Job relocation to London. Compensation?
- Thread starter LOMS
- Start date
Man of Honour
I very much live in the real world I suggest you reel your attitude in very swiftly poppet.
Man of Honour
I did - are you calling me a liar? Sure the rents may have gone up in the last few years but I certainly did.
Man of Honour
Anyway OP good luck with the move, seems you have your head screwed on and you know what you're after. 
You'll be able to join us at the London meets in future! 
You'll be able to join us at the London meets in future! 
London weighting at a bank was around £2k in 1987 so you can see that £4.5k weighting is way off the mark nowadays.
It is not unreasonable to ask for a large rise. They have asked you and you can ask for whatever you feel would make it worth you reducing your quality of life to move there (London is great but nowadays I do see it as a pain).
However be aware that there are vastly more people down here so it would probably be very easy for them to replace you if you don't come to an agreement. So by all means start high but if the job is important to you then be prepared to meet at a lower salary after discussions.
It is not unreasonable to ask for a large rise. They have asked you and you can ask for whatever you feel would make it worth you reducing your quality of life to move there (London is great but nowadays I do see it as a pain).
However be aware that there are vastly more people down here so it would probably be very easy for them to replace you if you don't come to an agreement. So by all means start high but if the job is important to you then be prepared to meet at a lower salary after discussions.
Its difficult to work out a figure until it is clear what you want/need.
I moved to London in 2007. I'd been living at home before then, so moving out was obviously going to incur costs over my previous expenditure. I went for living in Watford and commuting in. At that time, Watford hadn't really been 'found' by London commuters, so I was paying £775 PCM for one of these flats - now £975 PCM
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-46773319.html
After a year, I did a house share with some guys off here just down the road from the flat in the Cassio Metro estate - private estate, residents Gym with Pool, Sauna, Steam Room, Spa Pool, etc etc, and right by the Metropolitan Line Station, so amazing for transport links. I think our rent was £1200 PCM that we split 3 ways. We had 3 bed 3 storey house with garden and parking. There's nothing similar on Rightmove at the moment, but I'd imagine it would probably rent out for about £1500 PCM now. A flat on the estate is like this
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-46722919.html
After that, I decided I wanted to live in Central London for a bit, so went to Battersea, right by the park, and a 15-20 minute walk into work. I was paying £275 per week for a 1 bed flat with 'study room', and had underground secure parking thrown in in 2010 when I lived here. These seem to go for between £375 and £425 a week now
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-45792460.html
Finally, I decided I wasn't so keen on central London, and moved back out to the outskirts again to Bromley in Kent. It was a 45 minute, 11 mile each way cycle commute, and it was great. I had a 2 bed ground floor apartment that backed out onto the communal garden that I never saw anyone else use in the year we were there. Gated parking, tree lined street, and Bromley is a town in its own right. I was paying £950 a month in 2011 when we left, but it looks like now its about £1200 for a comparable place.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-46277026.html
Thats 4 different options in 3 different locations. Gives you an idea on costings.
I wasn't on £60k like people say you need back then, but the prices were lower. I think in honesty you need to be on £40-45k if you aren't careful with money. I moved from an expensive part of the world (Cotswolds) so it wasn't a total death moment when I saw the cost increases....
I moved to London in 2007. I'd been living at home before then, so moving out was obviously going to incur costs over my previous expenditure. I went for living in Watford and commuting in. At that time, Watford hadn't really been 'found' by London commuters, so I was paying £775 PCM for one of these flats - now £975 PCM
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-46773319.html
After a year, I did a house share with some guys off here just down the road from the flat in the Cassio Metro estate - private estate, residents Gym with Pool, Sauna, Steam Room, Spa Pool, etc etc, and right by the Metropolitan Line Station, so amazing for transport links. I think our rent was £1200 PCM that we split 3 ways. We had 3 bed 3 storey house with garden and parking. There's nothing similar on Rightmove at the moment, but I'd imagine it would probably rent out for about £1500 PCM now. A flat on the estate is like this
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-46722919.html
After that, I decided I wanted to live in Central London for a bit, so went to Battersea, right by the park, and a 15-20 minute walk into work. I was paying £275 per week for a 1 bed flat with 'study room', and had underground secure parking thrown in in 2010 when I lived here. These seem to go for between £375 and £425 a week now
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-45792460.html
Finally, I decided I wasn't so keen on central London, and moved back out to the outskirts again to Bromley in Kent. It was a 45 minute, 11 mile each way cycle commute, and it was great. I had a 2 bed ground floor apartment that backed out onto the communal garden that I never saw anyone else use in the year we were there. Gated parking, tree lined street, and Bromley is a town in its own right. I was paying £950 a month in 2011 when we left, but it looks like now its about £1200 for a comparable place.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-46277026.html
Thats 4 different options in 3 different locations. Gives you an idea on costings.
I wasn't on £60k like people say you need back then, but the prices were lower. I think in honesty you need to be on £40-45k if you aren't careful with money. I moved from an expensive part of the world (Cotswolds) so it wasn't a total death moment when I saw the cost increases....
Couple of friends live in zone two in one/two bedroom flats with their other halves and each pays about £1,500 a month. One is Putney, the other is slightly further south. I'm sure you can get a flat for £700 a month but it's not the average price and certainly not going to be much more than a badly maintained bedsit. Having said that I understand it's cheaper our East, but takes a fair while on public transport of you don't work at Canary warf.
Want a flat share in some 1/2? I was looking last year and for £700 you're looking at not the nicest places (I saw a lot of mould on the walls for example). There were some options for £400 but they were usually snapped up on the day of listing... He's really not that far off.
You may be able to find a reasonable 1/2 bedroom flat for £700 further and you could certainly get a reasonable 2/3 bedroom house about an hour outside London for about £1000 a month but if the OP isn't commuting for an hour now the extra work day length needs to be taken into consideration.
I do agree with you r.e. Salary, you can have a nice time in London on £30k but you will have to sacrifice. Either sharing a generally fairly poorly maintained house in central or commuting an hour to and from work to a small flat in the sticks (leaving nights out early to catch the last tube).
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Man of Honour
I guess I was lucky and also was able to come up with deals. I.e. I gave the place a paint and spruced it up for a discount etc... I also did share for a couple of years knocking rent down to £500 or so for a large flat/small house. It just depends on your networks.
I appreciate that prices now may be a bit higher and I certainly would always suggest relocation fees and pay as it does cost a lot to move.
I just find it laughable at the excessive internet bravado and show off point making that you need to be over double the average wage to survive in London. Even on 40k you can live really well in London.
I appreciate that prices now may be a bit higher and I certainly would always suggest relocation fees and pay as it does cost a lot to move.
I just find it laughable at the excessive internet bravado and show off point making that you need to be over double the average wage to survive in London. Even on 40k you can live really well in London.
The issue is, everyone watching Notting Hill/This is Chelsea/whatever crap is on the telly and thinks if you are a cleaner you can afford a 4 bed Victorian house on Wandsworth Common.
You can live in London for lower money, but you won't be in some flash converted dock warehouse apartment, going out every night, and driving a 911.
Man of Honour
Don't get me wrong I'd no way want a step backwards salary wise living in London. But having been there and done it and lived in relative comfort even compared to my now higher standards life is only as expensive as you make it. You just have to be a bit savvy with cash and how you manage it. It depends what standards you have of course.
Associate
The flaw with people living in London saying that you can make do with £35k is that they have no idea how much better your standard of living can be elsewhere in the country on the same money.
In Edinburgh I live 10min walk from the city centre, have a 5 mile/15min drive to work, and have very high disposable income after all bills/expenditure.
I've calculated that to live in a desirable area in the south of England at the same standard that I have in Edinburgh would need at least £10-15k more than I'm on now just to cover increased housing/travelling costs. I'll probably have to do it at some point (missus (Spanish) fed up with Scottish weather!) but I'm not looking forward to it.
In Edinburgh I live 10min walk from the city centre, have a 5 mile/15min drive to work, and have very high disposable income after all bills/expenditure.
I've calculated that to live in a desirable area in the south of England at the same standard that I have in Edinburgh would need at least £10-15k more than I'm on now just to cover increased housing/travelling costs. I'll probably have to do it at some point (missus (Spanish) fed up with Scottish weather!) but I'm not looking forward to it.
Jeeze :/
You have to be earning 60k pa to live solo comfortably in a 1 bed? thats madness
Granted its London, and its the city, but thats pretty poor in terms of what your getting for the money.
I would rather move out of London and find a nice bigger place, and more money spare, thats my oppinion though.
Also I wouldnt be quite happy not listening to the hussle and bussel of London when im working, and when im home, but thats me, I would rather commute in if its not too far.
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I would like to add to the others by saying that you don't need a £60k salary to live comfortably by most reasonable definitions of comfortably.
I moved to London a few years ago, started off in Old Street in a house share, I just did not want any form of long commute so I moved within walking distance, cost me £1kpm and it was a hellhole, before I moved in there - I must have looked at well over 15 properties before I simply had to move (I ran out of time) everything I looked at was between £900-1300pm
Now I pay £1600pm for a nice place, which is a lot, but I get to walk to and from work each day so I'm spared a ghastly commute or tube ride (which is a big thing for me)
Also @ the OP - finding a place to live in London is a nightmare, everything goes so quickly - quite often you make appointments for things which are no longer available, or you show up for a viewing with 20 other people and someone takes it before they even walk through the door... for me finding a place to live was a total nightmare.
With the cost of rent in London, I wouldn't recommend doing it if you were earning less than £60k, you could live far out and commute - but then you'll be getting up at 5:30am and getting in at 7-8pm each night, so what you save in cash you lose in time and gain in stress...
Also, bear in mind - if you're looking to rent a place in zone 1 or 2, you'll be looking at over £1k per month for a 1 bed flat in general, many letting agencies will require you to be earning about £50k as the bare minimum before they allow you to rent (I had to do this check twice - they called my employer and asked my salary)
Now I pay £1600pm for a nice place, which is a lot, but I get to walk to and from work each day so I'm spared a ghastly commute or tube ride (which is a big thing for me)
Also @ the OP - finding a place to live in London is a nightmare, everything goes so quickly - quite often you make appointments for things which are no longer available, or you show up for a viewing with 20 other people and someone takes it before they even walk through the door... for me finding a place to live was a total nightmare.
With the cost of rent in London, I wouldn't recommend doing it if you were earning less than £60k, you could live far out and commute - but then you'll be getting up at 5:30am and getting in at 7-8pm each night, so what you save in cash you lose in time and gain in stress...
Also, bear in mind - if you're looking to rent a place in zone 1 or 2, you'll be looking at over £1k per month for a 1 bed flat in general, many letting agencies will require you to be earning about £50k as the bare minimum before they allow you to rent (I had to do this check twice - they called my employer and asked my salary)
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One other thing OP. If you like peace and quiet then London is not for you. NOWHERE in London will you find it. There will always be noise and people, find a hiding spot in one of the parks and you'll still have people wandering past and traffic noise, back gardens the same, inside your home will be cars and neighbours. It really saps you and you don't realise how bad it is until you leave and find somewhere quiet for a day.
Soldato
I've lived elsewhere in the UK (many places) and the standard of living in London is much higher. There is so much you can do there which isn't available in the rest of the UK or even to same scale. The diversity, high density of green space (that is also very well looked after), public transport, shops, events, museums, easy to meet friends etc. etc. I could keep going on and I'm sure others could add more. Very few other places compare.
Yet Cardiff was rated the best city in the UK this year
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29174074
I agree London has a lot to offer, but so does most other cities, most of the stuff you listed, can be found in other cities, its just that London probably has more of it. If you want the "more of it" I would rather live outside, and just visit
I dont think I could be hassled to pay the premium of living in London, when I could just as easily live outside and commute in for work, or to visit.
Caporegime
£60k pfft you peasants the lot of you, to live comfortably you clearly need £200,000 net, a penny less you are doing it wrong.