dismay at the situation that we live in a time when a professional salary only covers rent as it's so high

I claim all I can. I find it mad that living costs are so high

So what’s the answer? That certain areas of the UK don't have access to certain health care services? If all the professionals moved away because it’s too expensive to live, then surely things would soon fall apart.