How long can you survive in a small flat?

[erkeline]

I was brought up in the countryside. Big house and lots of open space. Dogs & market towns vibe.

Now I live in London for work. DP and I are saving hard for a deposit. We rent a one bedroom flat together, 40 sqm close to work so to save on commuting costs. It's a glorified bedsit.

We have done one year here already. Despite earning a good income, for London it doesn't go far. (We make about 120k combined). Appreciate some people have no choice, but by late 20s we thought we would be able to afford a slightly better lifestyle than this.

How long can you survive in a tiny flat?

Exactly.

We lasted 2 years in a small one bed high attic flat in the city centre then moved back to the country. The one good thing about the flat was it took no time to keep clean and it had great views. The unrelenting noise of the city, the traffic, the fumes, the neighbours all around, people on top of each other - we couldn't do it any more. We had got used to being surrounded by nothing but nature and went back to that.

How the * are you on that salary but don't have the intelligence to understand that most people on low pay/early school leavers have not had a 'free choice' in the matter?

Do poor people not exist in your bubble?

Thank your lucky stars you didn't grow up in care/were kicked out at 16.

A one bed flat isn't going to harm you, therefore I would predict that survival is possible indefinitely.

People generally have too much stuff.

There is a generation of people in large detached houses basically housing 'stuff', which remains untouched until some poor sod has to clear it out after they die.

We live as a family of five in a two bed mid terrace in an area of cheap housing. It is what we can afford. I use the space we have for people not possessions and so far, none of us have been harmed.

I'd love to know more about how you manage, but I guess that is for another thread!

OP, you sound exactly like my partner! He grew up in a big farm house with lots of space and now can’t stand the thought of living in a flat (or even a house that’s “overlooked” by neighbours).

So we moved. We live in rural Yorkshire now (his birthplace), in a comfortable house with a large, private garden.

It’s all about choices. At your income level and with no kids, you have them. You don’t need to survive anything.

But, in truth, £120k won’t go far in London. I have colleagues in their 40s on higher combined incomes who are still saving for a two up two down there. It’s a choice between the London lifestyle and a much smaller home, or a quieter (potentially rural) life but with lots of space somewhere more remote.

I grew up on a farm and to be honest I had less privacy then than now I live in a 2 bed flat in a block in London.

Farmhouses are in the middle of working farms so there were always people calling at the door, workers and contractors in the farm yard, my parents often held meetings with workers, visitors and contractors in the kitchen.

We also had footpaths running through the farm so often people would walk right past our garden and look in.

What sort of lifestyle do you want? Living in London is expensive so you are sacrificing some things - space, bigger house, more disposable income - for that. Is commuting an option? Do you want kids? What is it you are working towards? Answer those questions and make future choices to improve your life in the areas you are unhappy at now. If ‘big house market town vibes’ is what you are after that’s doable on a 120k income.

@Magnoliainbloom I don't think this OP is pointless. I read it as an honest question, she wants to know how others in a similar situation did this. Mumsnet is not exclusively for people who live in hardship.

🤣 brilliant! We used to live in a tiny flat and my husband kept banging his head. I predict concussion.

True- to an extent. You clearly have a fairly wealthy family behind you from the sounds of it and that make a huge difference in terms of support and ability to access HE etc.
You can’t live in central london and have a spacious lovely place to live on your salary- it’s sad but true. You also probably need to accept that the lifestyle your parents have is beyond the realms of what our generation can afford at the same age (sad but true).
Commute in from zone 6 and rent a 2 bed? Get a wfh job and live somewhere cheaper- you could have the big house and garden on that salary elsewhere?

Just worked out the actual square metres of my current accommodation ('temp' building site accommodation) it is 27 square metres.
Been in it 5.5 years... Hahaha still sane - just. 😉
So we're family of 4. But we're made of stern stuff and the end result will be worth it. So I think it depends on why you're doing it. I wouldn't choose this for no reason.

I don’t agree with that OP. On £120k you should have saved a decent deposit, renting a small flat even with London prices. Wot he a decent deposit and that income you would be able to buy a 3 bed house where I am in the South East in a commuter area, even with the commuting costs. I have lots of friends who commute in from here and all have bought houses. Not South London but you should look elsewhere. It’s your choice to live in London and not commute in.

perspective is needed if you really think school leavers at 16 who now earn 16k is a choice and not influenced by social issues- so I do think you should check your privilege as another poster said. You always become a better person for it

you sound abit petulant and i'm not sure if your intention - but - if you have had good life experiences so far and opportunities that affords then the world is your oyster but you need to decide what lifestyle you want, what compromises you will and won't make to get there

look for happiness in your choices

@erkeline

In answer to your question-I have no idea. You might want to ask someone who has no choice-they may have "survival" tips.

We lived in a studio for a year while we were saving, it was the same size as student halls but in a lovely part of London, it wasn’t great but we managed it (we then moved out for another 18 months to a one bed as our jobs can be done anywhere) I think you should be fine in a one bed for as long as you need while you save, and the lack of commute is worth it in terms of money but also lifestyle/time, i assume you have already worked out roughly how long it’s going to take to save the deposit you need but having a set date will help when you are getting frustrated seeing friends in bigger places! And it’s totally worth it to get on the property ladder (and also totally the right thing to do, there are lots of sarky responses on here and of course some people don’t have your salary or can afford to live in a nice part of town etc but you’ve worked hard to get a good job and are living well within your means now to make sure you can buy a house and have the future you want)

I can't understand why there's so much negatively around living in flats. Especially from those 'higher earners' as if living in a flat is beneath them.

DH and have a combined income of 65-70k (Scotland) we choose to live in a flat with 2DC as it's very affordable meaning we can live a comfortable life, within our means and spend our income on thing's that bring us joy.

We will likely have to upgrade once the DC get older but we LOVE our flat and have no intention of leaving any time soon.

I grew up in the countryside and dreamt of having a spacious house/garden one day. I managed to ‘survive’ in a small flat until my 40s, because that’s how long it took to be able to afford a modest house with a small garden. I’m sure you’ll cope.
When I lived in London I bought a yearly membership to Kew Gardens to give me some greenery to escape into occasionally.

Ive been in a tiny flat for 3 years, when it was meant to be only 6 months.
Its good in that it's the cheapest I could find in the city I live in. And I fixed energy bills.

But life is not what I'd hoped for myself!

Just remind yourself that compound interest of everything you invest now will pay off when you're older. More than it would if you did it in a few years.

But tbh it does just suck. The uk has become stupidly expensive to just survive in. That I'm thinking about trying to move abroad. I think government has focused too much on looking after people who already have money, and not enough at attracting people to want to be in the uk.

I love this country but its getting ridiculous that two people with really good jobs as younger people have their backs against the wall affording to get by.

From growing up I expected myself to have a house or atleast be able to rent one. Even super poor people in series had homes.

Yet here we are, most of my friends super educated in 'top jobs', and living in grotty one bed flats. If that.
:(

Having a nice moan here. Should really act on it.

We are on £120k too and live in zone 3. We own a 2 bed flat. If we didn't have kids, I would say this is our forever home but would prefer a 3 bed flat if we had one child.

My DH cycles to work (8 miles from central London)..I really recommend zone 3, lived in zone 1 and 2 before but happiest in zone 3! I don't think the commuting is too expensive either..

Oh and lots of our neighbours have dogs and cats and we have a communal garden!

When we earned that much in our early to mid 30s we lived in a big 3 bed house in z4. Prob costs less than what you r paying for the one bee in Central London. Move further out get more space. We liked the area so much we bought here. We have just come back from the tate modern with DC. Far enough away to have space, close enough to still enjoy London.

Let me guess, your a Tory?
Survive? Honestly get a grip and read the room 👌

Def sounds like you should leave London. We just did did and oh my lorrrrrrd why didn’t we do it sooner

Que the chip on your shoulder there. We're not in a room, they're are people on this forum from all walks of life. The reverse snobbery on here is inhibiting constructive conversations.