What is a good yearly wage for living in Central London with a husband and 3 children?

Question

My husband was just asked to move to the London office located in Trafalgar Square ( please excuse the spelling) from the U.S.A.. We currently have three cars, a 5 bedroom home and we are able to travel several times throughout the year. I don't want to lose my standard of living too much with this move. What is a nice ( not rediculous) monthly salary for a family of 5? We want to be able to travel around the United Kingdom and France at least one weekend a month. I am concerned about the price for schools also. Speaking of children, I never hear much about children in London, is there much for them to do? I assume there are mother groups in London just like in the U.S.?

Thank you all for your answers. It has helped a great deal. I do have one more question. We are looking to live in a middle class neighborhood with good schools, parks, trees, possibly neighborhood restaurants, bike paths. My husband would need to commute into London. Do you have any ideas for appropriate neighborhoods? I have looked on the internet and all the burrows sound wonderful. I will only have two weeks to find a house etc. so I am trying to learn as much as possible ahead of time. Thank you again.

Answer 1

Cars and property are much more expensive in the U.K than America and living in London it will be through the roof! I would try not to live in London - especially as you have children - but somewhere close enough to be able to commute daily by train. You certainly don't want to be driving in London! I would say the salary needs to be in excess of £100,000 as it sounds as if you are wanting to maintain quite a high standard of living.

Answer 2

Nobody can comfortably afford to live anywhere near the centre of London on a salary. The apartments and few houses in the centre are A. unavailable - unless your have around £2-3 million and B. are not suitable for families with children. Look to live in the Home Counties and your husband can do the commute along with everyone else.

Look at a salary of between $120,000 and $200,000 for a life with some disposable income. But - London is a great place - you'll never be without anything to do.

Answer 3

Living in the City Centre and maintaining a lifestyle such as your current one is going to be hideously expensive. You'll probably need a gross salary well in excess of £500,000 PA and you'll have to make some trade-offs even at that level. A 5 bedroomed property with parking for 3 cars will easily cost £2 million or more, possibly a lot more. Living in the suburban areas will cut your costs significantly and if you commute about 30 - 60 minutes by rail costs are almost "affordable", at least by British standards.

State schools (as public schools in the American vernacular are called) are tuition free though there will be some modest costs for uniforms and shools supplies. Public school (what Americans would call private schools) tuitions are all over the chart. UK schools are structured somewhat differently from US schools though educational standards are fairly high though there are exceptions to that. There are American style schools available, most notably the American School in London.

Given the costs involved, your husband should probably discuss his compensation package with his employer. It's not unusual for employers to provide housing allowances and cost of living adjustments as well as funds for school tuition for the children.

There are plenty of ex-pat groups in London. They can significantly help in easing your transition. And there are "Mum's Groups" all over the UK. Ask pretty much anyone with kids and they'll point you in the right direction.

London is a fascinating city but it is also one of the most expensive places on earth to live. If you have a sense of adventure and are willing to make some lifestyle concessions you should have an amazingly rewarding and enriching experience. Best of luck to you and your family.

Answer 4

Hi,

We live in central London (Holborn, not far from Trafalgar Square) with our son, who will be 2 years old later this month. We earn about £100,000 a year between us, but because we both work, we have childcare expenses to pay as well. We are very happy with our standard of living, have lots of holidays, etc.

You are likely to find the cost of housing is very expensive compared with the US. We live in a 3 bedroom flat, with one living room, and a small kitchen. I can't think you would need 3 cars living in London - we have 1 between us, and don't use it much. Public transport is good and much easier to use than driving around; we only use our car to go out of London and for holidays.

There is loads to do for children in London. It's a green city, lots of parks. In Holborn, where we live, there is a great park which is for children only - people over the age of 16 can only go in there if they are with a child, and it has lots to do, tennis and basketball courts, a football pitch, swings, climbing frames, an indoor-play centre, animals (sheep, goats, birds) etc. It's called Coram's Fields.

There are lots of mother and child groups, and activities such as baby gym, soft play, etc.

For older children, the museums in London are amazing, and usually free. I grew up in London as well, and my siblings and I loved the Science and Natural History Museums in South Kensington, and the Museum of London in the City.

State education is free, you just have to pay for uniform and pens etc. Public schools are expensive, but often very good.

Hope that helps!

Answer 5

Renting a 5-bed house, maintaining 3 cars, travel... Put it this way ... something will have to give i reckon.
Without schooling included i would say he would probably have to earn about £100k a year to keep the lifestyle up (if not more) Public schools ..., pending on the age of the children anything up to £15k per year per child (fees and extracurricular activities included)
Can't help you on the children in London but i would imagine there are mother and toddler groups in London. Many would be church run.

Answer 6

Hmmm, difficult one. I moved here 21 years ago yesterday from California, and still do not enjoy that quality of life. I live in 1000 sq ft 3 bedroom house (in the states it would be called a condo) 45 miles north of London. It is valued at about $360,000. For a five bed to buy, in London, you are looking at about $4-5m for an appartment. Cars are not needed in London itself, but to buy a new car, a compact runs about $23,000, a midsize - $42,000, and a luxury about $64,000. Plus tax, insurance and congestion charging is significantly more here.

For schools, private tuition runs between $1000 - 7,000 per month, but public schools are free. There are lot's of parent groups.

Travel in Europe can be cheap or expensive. Budget hotels are about $160 per night, 3 star are about $240, five star about $500. Flights to Europe can be as little as $200 if you book in advance. Fuel is quite expensive, at about $8 per gallon. Food is similar prices to the US in the grocery store. McD's runs about $7 per person, a good meal at a cheap place about $20, and a nice meal about $100 per person.

Therefore, I think to live anywhere near the same level of lifestyle, you would need a salary of about $200,000 - $500,000 per annum.

I really do often regret some of the lifestyle sacrifices I have made, but Britain has some wonderful cultural offerings, is safe, and has some lovely people. But it is VERY different. The closest American comparisons to London would be Manhatten and San Franciso. (But both are smaller).

Answer 7

Whether it would be best to live in Central London is debatable,especially with children.It might be better to live in a decent suburb,although it would mean your husband would have to commute to his office in Trafalgar Square.You are more likely to find the schools more suitable.You would find quite a change from your normal American lifestyle,some things better,others not always to your liking.The sort of life style you portray as being accustomed to would necessitate a considerable salary in the UK. Overall the cost of living here is higher than the USA. I would think that a salary of at least £80000 or approx. $150000 would be needed to maintain your accustomed life style.However,welcome to England and hope you enjoy your stay here..

Answer 8

There are some good answers here, a middle class family living in a decent part of london, with easy transport connections doing what you would want to do would struggle on less than £200K per year. That doesn't include school fees.

If you want to send your kids to private school you are looking at £10000 to £18000 per kid depending on school and age of your kids. It isn't essential to send students to private school, government schools in prosperous suburbs often have very successful schools, they can be hard getting into though. An easy comparrisson would be the cost of living and working in NYC, you would need $300K - $400K pa to live a prosperous middle class life.

Answer 9

Schools in Britain are paid through your taxes
BTW remember that taxes will probably cut your salary by about 40% :o
There's plenty to do, not sure about mother groups as i dont really know what they are
traveling around the country and to france is fairly cheap anyway

Answer 10

Why do you have to pay for schooling, the comprehensives are good in this country so schooling can be free, depends how much you spend in the average week, though London pay must be higher to cope with rise in property market