Cost of living London

jthepope2

Hi folks,
Am currently living in Dublin and will be likely looking to move to London to pursue better career opportunities in the new year.
My question is what sort of salary would you have to earn in London to justify living there.
My plan is to share a house with randomers etc. I’ve seen figures of 27-30k sterling per annum mooted on boards and other forums? Is this accurate?
I know in Ireland tax is paid at a higher level, from a lower threshold compared to the UK, whereas in Britain, the benefits in terms of not needing VHI etc are better? Is this accurate?
Any general observations to the above?

Celly Smunt

I'm probably not the highest authority on giving advice regarding living in London but i'll put my 2 cents in anyway.

I lived there on a short stint (4 months) about 6 years ago. From my experience nobody really lives IN London but rather on the outskirts and commutes,this reduces rent the compared with some of the dives within the city.

London is horrifically expensive though it can be done on the cheap if you're willing. Sharing a flat on the outskirts of London and embracing kebab shops over fancy restaurants is one way of doing it. You have the glitz and glam and then you have the normal places, stick to the normal places.

I was earning around 800 pounds a week when there and could splash out a bit, i'd say if you expect to earn 300-400 per week you'll survive but you won't be living the high life by any means.

I'm not a big fan of London myself I think there are other cities across Europe that offer more than London can give,but if you have your heart set on London it's a fairly good place to start before moving on elsewhere.

What sector will you be looking to enter?

jthepope2

Thanks for that Celly Smunt, to be honest I've been to London for plenty of weekends, and have been utterly charmed by it. However, living there, and making ends meet would obviously be an altogether different thing. I'd be prepared to subsidise my income with savings from home for the first year if I felt there were decent prospects, because Dublin and Ireland seems very limited right now.
I'm hoping to get work in the Communications/Public Relations end of things, if any posters who have knowledge of this industry in London, know of recruitment agencies who specialise in this area, great!
Many thanks

S.M.B.

Have a look at PRWeek Jobs?

To counter Celly Smunts post, maybe nobody really lives in the 'City of London' but plenty of people live in London. It's a sprawling city with each Borough having plenty to offer.

As long as you're willing to house share and commute for at least half an hour then you could get by on well under £30,000 and that's without having to restrict your social life to hanging out in kebab shops on the outskirts of the city. There's dining/drinking/dating options to suit all budgets.

This seems accurate enough.

jthepope2

Thank you so much for that link SMB, I'll upload my CV ASAP.
I assume the whole intern/jobsbridge culture isn't as evident in London as in Dublin for PR related roles?

S.M.B.

I wouldn't be as knowledgable as others when it comes to the PR/Communications field but I'd assume internships is a large part of getting your foot into the industry over here.

There might not be the formal 'jobsbridge' option that you have in Ireland but that's not to say that there aren't plenty of internship positions available.

Couldn't tell you where would be best to look for those roles though.

Jack B. Badd

This map from the FT is from about a year ago but might give you some indication of where you could reasonably expect to live on your salary: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/ad4ef6a4-503d-11e3-befe-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3KaouauG6

AssaultedPeanut

I moved here in April. You'll be fine on quite low pay if you're willing to take a room in a house share. Especially if you find a place where bills and council tax are included.
But that's coming from someone with no debts or loans to pay off, no car or any large outgoings other than monthly rent/food bills, I use GiffGaff as my mobile provider over here, it's pretty cheap (£12-15 per month). So just make sure you take everything into consideration. As I'm sure you will.
Good luck

BrokenArrows

Google a Uk Tax Calculator. That will give you what you will be earning after tax and national insurance. You can then base your rent and other deductions from this.

dratw

It goes without saying that rent is the biggest expenditure. In my experience, it won't be significantly more than Dublin though. Council tax is another big cost, so it'd be worth looking somewhere within Wandsworth Council area as they have the lowest in the UK other than Westminster I think.

You can eat really cheaply in London and there's a lot of shops/street markets that sell really cheap fruit and veg etc.