Job relocation to London. Compensation?

[Freefaller]

Don't do it unless you can see other doors opening up.

I work for a large financial institution and the London weighting is a measly £4k per year for a salary around then 45k mark.

You really need 60k down here to live solo comfortably in a 1bed. It's a hell of a city though!

What?! 60k to live in London? Really?!

Not a chance.

You can quite comfortably live on 1/2 of that. If the OP is going to be earning 45k then that is more than enough to not only rent, have disposable income but also save up for a deposit too.

 

[Eliot]

Zegna
What you are saying only applies if living comfortably in London consists of:

doing shots on the top of the heron with escorts every night
getting taxis to work and back everyday
a considerable habit for cocaine

 

[zegna]

What?! 60k to live in London? Really?!

Not a chance.

You can quite comfortably live on 1/2 of that.

60k is what £3500pm after tax?

The old rules are 1/3 for a house over your head 1/3 savings and the rest disposable.

So realistically rent and bills for a 1 bed will be £1500 MINUMUM.

I'll oet you work out the rest. If you buy, well then a 1 bed inside zone 2 will cost about £2000 per month.

Do you understand why 60k is needed now?

 

[Freefaller]

I live in London. I rented by myself when I was earning less than or around 30k quite a few years ago. I rented flats for around £700~£800. I also shared for a bit, so managed to half that rent payment. With bills and household items and food shopping easily had more than £5-600 left. Sure it wasn't a huge amount, but whatever I had left over at the end of the month, I saved.

Fast forward a few years of course things are now different in terms of salary, mortgage etc... but I could still live like a king for a LOT less than 60k.

Anyway, irrespective of that, if you are relocating you should absolutely make sure you are offered a remuneration package commensurate to your role to include higher living expenses, travel expenses, and the fact that London commands higher wages.

London isn't that expensive once you work out how to make London work for you. Property purchase and rent is the only thing that is really disproportionate.

 

[Strife212]

quite a few years ago.

 

[dowie]

I'd be tempted to negotiate some sort of additional relocation payment even if they don't actually offer you the salary you want... take the relocation payment, move down there and then get yourself another job offer at market rate.... then see if they'll pay you properly... if not then jump ship

perhaps part of the reason they want to move you isn't just that there is a role that you'd be useful for but also that you will probably cost less than an external hire - maybe they won't be open to paying you what you're actually worth in London... but that then becomes their problem if you chose to find out what you're worth

 

[zegna]

I live in London. I rented by myself when I was earning less than or around 30k quite a few years ago. I rented flats for around £700~£800. I also shared for a bit, so managed to half that rent payment. With bills and household items and food shopping easily had more than £5-600 left. Sure it wasn't a huge amount, but whatever I had left over at the end of the month, I saved.

Fast forward a few years of course things are now different in terms of salary, mortgage etc... but I could still live like a king for a LOT less than 60k.

Where did you live exactly for £700?

The 1500 I've stated would include council tax all bills and travel into work, which is something I would account for as work-based living expenses.

When I was a poor grad I was sharing in Camden for 700 per month in a house full of people. Good bunch but it was never a home.

I seem to be only one being realistic in this place.

I like the advise from dowie. Don't get mugged off, London is a much more fluid market than the regions. If you move here you should get compensated accordingly.. It's very very expensive.

 

[Mr^B]

It depends where you want to live and what lifestyle you want to have.

£1000 PCM on a mortgage will get you a reasonable house within an hour's commute of London pretty easily, less than that if you want a studio flat or similar. London isn't all about immediate access to hookers and cocaine. It can be expensive, but it can also be quite cheap if you know where to go.

Personally, I'd leap at the opportunity and as other have said, use it as a platform to do something else if you aren't happy with where you are or what you are paid. It's mainly about the options it presents.

We can't all earn £10k a month like some people, but you don't need to earn that to live well and enjoy yourself in London.

 

[Lima]

You clearly have no concept of how much further money goes in say, the Midlands than anywhere within zone 3.

£10k pre tax is not enough to compensate.

The crap is infact spewing for your mouth

I've lived in the suburbs/ commuter belt of London all my life and I work all around Central London....there is no crap coming from my mouth.

 

[Nitefly]

If I went to London, I'd want a 35% bump. Plz k thnx.

 

[Spook187]

Just bomb London off and move north where you can have a better quality of life

 

[Freefaller]

Where did you live exactly for £700?

The 1500 I've stated would include council tax all bills and travel into work, which is something I would account for as work-based living expenses.

When I was a poor grad I was sharing in Camden for 700 per month in a house full of people. Good bunch but it was never a home.

I seem to be only one being realistic in this place.

I like the advise from dowie. Don't get mugged off, London is a much more fluid market than the regions. If you move here you should get compensated accordingly.. It's very very expensive.

Crystal Palace, Dulwich and Putney. You are being realistic if you want to live very well.

If you want to live in London you can do so for a lot less. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't want to go back to earning £30k and live in London, but it is more than easy to do. Still was able to go to the butchers, and go on holiday, and stay at the gym, you just have to be a bit more careful with your budgeting and sacrifice a few things. You learn to be more savvy, get deals, speak to people and get discounts. Easily done. But I'm a confident person that doesn't mind asking for discounts or being "cheeky".

I did however suggest he should ask for relocation costs in my previous post.

But sweeping statements like you need to earn £60k to live in London is pretty daft.

Sure you won't live in a massive place, you won't necessarily be able to fly first class, or dine in Michelin starred restaurants once a month as some of us enjoy, or own a car - but a lot of these things are just luxuries.

Having a roof over your head, paying bills, and buying food, and having some disposable income is completely achievable on more modest incomes.

You've skewed your perceptions owing to what you're earning and the lifestyle you are now living. I could easily say you need more than £50k to live well in London as well, but the fact of the matter is you don't.

ANYWAY all this is irrelevant to the OP, as has been suggested he should see what the equivalent role is being paid and ask for a commensurate salary not only for the move but to add a bit of London weighting so as to not adversely affect the move (it costs money to move after all!).

 

[NexusK]

Personally I wouldn't be aiming at, as suggested, the equivalent that keeps your lifestyle exactly as is after the move and would ask for a number above that figure. After all you are the one displacing yourself, why would you do it if it didn't benefit you?

 

[HangTime]

If they offer you any less than 60k refuse and stay put. In the meantime get your CV (make sure you say you live in London or they won't touch you)

Not so - in the summer a London based agent placed me in the City and I was very open about the fact that I did not live in London.

Anyway to answer the OP the problem with earning £45k is you lose 42% of any rise to tax and NI. I demanded an extra £20-25k which raised a few eyebrows but probably helped that I was underpaid somewhat to start with. I would say £15k is the bare minimum fora relocation unless you live very near London anywy (pretty much what you have calculated) but make sure you research what you can get for the money.

As for the whole 'how much it costs to live in London' thing it depends on what sort of standard the OP is accustomed to. Yes you can live in the sticks, or do a more central house share, but perhaps that doesn't suit or would be a step down. Property prices really are crazy in most good areas for a property of any size and I wouldn't even contemplate moving there unless I was on a six-figure salary (perhaps less if single due to the lifestyle).

 

[zegna]

Crystal Palace, Dulwich and Putney. You are being realistic if you want to live very well.

If you want to live in London you can do so for a lot less. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't want to go back to earning £30k and live in London, but it is more than easy to do. Still was able to go to the butchers, and go on holiday, and stay at the gym, you just have to be a bit more careful with your budgeting and sacrifice a few things. You learn to be more savvy, get deals, speak to people and get discounts. Easily done. But I'm a confident person that doesn't mind asking for discounts or being "cheeky".

I did however suggest he should ask for relocation costs in my previous post.

But sweeping statements like you need to earn £60k to live in London is pretty daft.

Sure you won't live in a massive place, you won't necessarily be able to fly first class, or dine in Michelin starred restaurants once a month as some of us enjoy, or own a car - but a lot of these things are just luxuries.

Having a roof over your head, paying bills, and buying food, and having some disposable income is completely achievable on more modest incomes.

You've skewed your perceptions owing to what you're earning and the lifestyle you are now living. I could easily say you need more than £50k to live well in London as well, but the fact of the matter is you don't.

ANYWAY all this is irrelevant to the OP, as has been suggested he should see what the equivalent role is being paid and ask for a commensurate salary not only for the move but to add a bit of London weighting so as to not adversely affect the move (it costs money to move after all!).

Haha

Dulwich (let's hope not east) and Putney?? £700 for a 1bed - joke of the friggen century

Back in the real world my point is, ultimately the London weighting isn't enough that any company will offer - so understand the true market rate before accepting anything.

No escorts or cocaine involved - despite other retarded posts.

 

[Malevolence]

No chance I'd do it. Well, not unless they were prepared to compensate me enough to allow me to live a three bedroom semi with front and back gardens like I do at the moment. There'd be no chance in hell I'd be giving up a sizeable house to move to London and scrape by whilst living in a one-bedroom shoebox.

 

[Wizzkidy]

snip

Are you actually living on the same planet? Not a chance in hell you would get 700 a month in those areas!

 

[dowie]

No escorts or cocaine involved - despite other retarded posts.

something about 10k a month hitting the bank account

 

[Mynight]

Just bomb London off and move north where you can have a better quality of life

And another thread on the watch list .

 

[LOMS]

Thanks all for your input - very helpful indeed!

Seems some people missed the point of this thread. This isn't about where would I want to live or how much am I willing to spend. I've computed what it would cost me more or less to maintain at least my existing standard of living in the new location. The question really is whether asking for such a raise (almost 1/3!) is considered reasonable when negotiating relocations with employers (or whether you could make the argument that you'd need to at least maintain your current standard of living).

I know it does depend on the going rate of such role in other companies/in the company, but that’s a bit tricky to gauge/not very applicable in my case (long story).

But so far I get the feeling that this is a reasonable request.

And yes I’ll be asking for a bit more than what would enable me to maintain current standard of living, as suggested, to make the move worthwhile, but let’s keep that to the side for now and focus at whether the argument of maintaining standard of living is at least considered valid in these situations, keeping in mind that of course I’ll be benefiting a lot (non-financially) from moving to London.

How big is the company?

It's a FTSE 100.

I work for a large financial institution and the London weighting is a measly £4k per year for a salary around then 45k mark.

Yes that's the problem. Trouble is some even major companies’ London Allowance is a mere £4-5K, whereas others are £10K+, so you can't really tell.

BTW, not with you on the 60K+ to live in London too mate . As explained it really does depend on each individual's lifestyle and circumstances. I know many people with much lower salaries and they are living just fine. But yeah as you could notice I would be nearer to the number you quoted if I am to maintain existing standard of living.

I just found it funny using the word 'Compensation' London isn't that traumatic!

Haha that's the word they used with me

You should be thanking them for bringing you to civilisation rather than asking for compensation!

You're right actually

Thanks all.