Hey guys, I've been reading the Bit-Tech forums for a really long time now, and I think its time to become a fully fledged member now. So a big "Hey" to you all. Currently I am in my second year of university in Nottingham studying an Information Systems-esque degree. Its time for me to start applying for my industrial placement which is part of the course. I've found one that I am very interested in but I fear the location and salary together dont make it a very economically viable option. It's in the Clapham region of London paying a salary of £18k for the year. I feel I need to get a better idea of what I'll be entering into if I am to make a decision. The salary is before tax so obviously I'll be recieving less in the month. Is anyone on a similar wage? Can you give me an idea of what my take home at the end of the month will be? I hear Clapham is a very expensive place to live in. I've researched and found Balham which is neighbouring Clapham, to be a suitable place to live. It's about a mile away so transport shouldnt be too bad. Is there any other suggestions as to where I can live. House sharing will be a sure bet for me. Is anyone living close by? What rental rates can I expect? What about Council Tax? Of all the placements I am interested in, this one appeals to me the most. So your help is much appreciated. If there is anything I havnt asked please feel free to let me know anything that you think may help me make a decision. In turn, if there are any questions, I'll do my best to answer. Once again, thanks in advanced. Jay
Balham is very up and coming and won't be far off claphams prices. You will find it very hard to live in these areas. Do a google on rent. It is very high, then account around £100 a month for council tax. Food is more even in the supermarkets let alone eating out. If you are going to work in clapham i would investigate living in somwhere just outside of london like purley, croydon or any of the other 100 places that clapham junction has direct trains to. It would probably be cheaper to use the train each day.
It would be tight on 18k, but still do-able. I'd go for it - living in London would be quite an experience.
It depends on what you consider 'living'. If you're willing and able to forego drinking sessions and trips home etc, then it's probably doable if you keep to a rough budget. If you want to have some sort of social life though then you may want to negotiate or reconsider. Personally, I'd leave it. I've got used to living closer to a city, but I'm still very much a country boy and wouldn't want to forego partying if I was living in a city.
I'm on an industry placement myself, for GM. Your still a student when your on industry placement so you don’t have to pay council tax ( just get a exception form from uni) so that’s £1k of the bills to start! After tax your properly looking at £1,200 £1,300 pm. as someone else said house sharing’s the best bet. It’s worth asking the current student/s do for living arrangements, quite often you just take over the property the current student/s have. If you’re lucky the company owns somewhere and rents it to you at discounted rate.
I second cardjoe's statement. If you forego alchohol and the majority of socialising you will be able to live. If you are keen for the experience go for it and good luck!
Thanks for your input guys. The experience of living in London is very appealing which is one of the perks this job offers. I've been to London a few times this year in neighboring areas and I really like it. Its definitely something I want to do at some point in my life. I do enjoy the social aspect of life and I will be traveling back and forth to Nottingham as much as possible so that'll make things tight. Also wanted to buy a new laptop since I'm too embarrassed at my current one! All the other placements offer far less (~£14k) which I guess why this placement offers more, because its in London. I do have savings which amount to £3k, this could be my rainy day. How much would the quality of living change when you take this into account. Thanks for the heads up on the council tax Shadow, I wasn't aware of that! I think I'm going to apply for the job to open up channels of communication. Its a tough decision, keep the comments coming. Thanks!
If you rent a room only and say no to a car then its possible, I earn 66% of that and I survive.. ok, I admit it, rent is far cheaper here, but they wont charge you 400£ more for a room just because its london if you shop around in the right areas. Just make sure you have some spare money upfront, the first month will be expensive, it will be your turn to pay for everything if you move into a shared property and dont forget you will have to pay deposit.
A friend of mine lived in Kingston for £15k for a year. And I have two friends living in London for around £17-£19k. So it is do-able you'll need to flat share though really
Just went to a placement meeting at uni today and it turns out I can apply for a student loan for next year, which means I can have another £2k to play around with. I think I'll be able to live on £18k salary with £5k of a safety net.
Yes it is, If you stay in either East or South expect to get Stabed, shot, mugged or generally ****ed one way or another. Sadly they are the cheapest places to live.
You're probably looking at around £1200 a month after tax & NI. If you get a flat share in Balham/Clapham/etc then it will cost about £400-500 for rent. Add £100 for bills. That leaves you with about £600 to spend on food and going out. Supermarkets are not any more expensive in London and given you're used to student living you probably know how to eat cheaply! The important thing to consider it beer price. On average it's about £2.80 for a pint of ale. In most places you'll get change from a tenner if buying 3 drink rounds. As others have mentioned, I know people living in london on more or less the same salary and they cope fine... *edit* Being a student you'll be able to get a student oyster card annual pass. For zones 1-2 this should work out less than £700 for a year of unlimited travel on buses, tubes and some trains - cheaper than living outside and getting the train in!
Surely its a little bit early to be considering what its actually like to live there seeing as it sounds like you haven't applied yet? Apply for it, go to the interview, get the offer and then make these decisions. At the end of the day, going through the interview process etc is still well worth it and invaluable for when you are hunting for "real" jobs. Good luck.
yeah you are deifnetly panicking too much, 18 grand is plenty and in clapham you SHOULDN'T need to spend over 400 a month for rent if you look long and hard for a house, and thats very very maximum. and yeah think more about this when you have had the interview, you got a long way to go yet mate...!
Cheers guys. Well the application is off so fingers crossed eh. I'm dead set on living in London sometime or another so its always worth knowing.
I commuted to london from oxford for a couple of months when doing a placement, was a good experience except when we had stupidly high winds. Oxford tube is a wonderful thing,
is that like a fallopian tube? seriously consider house shares, itll cut your costs down. your doing a placement with general motors right? heh i am out in france with ford quite scary, im in my last 8 weeks here before i come home. what degree are you doing?
