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?

Her income sounds roughly the same as a teacher, who is not yet above basic scale 6. Most teachers cannot buy on one income in the SE and this has been the case for decades.

It's now new.

The difference is that because of the shortage of housing , rents have increased.

OP- do you have family who could help out with a deposit? That's how many younger people are buying with early inheritances, or loans form family that they repay without interest.

Me and my DH both individually take home more than £1900 a month each and there's no chance we would take a mortgage out with a payment like that each month.

I really feel for you OP

but disagree that this is wholly a pay problem. It’s a housing problem - a housing crisis. We have family in the Netherlands where rent is capped and there is more social housing.

Yeah listen to Hufflepods and downsize to a chicken shed, you profligate wastrel.

No the answer is to pay professional jobs enough to have a decent life

I have 4 children

I'm not being goady, just stating the reality. I work in Central London, does this mean I should be able to afford to live in Westminster?

Some nasty people on this thread. Tough shit if you're an underpaid widow with children, apparently, somehow you chose that.

And OP was not disingenious about her total income, she specified her salary, it's fairly fucking obvious she's not paying the rest of her bills and feeding herself and a family on just the remainder.

There are some right pricks on here. Ignore them.

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'

Please link the posts where this was said???

Thanks for the supportive and understanding comments. I am leaving my post now because once again, a threat has been derailed by nasty, smug and spiteful posters .
Over and out

That's clearly being goady. Nobody can afford to live in fucking Westminster apart from sheiks and oligarchs. Especially if by working in Central London, you mean in Primark.

That's absolutely not what the OP is saying and you know it.

OT is a "profession" but it is a very poorly paid one, unfortunately. There are lots of "jobs" that pay much more, so if you just look at the expected salary for an OT (or nurse) it is not surprising a single parent in that occupation would struggle.

That rent isn't exceptionally high compared to other areas.I live in a cheaper area of Gloucestershire- 3 bed rent around here is £1300-1500. In Cheltenham it's about £1800-1900.

Rents are high everywhere at the moment. Wages are not rising as high as rents. It's shit. It's not the OP's fault.

OP, our combined take home is £6700 and we live in a 2 bed flat (in London). Mortgage of £1020, due to jump to £1400. take home would jump to £7100 by next year because DH would probably have paid off his student loan and we would still live in a flat. Even we look at getting something bigger in our area, its a flat. We would rather have the disposable income for childcare and holidays. It is what it is. Our incomes are not high for London esp compared to the many people with inheritances and wealth. Most people in our wage bracket have left london and this is why the rent is £1700 (aside from the mortgage crisis), we could definitely afford to pay £1700 for rent for a 3 bed semi and we would probably consider that reasonable. What we wouldn't consider reasonable is the commute and loss of family connections (also DH is very much wedded to north London) which is why we haven't done it, but other people with a different mindset probably wouldn't.

But interestingly DH is a born and bred Londoner and even in the 1990s, a couple he knew (accountant and solicitor) also lived in a very similar 1930s 2 bed art deco flat at our age (late 20s/early 30s).

It's insane. And, yes, mostly the Tories' fault.

Hi Op, my only suggestions are to put kids in one room and sublet the third bedroom. You could get a normal lodger or a foreign language student. Also drop at least day from your nhs job or compress your hours and do private OT assessments either as a locum or your own private practice. It's what everyone now dies in my public sector profession it's the only way to survive now!

The answer might be for the OP to take some self-responsibility and improve her situation by doing some of the suggestions here. Moving to a two bedroom house being one of them.

Some people on here are being really mean!

OP - YANBU. You've had a shit time with the death of your childrens' father and are doing the best you can in extremely challenging circumstances.

I've seen on my road how price rises have affected the costs of rents. When we bought our house and our mortgage was £1,200 a month, the houses on the road rented for £1,250 a month. 10 years later we're still paying £1,200 a month on our mortgage (still in a low fixed rate, thankfully!), yet to rent a house on the same road now costs £2,500 a month.

You've already identified that there's no easy, one size fits all, solution to your problem but you're not being unreasonable to have a rant about it. It shouldn't be this difficult, especially when you know there are other areas where you'd be able to afford the same size house on much less rent, while still earning the same amount of money.

Is there much scope with progression in your work, or are you unable to, due to having the children? I'd definitely consider the private sector if you're currently NHS, as the pay and terms are likely better.

Probably some more helpful advice than 'well you should have bought a house when your husband was alive.'

Smug beyond belief.

Do you realise how unpleasant you sound?

OP is allowed to have a rant about the cost of living - she doesn't need to explain her life circumstances to you!

I agree.

When I worked elsewhere in a capital city of the country I lived in, I lived in a really crappy, run down area. I didn't like it but because I didn't want to commute, I lived there. And because I didn't earn enough, I couldn't live in a nicer area with better facilities.

I live in a suburb now and I don't like living here. I have to drive everywhere but I can't afford to live in a nicer area. I don't open posts on MN complaining about it because what is the point?

I also don't see why NHS salaries are treated differently to any other service industries? Where do people think shop assistants, bus drivers, refuse collectors all live???

With four kids?

It really is a race to the bottom on here isn’t it?