21-year-olds considering moving to East London on £60k combined
Hi everyone,
I’m thinking about moving to East London with my partner and would like some honest opinions on whether we’re being realistic or completely delusional.
We’re both 21 and currently live in Wales. Our combined take-home income would be around £60,000 a year after tax.
We’re looking at Tower Hamlets, particularly:
Shadwell
Stepney
Limehouse
We’d be looking for a 1-bedroom flat. We both work from home and work for marketing companies, so we don’t need to commute every day.
We already spend a lot of time in East London and come to London around 10 times a year because, honestly, we find there’s very little to do where we currently live. We really like East London and are considering moving rather than continuing to travel down so often.
We have around £40,000 in combined savings and would like to think we’re fairly good with money. We’d be happy spending around 55% of our combined take-home income on rent if it meant living somewhere we actually enjoy.
I’ve never rented before, so I’m not really sure how realistic this is from a landlord/letting-agent point of view, especially as we’re both only 21.
Does this sound realistic, or are we making a bad financial decision?
Would also be interested in hearing from anyone who lives in Shadwell, Stepney or Limehouse about what it’s actually like day-to-day.