How much does it cost to live in London?

Many graduates who are considering moving to London after university, worry about how much money they’re going to be able to realistically survive on in London. Of course, annoyingly there is no set answer to this question, as everyone has different circumstances. Some people will insist on living by themselves, which is always going to be considerably more expensive than sharing. Others will rent a room in a shared house, where bills can be split 4 or 5 different ways. Couples in a one-bed flat will be able to split everything down the middle. However, couples who choose to share a room whilst living with other people in a shared house, probably have the most affordable solution available to them – although unfortunately you’ll find that some people living in a shared house are unwilling to live with couples.

We’ve put together some estimates of normal costs in London. The numbers used in this article should be used as a rough guide only, do not use them as definite set-in-stone figures. You should tailor everything to your own situation.

Average Graduate Salary in London

According to Salary Track’s data from November 2009, the average annual salary for graduates in London is £25,000. This is approximately £2,000 more than the average graduate salary in the rest of the UK. Assuming that you’re paying off a student loan (you will pay back 9% of everything you earn over £15,000, so in this example you’ll be paying £900 per year if you earn £25,000), you’ll take home £18,273.65 after tax and your loan deduction. You can use this really handy calculator to work out your tax based on a different wage.

So of this £18,273.65, how much of that will be going to bills?

Rental Costs

Again, speaking in very general terms if you budget £500 per month for rent, you can live in many areas of London very comfortably, if you’re willing to share accommodation with a partner or live in a shared house. You can often find shared accommodation quite a bit cheaper than this, but we’re using £500 as an estimate here. If you’re expecting to live by yourself, then  you’ll need to budget at least £600 per month and you’ll inevitably be stuck in a tiny studio flat. For an idea of prices of current properties that are available in London, check out Easyroommate.

Bills in London

Next up are bills. Whilst mobile phones, landline phones, broadband and TV packages could be considered by some to be optional, there are some bill payments that everyone needs to cough up for. Council tax and various utility bills all fall into this category. Wandsworth and Westminster Council boroughs offer the cheapest council tax in London. Westminster Council covers areas of Central London that aren’t particularly affordable to live in, in terms of rent. So if you’re looking to save money on council tax and still pay an appropriate amount of rent, then you might be better suited to Wandsworth council borough, covering areas such as Clapham, Balham, Streatham, Earlsfield etc. For further information, please check out our recent article on current council tax rates in London.  As for your utility costs, always shop around and look for the cheapest energy provider. Npower and EDF energy always offer really competitive quotes, so they’re a good place to start with. In general, try and budget around £2,000-2,500 for council tax and utilities and then adjust this depending on which council borough you live in and how many people you’ll be living with to help split the bills.

Travel Costs

Next up are travel costs. Again, this is going to depend on where you live and where you work. It’s also going to depend on whether you’re willing or able to purchase an annual season ticket, which will save you the most amount of money on your annual travel.

Let’s say that you work in Central London in zone 1, but you live in zone 3. If you purchase an annual travel card, this will cost  £1208 per year. If you purchase a monthly travel card instead, this is £116 per month (or £1392 per year). These costs would decrease to £1032 per year or £99.10 per month (or £1189.20 per year) if you live in zone 2.

Supermarket Shopping

So, now you need to think about supermarket shopping. You can read loads of tips on how to eat affordably on our Affordable London page, but if you try and concentrate on always eating breakfast at home and taking your lunch to work with you, then you should be perfectly able to survive on groceries that amount to £40 per week, which works out at £2080 per year.

Now we’ve got through the basic bills, let’s see how much of the average £25,000 salary there is left.

After tax and student loans deductions, there is £18,273.65 left.

After deductions for rent, there is £12,273.65 left.

After deductions for council tax and utilities, there is £9773.65 left.

After deductions for travel, there is £8565.65 left.

After supermarket shopping bills, there is £6485.65 left.

So this is how much you’d have left for going out, making pension contributions if you wish to and possibly putting something aside for savings.

It’s a really reasonable amount of money to be left with for whatever purpose you choose. If you expect to be able to go out every night in London, then you’re going to end up quickly getting yourself into debt. However, if you manage to be fairly well behaved during the week and then spend the weekend sinking some beers with your mates, or going for a restaurant meal once in a while, you’ll be able to live very comfortably on this wage and many people do manage to make the most of living in London on quite a bit less than this wage. For more tips on saving money in London, please read our Affordable London page.

Website helps crowds of recession graduates moving to London

In the current economic climate, 91% of recent graduates in the UK are seeking employment in London. However, with many graduates hailing from home towns in other parts of the UK, their knowledge of actually living in residential London can be limited, so they’re turning to the Internet for help. Moove2London.co.uk is a free website assisting graduates and young professionals who are moving to London for the first time.

The site offers advice on finding work and accommodation in London and promotes popular residential areas such as Camden or Clapham. The area descriptions on the site feature local information including estate agents, transport links, popular pubs and bars, average accommodation prices, council tax prices, parks, libraries, restaurants, supermarkets, gyms, cinemas and taxi firms. There are currently 20 London areas being featured on Moove2London.co.uk, but all 118 of London’s postcode areas will be uploaded in stages throughout 2010.

Moove2London.co.uk was launched in 2005, but has enjoyed a massive increase in popularity since the end of 2009 when the volume of interest shown by graduates prompted a ‘Moving to London forum’ to be formed. The growing community at Moove2London.co.uk allows newcomers to London to connect with each other by sharing opinions, advice and advertising rooms to rent. One forum member going by the name of ‘Scribbler’ writes ‘Thanks for all your help – before I found this site, my knowledge of London was based on playing Monopoly as a kid’.

The recent launch of a blog has also proved very popular, with many people opting to subscribe and be alerted when new posts are made. Typically new articles are posted 3 to 4 times a week on topics such as ‘Safety in London’, ‘Short-term rental accommodation in London’ and ‘Ways to Save Money in London’.

Moove2London.co.uk can be found at http://www.moove2london.co.uk

Graduate Work From Home Job

Graduate work from home opportunities are thin on the ground at the moment, so that’s why Moove2London wants to make all graduates moving to London aware of a freelance graduate job with AQA.

AQA, or Any Question Answered, is a text-based service allowing any mobile phone users to text ‘any’ question in to 63336 for the price of 98p or EUR1.50 from Ireland. Your question gets delivered to a team of expert graduate researchers, who will speedily investigate your question and return an answer to your mobile phone.

No question is too obscure for AQA. You can ask them sensible things like ‘when is the next train from London Bridge to Sydenham?’ or more ego-centric questions such as ‘who is Joe Bloggs?’ or ask them silly things like ‘Why do men have nipples?’.

Now, at the moment, AQA are currently recruiting graduates to join their research team. The position is completely freelance and home-based. You communicate with other AQA members only by email and Yahoo messenger. You will be paid on a per-question basis. Selection for this freelance position is tough. You’ll have to take a researcher test, which is notoriously difficult to pass, but give it a go. The job won’t make you a millionaire, but it could be just what you need to earn a few pounds whilst searching for a more permanent graduate position in these times. Visit AQA for further details.

CV Writing Tips for Jobs in London

In this economic climate, it’s essential to stand out from the crowd when applying for jobs in London. You need to pay particular attention to the way your C.V is written and worded before you send it out there. Read through these top C.V writing tips and compare them to your current resume.

1. There is no need to state ‘Curriculum Vitae’ in the title of your C.V. Simply state your name in large font, followed by your contact details -address, email and mobile phone number. If you’re a graduate, you should certainly include the letters after your name.

2. Keep the C.V to a maximum of 2 pages of A4. A prospective employer will be unimpressed by waffling and won’t have the time or interest to read through all the different Saturday jobs you had when you were 14. Where necessary, use bullet points to make your skills and experience seem punchy, rather than longwinded.

3. Try and use an interesting but formal style font. Times New Roman and Arial are extremely popular and therefore, nothing special. Be careful that your font choice isn’t too casual though. It must look professional.

4. Many C.Vs and application forms are sent/attached online these days. However, if the company you’re applying for a job with, have requested a C.V to be sent through the post, then you absolutely must invest in some quality paper. Try looking in Rymans or another stationer. When sifting through a pile of paperwork, a C.V on quality watermarked paper, will stand out from the crowd.

5. When sending your C.V out as an email attachment, it can be tempting to send it as an Adobe .pdf document. Although .pdfs undoubtedly look more professional than a Word document, not all I.T systems will have the software to read them. You do not want to be giving a potential employer the unnecessary chore of having to download Adobe reader in order to read your C.V. That would immediately be a blackmark against your name. The same applies to zipping software such as Winzip.

6. This is an extremely obvious, yet often forgotten about tip …. spellcheck and grammar check your C.V. When you’ve done this, pass it on to a friend to proof-read, so that it’s also been checked by ‘human eyes’.

7. Unless specifically asked not to, always enclose a cover letter with your C.V. This gives you chance to spend a couple of paragraphs elaborating on relevant experience or skills for the position that you’re applying for. You might want to impress by displaying proof that you’ve researched a little about the company you’re applying to work for. It’s always a good idea to state the reasons that you would particularly like to work for an organisation, as well as what you will bring to the role.

8. Do not use C.V-generating template software. Although you should definitely read around and apply tips such as these to your C.V, you really should build it from scratch. Remember, the key is that you want your C.V to stand out from the crowd, not to look like everyone elses.

9. If you know that you’ll receive a particularly glowing reference from a former boss or college tutor (only if the degree subject is relevant to the job you’re applying for), then with their permission, list their contact details towards the end of your C.V. Ideally you should have two references listed.

10. Do not over-complicate it. Above all else, remember the golden rule, which is ‘If they didn’t hear it, you didn’t say it’. It must be concise, impressive, yet easy to grasp.

Graduate Fairs in London

There’s really no question that the current economy is making it tough for graduates. The pool of graduate jobs is shrinking and competition is as fierce as it’s ever been. However, heading to the capital for work is still a wise move, as it maximizes your chances of securing your dream grad job.
In order to give yourself the best possible chance of acquiring work with a top recruiter, you really need to get yourself to a graduate fair, with your polished CV in hand.
One such recruitment fair, taking place next Tuesday, 20^th October, is the Guardian London Graduate Fair, from the Careers Group, which is FREE to enter. It’s being held at the Business Design Centre on Upper Street, Islington, N1 0QH

Aside from meeting an excellent list of top recruiters, there’s also the chance to visit a series of workshops such as ‘Writing the Application Form’ and ‘Great Answers to Interview Questions’. These workshops cost £10 for 1, £15 for 2 or £20 for 3. Spaces are limited and you must have reserved your place on them by this Friday the 16^th October.
You can also attend the Guardian Sessions Room, where 3 debates will be taking place, one of which is entitled ‘Hot tips on how to succeed in challenging times’.
Visit www.londongradfair.co.uk for further details and to view the list of exhibitors. Or, if you’re unfortunately unable to make it to this event, then keep an eye on this page for a list of upcoming graduate fairs over the next year.

Welcome to the Moving to London Blog

Welcome to Moove2London – we specialise in helping graduates and young professionals move to London for the first time.

Our main site already has loads of information on how to find employment, how to suss out the public transport system and perhaps most importantly, working out where to live and who to live with.

However, we’ve recently been getting an increasing amount of emails from people asking quite similar questions, so we thought we’d create this blog to address some of these topics and then everyone can read them!

If you have any particular topics that you’d like us to cover, then please email contact@moove2london.com with your question so everyone can benefit from our knowledge.