Moving to London - few queries

Heat_Wave

Hi guys,

I am hoping to move to London as soon as possible.

As the title suggests, I have a few queries.

National Insurance Number
I have a friend living in London and she has given me her address to put down on the form, however I do not have a utility bill showing this address with my name on it as I am still living in Dublin. What can you do in this instance? Also, I have come across many online services offering to help people living abroad to obtain an NI number online for £30, meaning I will not have to attend an interview. Are these services legit?

Cost of Living
On a salary of £30k, would rent at £800 per month be doable? I do want to be able to have a social life too.

Thanks,
HW

BrokenArrows

Heat_Wave wrote: »

Hi guys,

I am hoping to move to London as soon as possible.

As the title suggests, I have a few queries.

National Insurance Number
I have a friend living in London and she has given me her address to put down on the form, however I do not have a utility bill showing this address with my name on it as I am still living in Dublin. What can you do in this instance? Also, I have come across many online services offering to help people living abroad to obtain an NI number online for £30, meaning I will not have to attend an interview. Are these services legit?

Cost of Living
On a salary of £30k, would rent at £800 per month be doable? I do want to be able to have a social life too.

Thanks,
HW

No company can guarantee you not to have an interview. The interview is just a basic check of your eligibility to work and proof of address. No big deal.

Depending on what bank you have in Ireland they might be able to help with your proof of address.
I was with bank of ireland and i changed my address to my UK address and got them to send a statement.
Alternatively ask your friend to add your name to the council tax bill and ask them to send an new bill. You can have multiple people on the same council tax bill.

800 rent on a 30k salary is kinda pushing it. That would be nearly 50% of your monthly salary. You can use this site to workout how much your income would be after tax. https://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/

theteal

£800 rent will be tough. What about bills and council tax?
How central will you be living?

BlackEdelweiss

I'm in a similar situation but 50k salary and a wife and 4 kids. Could it be done or am I fooling myself? I dont think its possible but I dont have local knowledge.

BrokenArrows

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation but 50k salary and a wife and 4 kids. Could it be done or am I fooling myself? I dont think its possible but I dont have local knowledge.

It could be done but you would literally be watching every single penny you spend. There would be no room for saving which isnt a good position to be in.

rainbow kirby

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation but 50k salary and a wife and 4 kids. Could it be done or am I fooling myself? I dont think its possible but I dont have local knowledge.

Not with 4 kids, particularly if any of them are under 5 and need to go to nursery. I'm due my second next month, we have a combined income much higher than that and we're considering moving elsewhere with a lower cost of living.

Heat_Wave

Sorry guys - it has been a long wait but I've finally been offered a job which I want!

It is near Oxford Circus and the pay is £43k.

I've been looking up Spare Room non stop, and unfortunately I can't find anything suitable. Are half of these photos fake btw? I have come across several properties displaying the exact same photos but in completely different locations?

I am looking to spend approx. £950-£1,000 on rent (bills included) for somewhere that is close to work, so I won't have to spend money on commuting. Is this doable on the above salary? I still want to have a decent standard of living.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

YFlyer

Heat_Wave wrote: »

Sorry guys - it has been a long wait but I've finally been offered a job which I want!

It is near Oxford Circus and the pay is £43k.

I've been looking up Spare Room non stop, and unfortunately I can't find anything suitable. Are half of these photos fake btw? I have come across several properties displaying the exact same photos but in completely different locations?

I am looking to spend approx. £950-£1,000 on rent (bills included) for somewhere that is close to work, so I won't have to spend money on commuting. Is this doable on the above salary? I still want to have a decent standard of living.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

You could still live a good distance away from work if its on a regular bus route. Cost of bus fair be the same regardless of the distance travelled.

theteal

In fairness, you're not going to be living on beans and toast on £43k.
Oxford Circus means you're on the Central Line so that opens up lots of opportunities. I actually know of a double room (flat share with 2 other Irish profs) available 500m from Leytonstone tube station going for £550. Zone 3-1 monthly ticket is £153.60. That's about 30mins travel each way. That's basically the rent/commute I was doing in the early years on less than half of that salary (while still having a decent social life) so yes, it's very doable.

BrokenArrows

Heat_Wave wrote: »

Sorry guys - it has been a long wait but I've finally been offered a job which I want!

It is near Oxford Circus and the pay is £43k.

I've been looking up Spare Room non stop, and unfortunately I can't find anything suitable. Are half of these photos fake btw? I have come across several properties displaying the exact same photos but in completely different locations?

I am looking to spend approx. £950-£1,000 on rent (bills included) for somewhere that is close to work, so I won't have to spend money on commuting. Is this doable on the above salary? I still want to have a decent standard of living.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ya you will be fine on 43k.

Im not sure what your accommodation criteria is but the majority of shared accommodation in the city should fall into your price of £1k. Maybe you can give us some specifics of what you are looking for.

But ya you do get some dodgy adverts. You basically dont give a penny to anyone until you have seen the room and met your housemates. Dont do cash and get a contract.

S.M.B.

1k budget for rent, bills and transport will open up a lot of options.  I would ask yourself what's your next priority beyond having an accessible route to work.
Minimise time on tube?
Be within cycling distance?
Live in a nice area that has all the amenities you want?
You have plenty of options anyway.