London - Rent is outrageous? Need advice + sanity check
Hi all, feeling quite lost with finding a flat for starting as an Analyst this year so throwing it out to the community for advice and a reality check.
I will be working in the City and want to live a 15-20 min walk away from work. Nothing extravagant - just a studio in a safe, clean, modern building. But anything meeting these criteria is £2.5K+ per month??!! My base is ~£4.5K/month post-tax (80K gross annual). Friends tell me that spending anything more than £2K/month on rent is crazy.
I am really keen to get advice on these questions --
- Is £2.5K rent reckless on a £4.5K income? Is £2K a better limit if living alone?
- Is it ok to spend 100% of base and only save the bonus ( half of it, after tax...)? How can you save up for something like a 2 year MBA?
- For any Londoners - I would be extremely grateful for advice on where to live that is a 15-20 mins walk from the City and has affordable studio/1br flats. I've looked at Shoreditch etc but anything I find at £2K or under is in run-down buildings or above noisy retail or in rough areas. Do point me in the right direction if you can!
Thank you in advance for any help. I'm keen to know if I need to completely reframe my expectations or if this is actually possible and there's a smarter way to approach it.
Native Londoner - the 15-20min walk criteria is really what is killing you.
Sure, most professionals flatshare during junior years, but you can still find something reasonable between 1.5K-2K if you want to live alone.
If you just remove the criteria of walking, you can probably find something within 20min tube. I completely understand why you would want to walk to the office, but you may just have to pay that premium if you want it that much
Thank you, really appreciate this advice. Do you know if many analysts choose to live that close - is it a common tradeoff people make?
For my SA I cycled to work, much quicker than walking so significantly expands your radius of possibilities, got some fresh air in the morning and did not depend on tube in the morning which meant 1. no squeezing in amidst a thousand others (dk about you but that just rlly annoys me in the morning) 2. no lateness problems, in my first week the line I used to take had a technical issue and my 20 ish min journey turned into 50, arriving late wasn't a great look
So would really recommend cycling as a solution, either with your own bike, or just using an app (Forest was good)
And flatshare will obviously make everything cheaper (as well as potentially nicer, since the hours are rough it can be good to have flatmates so that you can have social interaction without planning days in advance
Most people I know flatshare and pay no more than ~£1.6k/m. Many pay less than this. Most don't walk to work but are within 30 mins on public transport. I honestly don't have a single data point for someone I know looking for what you're after.
So your requirements are above the norm and so you will pay a premium for them (heck even the modern building requirement is going to add a few hundred quid at least to the rent).
Could you survive on 4.5k renting 2.5k? Sure. But bear in mind your utility/tax bills will eat another few hundred quid. You probably haven't incorporated a pension into that 4.5k number or any student loans (maybe you don't have them?). You could probably still save but you'll obviously be about £500-1k/m worse off than some of your peers.
Thank you, this is very helpful. Hadn't realised how far above the norm what I was looking for was. If you don't mind me asking, do you know what the datapoints look like for the people living closest to the office, and separately for the people living alone? Cheers.
Definitely responded to this, not sure where it went. To repeat:
Kind of pointless for me to provide loosely-remembered data points for that, especially as I don't work in the City, so I won't. Ultimately it's more helpful and efficient for you to just play around with rightmove filters and see what's around.
The people living alone will pay more and the people living closer to work (where work is a central business district) will also pay more ofc. Sometimes more than that 1.6k.
If you want to get an idea of what areas are within commute range, then Zoopla and other random websites have tools to do that - travel time search.
Echoing what others have said here, I don't know anyone living alone or being 15/30 min walk to work. Most (including myself) live with 1/2 others and are 30 mins by public transport.
In my first year in London I spent £1.1k on rent. This was a flat share with 3 others, central location but was a small room and had a couple shared bathrooms. I spent my entire fixed salary (going to parties, nice restaurants, a bit of travel) and saved my bonus. Absolutely no regrets there.
In my second year I upgraded to a central and modern flat (albeit the building could be better), still sharing with one other person but have a nice living room and my own bathroom. I have since paid c. £1.8k and with salary increases I have started saving more.
Try checking Farringdon/Barbican - they sometimes have the flats meeting your criteria (renting here myself). It’s very quiet during the weekends though
Thanks, will definitely do! Do you manage to walk to work yourself?
No one walks to work in London. The city has a world class transport system and you can access Liverpool Street via the Elizabeth Line/Central Line/Circle & District Line and Moorgate via the Northern Line. Just get a place on one of those lines and you can be in the City within 20 minutes and well within your budget.
Welcome to London, sadly, and prices are only going one way. I dread to think how the 'typical' household survives given avg. London salary is c.£40k. My bigger question for all of this is where and how does this end? Continuous currency debasement coupled with capital flight and brain drain. London feels very different to 3 years ago let alone 10.
Dude, wanting to live alone is what’s killing you. There are clear economies of scale in a flatshare. Just rent with some mates in Clerkenwell.
Or just live alone. Who cares
It would be different if you were in some industrial job and this was your expected income
But in this industry you’ll 5x your income in no time
Just get a nice pad, live skinny, work hard, and get promoted
c. 10 years ago, there were great deals in the Goodman's Fields area (I lived there briefly). One of the juniors on my team lives there now, though I’m not sure about current prices. Back then, a 2-bed/2-bath shared between two cost less than ~30% of an Analyst 1 salary, while a 1-bed/1-bath solo was ~40–50% of base. It’s within easy walking distance of Liverpool Street or Moorgate.
Barbican is usually less than £2k. Look at the area near Spitalfield and East Aldgate, Haggerstone. Or just take a Zoopla map and choose a 1.5 mile radius. Shoreditch is noisy.
Uhm I'm also flat hunting in london and I'd beg to differ tho. Barbican's rent price starts from £2.2k now unfortunately
Apologies. Check the area between East Aldgate and Whitechapel. I see several offers up to 2k in okeish buildings. Davenant st, Chicksand st, between Whitechapel High St and Commercial road. There is a Tesco nearby, which works til midnight.
Hey!
I completely relate to your dilemma right now—I'm in a very similar position myself. I'll be working in a MO role, so on a lower salary, but facing the same challenges when it comes to finding a place close to the City that doesn't break the bank.
If you don’t mind me asking, is there a particular reason you're set on living alone? I totally get it if it’s a personal preference. I’m quite introverted myself, so I lean toward having my own space too. But if you're also someone who values peace and quiet and we’re in the same boat, maybe it could be worth connecting?
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