Relocating to London

[Halala]

Single mum of toddler twins looking to relocate to London. For career growth. Any advice for family friendly places to live and childcare costs etc.

Appreciate your help

First question is what's your budget and second is where do you need to commute to.

How old are the twins, £ depends on what room they'll be in. It's £94 / day at my local nursery, got a 10% discount for second child and you get a further 10% for full time but it only applies to one child.

SE London.

Where
Do you need to commute to and what is your budget for housing?

Hi thanks for answering .Im hoping when I sell my house I can get back on the property ladder, if I move to London. They are 2. I’m not sure on budget as I know cost of living is more in or near London. So not sure how much I need to budget for. Maybe about 1.5 per month if that’s doable, depending on the salary I’ll hopefully be able to acquire.

Also it would be in central London for commuting

You won't get a central London for £1500 rental a month

You'll get a studio in Croydon though

I think she means 1500 a month for nursery.

With respect OP, you sound a bit clueless. People don’t commute from “central London”. They commute from the outer boroughs and suburbs. It all depends where your work is and which train lines you can live near.

Would your work be in the City?

1.5 / month for nursery or housing isn't going to happen.

London prices vary massively and your DC are young so 2 x nursery is also v expensive.
You don't sound like you have a job or a salary in mind, I'm afraid this doesn't sound terribly realistic.

I think it's central London that op needs to commute to, not from.

But “central London” is meaningless as a work location. You’d say the City, Canary Wharf, the West End, Mayfair etc.

You need the job offer first. When you have the job you'll know where you need to commute to and how much you have to spend. Your budget doesn't really sound like it's going to stretch to London rent and 2x nursery fees currently.

I live in London with a toddler so I might be able to help with the figures. Two year olds will get 15 hours free funding for 39 weeks of the year, plus the 20% off with tax free childcare, so you're potentially only looking at paying for 80% of 2.5 days a week for much of the year. Our toddler's nursery in South London is £65 per day, so full time nursery with those discounts would be £585 per month for 9 months of the year and £1170 for 3 months of the year. Of course, that's x2 for twins...

I'd advise looking at somewhere in zone 3 or 4, you'd be able to rent a two bed house in my area of south London for £1500 a month, and we're only 20 mins commute into central London.

Based on the above figures, you'd need to factor in an average of £3300 a month just for nursery and rent. Plus bills and food you'd be looking at close to £4500 per month. Yikes! Once they turn 3 you will get 30 hours free though which will take your nursery bill down. Do you have an ex who contributes towards expenses? Good luck with it all. Being a single mum of toddler twins sounds exhausting x

@Halala

What kind of work do you have experience of, OP?

What’s your rental budget? How far would you want to commute and where to? Do you mean city when you say central!

When you say opportunities, do you mean work?

Unless you have a specific career you're pursuing, it's actually often very hard in London. Highest house prices in the UK - but the lowest wages (the high London salaries aren't representative of many Londoners).

https://www.timeout.com/london/news/the-five-lowest-paid-areas-in-the-uk-are-all-in-london-022424

If you have enough equity from your house sale and a particular career with good opportunities based in London, I understand why you want to move there but I agree with previous posters it's best to get a job offer before moving.

In case relevant, I'm currently visiting a friend in London. They pay £1300pcm to rent a 1 bedroom flat. I think to buy in their part of London it's about £300K for a 1 bedroom flat. I assume you'd need a 2 bedroom home though?

I hope whatever you decide, London or wherever else, you find somewhere right for you.