To consider moving to London, in my circumstances?

[Changeyourlifes]

I’m 28 and single. I grew up in London and moved to Leeds a few years ago for university. Since splitting up with my ex, I have itchy feet and would like to move back to London to be closer to friends & family.

I earn £45k and rent & live alone. If I moved to London my salary would raise to £50k. Is this enough to rent alone in London? Would I realistically need to find a better paying job? I work in public sector and have been considering a shift to private, especially once I finish my (data science) masters later this year.

Logistically, I live in a a 1 bed apartment which I furnished. I like all my furniture; but is it easier to sell and rebuy some of it like huge chests of drawers, or bring it all with me? Some of it is flat pack furniture that I’m not sure would survive being disassembled and reassembled.

I’m not sure if I’m being unreasonable as I’m running off raw adrenaline atm and very reactive. I know the cost of living is high, I just feel much happier in London and haven’t found an alternative place to live that fills that void. (Happy to hear recommendations of cheaper areas though.)

What rent do you pay now?

What quarter of Londin would you prefer to be in?

Look on rightmove for 1 bed apartments in areas you would be ok living in and go from there. You will be much harder up probably. I wouldn’t get rid of furniture unless it was not going to fit in a new place. Can you or someone you know drive a van hire or would you need to pay for removals.

It's doable if you were prepared to live in a less desirable area or a little further out. In some parts South East London (where I am) you could rent a one-bed for about £700-£800 PCM. Or equivalent areas in other parts of London I'm sure.

You would probably have less disposable cash, obviously. But not unmanageable.

Yes, move to London. You won’t be in zone 1 but there are plenty for great places to live and things to do.

id move all the furniture. Once you are getting a van, it doesn’t cost muc( more to take everything.

Do it girl! You earn enough to rent somewhere decent but definitely check the areas on rightmove ❤️

I would do it - you'll find a way. There's nothing like London in your 20s! So much fun to be had

I pay £950 per month now (no bills included!)

My family is in Richmond. Whilst I’d feel comfortable in there or in west London, I’m open minded about where I live. Ideally I’d want to be somewhere vibrant to meet new people but safe enough to live alone.

@ViciousCurrentBun @parietal thank you. I think I’d need to hire movers but I’m not sure if that would cost ridiculous amounts of money.

An entire one bed for 800?

Ooh, I LOVE Richmond (am not far from there).

Can you stay with family at all, just for a bit, to give you time to find something? And maybe save some money to buy?

Welcome back to London! Best city in the world. (IMHO)

That does sound amazing!

@Thepeopleversuswork roughly whereabouts are you? Do you feel safe etc?

thank you to everyone who has replied!

Sorry- this ended up really long!
If I was single, and 28 again, yes, I absolutely would make the move! Life is too short. Especially if family are nearby!

Where would your office be, or would you WFH? If there is an office you'd need to get to, look at travel routes and costs to factor that in. What amount of commute would be your max? How far from a bus stop/tube would you want to walk to get to. Consider your working hours/getting home late and also consider the commute/walk in the depths of winter when its dark morning and evening, raining or snowing.

I lived between zone 1-2 for 18yrs and partially moved out 3yrs ago when DH and I bought a derelict property elsewhere. We are still back in the London property, but rarely now and will be renting it out soon.

I do see the contrast in prices for meals out, drinks, take-away in London. The local tesco metro in london are more expensive than where I am now. Further out is a larger tesco which is the same price though.

However- my high street in london has several market stalls, along with weekend markets. I can still get bowls of fruit and veg for £1 each, super fresh veg during the week, plus a vast range of herbs and spices which I struggle to find in my new area. The prices at aldi and lidl, and larger sainsburys/asda/tesco are exactly the same as my new area. So yes, some things are more expensive, but not all!

We've just started enquiring about renting out our property. We've asked whether partly furnished is best and what exact furniture that means. Several estate agents said it depends what the tenant wants. IF you can move furniture, it will fit and won't cost too much to transport it there, then do so. You could also buy 2nd hand from charity, furniture shops in London or possibly, the place will come with some furniture already.

Best of luck and let us know what you decide to do.

I would initially go for a higher end share with just you and maybe someone like yourself in a decent area- ideally with 2 bathrooms etc- there are shares like this- my son had one in Hampstead - it worked out at £1200 including bills and quite often had the flat to himself too - that would give you time to settle in a job and have a look round at areas and prices -

i think you might struggle to find a one bed apartment on a single income and maintain your lifestyle on 50k in London. If you’re willing to house share - even with with just one other person, you’ll find it exponentially easier financially- and much more fun with a better disposable income.

Definitely share, you’re only 28 and you’ll save a LOT, which you can either save for a deposit or spend on going out. It’s possible to live very very cheaply in london (and you won’t have to if
youre sharing), but the rent is one thing you can’t really get around.

Where can you rent a 1 bed for that price ? You could only get a room for that in most south east London boroughs

Plenty of people manage to live and raise a family in London on less than £50k! You’ll be absolutely fine. My daughter managed to live in Wimbledon as a student on much less money than that. A decent house share isn’t a bad idea. Meet some new people and get a feel for an area without spending too much money on accommodation initially.

Thank you so much everyone. And thanks for the early welcome @T4Tango 💜

Staying with family isn’t an option as they don’t have room.

Wish I could live with friends again! That would be perfect. I have lost touch with my friends down south due to the distance, and my friends up north tend to be more interested in settling down and starting their family.

I’m not that comfortable living with someone I don’t know. How would I go about finding someone who is easy to live with and trustworthy? Safety is a big thing for me, I don’t want to end up in a volatile situation.

I’d definitely go with a house share if I were you. Before I moved to London I was living in a 3-bed house by myself, I thought going to a house share would be tough but it was a great way to try different areas (I did 6-12 month leases) and to meet new friends! Some of the best times I had in London was with housemates!

Look on spareroom.co.uk for house shares. Because you have to set up a profile to advertise on there, you can get a bit of a sense from people before enquiring about the vibe of the house or the people living there. It helps to narrow down options.

@Teaandtwobiscuits that does sound good, but then I have all of my furniture to lug around which would likely be an issue.

I do agree though, I used to live with my friends in London and that was the best time of my life. They have moved on now.

I’m sure there’s more great people to live with in London but the question is meeting them…

alot of people in a London house share didn’t know each other beforehand. Have a look on spareroom or londonshared to get an Idea of what’s available, You usually have an opportunity to meet the housemates before deciding if you want to go for the lease. I don’t think you’d regret doing a house share, you could try a 6 month lease, if you don’t like it then you could search for a studio or 1 bed flat when your lease is up

Btw, I househared in London until I was early 30s when DH (at the time DP) moved in together. Also public sector and i was earning a lot less at the time so I think you'll be OK. It's much more the norm (as I'm sure you know).