A question that I am sometimes asked, or see being asked is “What Salary do you need to live in London?”. This may sound stupid, but the salary you need will depend on your lifestyle! Most people seem to spend half their salary on accommodation, and people on low salaries can get Housing Benefit to help pay their rent, so we have tenants who don’t earn a lot more than they pay in rent, yet have a reasonable lifestyle.
Also it depends on how you rent your flat – flats rented from private landlords tend to be 10 – 20% cheaper because they pass on the saving of the Letting Agents fees.
The cost of getting to work is often the biggest cost after rent. Crudely speaking the combined cost of accommodation and transport stays constant, but the further out of London you move the larger your accommodation becomes for the money. Unfortunately you pay for it in an unpleasant and lengthy trip to work.
We rent flats in one of the most desirable parts of London – SW1 which is Zone 1 for transport. Further for most of Central London is so close that it’s as quick to walk as to take the bus/tube! Soho, Chelsea, Kensington, Knightsbridge are all very walkable.
Our flats tend to rent for £400 – £800/person so that would mean that you need a a Salary of about £15 – 20,000 p.a. in order to live with us in Pimlico.
