Edinburgh to London?

[Kincaidy]

Hi. Currently mulling a job opportunity in London. I live in Edinburgh which is fairly expensive for housing but London is obviously significantly more. What salary increase would be required to maintain similar housing in a similar area? 25% for example? Currently earning 130k. Thanks.

My late husband moved from Edinburgh to London for a year in 1991. He was on £21k he managed to get £42k in London. I think you'll need nearly double.

Need more information! What kind of housing would be similar? What's your budget? Where will you be working? Which station(s) will you need to travel into?

And suggesting a doubling of the OP's salary @Musicaltheatremum is nonsense! How many people do you know earn £260K?! £130K is a good salary for London, by anyone's estimation.

Don't be daft 😂 I'm pretty sure someone on £130k can manage fine in London.

@BIWI oops I read that as £30k! Not £130k!! Yes £130k is ok. But you could try for double 🤣

My two bed two bath flat in Dean Village traded for a one bed in zone one with a 3.5x increase in price.

London is seriously expensive.

I love my life down here but know I would be much better off if I was back in Edinburgh. Posh holidays/ fancy car etc. My priorities in London are going out - mostly to the theatre and I just couldn't do the amount of stuff I do down here up there. I value being able to get to work really easily over having a bigger home. Others feel differently (or simply don't have a choice due to price).

Where do you live in Edinburgh? What will you need in London accommodation wise - people will be able to advise you.

We live just south of the Meadows, four bedroom place in a good catchment for state schools. Ideally we'd want a similar sized house (could downsize one bedroom at a pinch), good schools and within a reasonable commute of Bloomsbury.

But what's your budget @Kincaidy ? That's the most important bit of information!

You'll be able to work it out looking at Zoopla or Rightmove. Depends on whether you want to buy/rent. You'll probably need £2+ to rent a small 3 bed flat about 30 mins from the West End.

And also, what - for you - is a 'reasonable' commute? In London, anything around 45-60 minutes would be considered reasonable, whereas out of London that might be too long.

To purchase a property. Probably about £900k.

An hour? At the moment I can walk to work. I realise that won’t be possible but don’t want to live on a train. This move would be lifestyle and career.

£130K is a good salary for London, by anyone's estimation.

Not disagreeing but while £130k is a good salary in London, £130k is an incredible salary in Edinburgh?

Average in Edinburgh is £32k while average in London is £60k.

£130k Edinburgh you're talking 4 bed, new car, multi foreign holidays. Never lived in London but from what I hear I'd assume OP would want to double it (or thereabouts) to have the same standard of living.

It’s a good salary but it doesn’t stretch to all of that with a mortgage on a fairly central property. Doubling my current salary isn’t a realistic pitch to the prospective employer. 50% may be if I can evidence that’s what I’d need to maintain a lifestyle as opposed to just looking greedy. Thanks.

I reckon You’re looking at about 1.2 million for a 3/4 bed terraced house within an hour of Bloomsbury in the kind of area you might like. I’m thinking dulwich/ east dulwich, parts of Clapham, parts of Hackney.

im obviously guessing what you might like but those are the kinds of areas where some of your neighbours might be on similar salaries

Thanks. That’s the really helpful. The relative lack of equity from Edinburgh will make a difference.

Not disagreeing but while £130k is a good salary in London, £130k is an incredible salary in Edinburgh?

It’s really not! I’m on twice that and can’t afford detached 4 bed in central Edinburgh (although that’s partly because they only stay on the market for about 20 minutes).

Its not just the difference in house prices.
You barely know what commuting is :-) London commuting is likely to take a large chunk of your time at the start and end of every day (big significance for child care, childrens after school activities) AND it's hugely expensive, crowded, unreliable and stressful.
I'd also think very hard about moving children from a good Scottish-system school in Edinburgh, to the English education system in London.

Those are just a few of the reasons we refused to leave Scotland and return to London...

Tbh unless the job is a fabulous, unmissable opportunity with the chance of earning £200k+, I'm not sure I'd move from where you are to London. It's likely that you will need to make significant lifestyle compromises, particularly as you are used to things like walking to work etc. An hour's commute each way is absolutely standard in London, for a start.

You could try the Rightmove 'where can I move to?' planner - put in the station you need in London, your budget and max preferred journey time and see what comes up. But it will probably be slim pickings, sorry!

You can buy a nice house in east London for your budget. Half an hr on the tube to Oxford Circus

What do you hope to get out of it when you say it's for work and lifestyle? I know Edinburgh well enough and lived in London for nine years. You mention good schools also which implies DC. I think unless you can afford something amazing and very close to work (which won't happen for £900k/Bloomsbury) IMHO the trade off into commuting and it being harder/longer to get out into the countryside wouldn't be an improvement for me, but perhaps you're looking to have a few years bigger city life? In which case throw yourselves into it and make the most of it. London is a fabulous place to live, but has its trade offs.