[Closed] How much extra would you want on your salary in the South East?

Depends on how much you feel your life away from work is worth. If in London and you have to spend money on running a car etc to go riding rather than pedal out of your door, it is 'costing' you.

I'm Cockney - love London, despite the crap bits. However, having lived in other place around the world and now living in a city comparable to Edinburgh (Adelaide - so less cold and rain! but pretty easy to ride straight into the hills here too) I would need a considerable chunk of money to pick London over Edinburgh; if the salary is 20k in Edinburgh, I'd want at least 26k to consider London.

However, if the prospect of moving up and earning more/working less is greater, etc etc, that also needs to be taken in to acct. But if it was me personally, 25%+, everything else being equal - which it very rarely is.

A good friend of mine was asked to transfer from Newcastle to St Albans by his employers. To maintain the same quality of life (same size house etc) they would have had to triple his salary. Depends what you value I guess.

Surely where you are based now, where your family are based etc all comes into account as well, so it's hard to put a figure on something like that without more info. Also are the chances of progression the same at both jobs as you'd want to hope you'll not be on that salary forever!

London here you should be looking for around at least £ 6,000.00p more
but you have take into account the cost of travelling etc.
And is the wage equal to what you do.

For me - nothing - as nothing would make me move to London from Edinburgh.

The only real difference in costs is on housing - and even then its not huge. Other costs are much the same. So If you live in a £250 000 house in Edinburgh how much would a similar house cost in London? What extra would that be on mortgage and how much per month would it cost?

A nice 2 bed flat in a reasonable area is £250 000. What would that cost in London?

They couldn't pay me enough.

ScotChegg x 10,000,000

You need to look at how much the job you're doing pays in London rather than look at 'what I'm on now+X' type formulas. If you're expecting to achieve parity then there has to be a compelling reason (other than cash) for makign the move, imo).

Cost of living is higher and most people would expect to earn more if they had to commute (season tickets can cost £5k).

Actual financial hit aside, I'd be asking for quite a lot, probably an extra 10k. Plus whatever the difference in living costs are. At least in South East London you're closer to the better riding the South has to offer but it's never going to be Scotland.

I'd probably just say no to be honest.

Really depends where in London. 'Inside the M25' is a damned big area, with quite varied living costs. If the job is in one of the outer villages or towns, you can live there, but there's a big difference between, say, Barking and Richmond.

If the salary's around 20k in Edinburgh, and the London job offers no other career advantage I'd be wanting a premium of 8-10k.

what you will want and what you will get will vary wildly, as shown above.

My employers currently...
SE England gets approx £2K, Central london gets a 6% pay lead

so from your £20k in the burg, you could be looking at £23.2K

The cost of commuting and the distance to any 'real' mountainbiking is not covered by that difference IMO.

Not for all the tea in China...

>Bear in mind that Edinburgh is often considered the 2nd most expensive city in the UK to live.<

So what - we have trains that go there from other places

When I lived in Edinburgh - think I was earning £17k (this was about 10 years ago) - I was asked to relocate to London to do the same job with the same company. It was working in the City and they were offering me £35k.

I said no.

I just can't abide the place, and lets face it - life isn't about money.

Depends what you want from life really. My brother is very money motivated (hence he is now a contractor) so is drawn to such places... me - I now live in the Lake District installing sewage pumps.

another "not for all the tea in china" vote here

Not a chance.

The London Allowance for 6th form teachers is:

Inner London - £3,508
Outer London - £2,338
Fringe - £926

Having friends and relatives who live within the M25 (outer London), the [i]inconvenience-of-life[/i] in the Big Smoke is, to my mind, not worth any extra money at all. What will having twice the cash allow you to do? Of course, being well-off would allow you to fly to the Alps on a regular basis, but squeezing it into a weekend wouldn't be too pleasant and how many holidays would you get?

Unless your life revolves only around your vocational occupation, then Edinburgh must be many times more appealing.

Where is the M25 role based?

A room to rent is usually 400PM a flat 750PM a cheap house or flat 250k

Travel is dear too.

Other costs are similar (food, bills etc etc)

London is a great place but it's not for everyone and ultimately it's just a collection of much smaller places joined up!

Two of my best mates left here to live in Creiff and wouldn't come back for love nor money I on the other hand wouldn't leave.

This thread is sponsored by [url= http://www.howies.co.uk/index.php ]Howies[/url]

I'd be looking for a 50% increase. However I'd never class moving to London a "wise choice". I live 70 miles away and that's as close as I ever want to get. IMHO choosing Edinburgh is a no brainer especially if you enjoy the outdoors.

18k?

Cheers for the advice so far guys.

Firstly, I don't have any significant salary at the moment, this is the 1st rung on the ladder if you like.

And I don't have any dependent family to consider either.

The South East job is in Cobham, so just inside the M25 on the South West.

The offer came in, with a basic of 25k. Plus a better bonus scheme and the opportunities and speed of future promotion have been outlined.

Company in the South East is Swiftcover/Axa insurance. Edinburgh is RBS. So a bit more uncertainty in Edinburgh, but I'm not really worried about long term security.

Head says head South, heart says stay in Scotland...

It sort out just depends what you want out of life? Do you want to carry on enjoying everything that is wholesome and life-affirming, or become a money-chasing drone in the heart of the rat race? 😉

Given that you're just beginning your career I'd mostly base the decision on the career benefit whilst ensuring I could survive on the pay - shoudn't be a problem realistically. I lived in Cobham as a kid and have returned to nearby where I intend to stay - love the Surrey Hills. Houses are pricey to buy in the nice places around here but I don't suppose you will be looking to buy anytime soon? It is pretty middle class around here which is fine for me though I wouldn't want to live in the my snooty areas - Cobham falls in that category and has prices to go with that.

Come to the SE I say.

The South East job is in Cobham, so just inside the M25 on the South West. The offer came in, with a basic of 25k. Plus a better bonus scheme and the opportunities and speed of future promotion have been outlined.

Cobham it is then. Cobham itself is pricey property wise, but it's only 15 minutes from the North downs/Surrey hills.

You could live in Guildford or Kingston quite cheaply and have stuff to do nearby.

Flats going to be around 600pcm.

I'd do it for an extra $1M

would love to be in a job where contractors got more than staff.........

They couldn't pay me enough (I've lived and worked in London so that's based on experience).

Is that where you became a racist? 😛

Just a quick question are all he nah sayers middle aged? i know some are.

I agree with Joolz and Crazy Legs - lots of Anti-London people in here; it's not as bad as they make out and as many don't live there is a bit rich anyway. However, if not your thing that's fine; but that doesn't mean anyone who does like being there is wrong or have any less valid of an opinion.

However, in terms of the riding aspect of the discussion TJ is correct; for the equivalent effort of travelling to riding spots, Edinburgh pi$$es all over London.

My choice would be Bath/Bristol or Edinburgh/Borders, personally; but I'll stay in Australia for now thanks.

However, for the OP; I'd maybe be tempted by the SE move from what you've said; this is likely to be a "work experience" type project as a "first" job - you even said it's not long term - so I'd be tempted to try something different; if in 6-12months it's not you, you can move on hopefully with some money in the bank and some new experiences in life and work skills.

Damn you all, I see the tables have turned now towards moving SE!

I think the fact that disappoints me shows that the heart is in Edinburgh. I don't really know much of the progression and future prospects within rbs so will enquire some more. That's the more important issue I think, I'm not too bothered about the money difference as long as both can provide comfortable living.

I should maybe add that I already verbally accepted rbs a week ago, before the other offer even came to the table.

it sounds as though you want to stay in Edinburgh from your posts ally; so really, why are you asking? A move down to cobham won't be "fun" unless you want to go, which you apparently don't.

Is it also a matter of the devil you know ?
I'm sure there's generally better riding up there (come to think of it, I've ridden up there m'self), one thing London has in it's favour is you can get over to Wales/west country etc (assuming you want to). The Chilterns/N downs are nearby - it's not like living in Essex 😉

I've lived down here since '88 and can't see us moving - we live about 10 mins or so drive from Cobham (Walton-On-Thames), before that we were in Surbiton (a better choice than Kingston IMO - later last train, faster train service, slightly cheaper housing - and less traffic of a weekend..and still in the travelcard zones and on the night bus route).
Given the choice I'd probably live in the surrey hills ie between Guildford/Dorking (we almost bought a place in Godalming a few years back), but unless you're in a town you may to drive to get anywhere bigger (bit of a statement of the obvious..), if you want to get into London it adds a fair bit to travel costs

T'other thing that swings it for me is I see quite a few bands over the year - other than mebbe the midlands, no-where else quite competes.

Ignore the 'it's a sh*thole' comments - it is what it is - and what you make of it. There's areas I would't touch with a bargepole but London's so big you can forget 'em.

>middle aged?

Hey, I resemble that remark :p

I've just been offered 110k more to move to Brisbane. Am seriously considering.

What do you do for a living , im unemployed at the moment follwing my masters course and no one is offering me a job

dangriff - Member

I've just been offered 110k more to move to Brisbane. Am seriously considering

GO NOW!!

you know you want to
op go for the experience if nothing else.

"A nice 2 bed flat in a reasonable area is £250 000. What would that cost in London?"

Around £250k actually.

I live in the outskirts of London (Kingston) and have easy access to the countryside and motorways to get out of London as well as a short hop into the centre if I need to. Kingston is also a lovely place to live as the river is practically on our doorstep and Richmond Pk is just up the road.Its a great place to bring up our son and we are very happy. The riding is good - Surrey Hills 45 minutes away, swinley is the same, Aston Hill is an hour away, woburn/chicksands is an hour and a half and south wales is doable in a day.

Would I move down here from Edinburgh if I was there? No. If you have doubts about it do not do it.

Cobham is hardly a shithole, a bit stockbroker perhaps. It's only just within the M25, and only about 20 minutes cycle from Kingston if you want to live in a centre. I would imagine that traffic during the week will be awful so living somewhere that you don't need to drive in from the A3 would be sensible.

You could live in Dorking, only 15 mins to work by car, 30 mins by bike.
mtb bike out your front door on the surrey hills, and its just as good as the Pentlands...

Thats what I do anyway!

Easy to find a room i would think. lots of local riders.

Go for SE.

If your young, then Londons got a lot to offer and it still iss the center for financial services etc etc so if you fancy yourself as a thrusting young exec. N Downs are on your doorstep etc etc. There IS still an outdoors.

Just got back from a weekend around Edinburgh. Nice town. What is going on with the chuffing roadworks!

couple of million at least. No way am I moving back down there for any less.

Those that have made comments about hating London are missing the point - Surrey ain't London! It's a very green county; it's only failing are the expensive house prices and lack of wild areas. Of course it's expensive because so many people want to live there....

good point mudshark.

Surrey is the most wooded county in England (in density terms). I live in Surrey and there's loads of great riding.

I've lived in the midlands(kid), reading(uni), london(work) and now back in reading.

Didnt really like London at all, ended up living in a rubbish flat in battersea was cheap though.

Found londom hmm limiting always felt I was having to live around it rather than just doing what I wanted when I wanted.

However as others have pointed out cobham although inside the m25 is nt going to be like living in central london. My wife comes from the ashtead which is near by.

In fact living in one of the towns near by will be much like working/living in any other british town/small city rather than like living in the big smoke.

As mentioned if there one area in london you want to live in London for MTBing its the north downs.

Personally I'd suggest moving to guildford its a great little town.

I think I'm swung on the South East idea now!

Only need to find somewhere I can affordable to live. Other issue is that I don't have a car, and can't see myself affording one soon. So will need some method of commuting to Cobham by public transport...

obviously the trains are pretty busy round london but train + bike may be possible

Cobham is one of the most expensive places to live in the southeast outside central london (av. house price is over £750K - figures from rightmove) but Leatherhead/bookham near where I live is cheaper and there are many more rentals. Dorking is very good place for cycling too. 5mins to the North Downs for me and I can ride all day off road (Pitch/Leith etc...). Going into London from Chobham some areas are cheaper but shityer. It sounds like you might do better careerwise down here (from the tone of your post). However you don't get the spaces and top level riding like the Staines down in the southeast.

456 bus from dorking to leatherhead then the 408 to cobham, but quicker to ride....and not far.

Sounds good freeridenick...

Any advice on best place to look for a room in the Dorking area? I notice that Guildford has a gumtree which is useful.

To be honest I'd be more inclined to look guildford as your on the train line to cobham.
Also if you dont have a car theres more to do in guildford.

Guildford is also on the north downs theres plenty of riding there, you can also riding along the north downs to the riding near dorking or get the train to dorking if you need to.

Plus the trains into london are 35 mins as opposed to 60 mins.

I would say that Surbiton is a good spot if your working in cobham there is a direct trainlink and it is flatland so you should be able to find a home really easily.

I live in a place called East Molesey which I really love it's right by Hampton court around a 20 minute ride to Cobham it's by the Thames and there is a fair amount of flats and stuff, it's a really nice area I'd recommend it!!

Dorking is good but a bit quiet after dark, quite a small town but really good for riding as it sits at the junction of the North Downs and Surrey Hills.

Guildford is most likely your best bet as it's quite lively, has a decent selction of everything is 25 mins from London by train and Cobham is a direct train link.

Have a look here.. http://www.findaproperty.com/searchresults.aspx?edid=00&salerent=1&areaid=0122&bedrooms=01

There are quite a few flat/houseshares around as Guildford has a uni and a university hospital I think.

I would say that realisitcally you could get a nice room somewhere for around 450 - 600 or a flat for around 650 -700

Thanks, will look into some of those areas.

Everywhere I've seen looks nice, but is there anywhere I'd want to avoid?

Trouble is the office is about a 35 minute walk from Cobham station (as I discovered when I turned up 20 minutes late for the interview) but I'm sure there are buses.

Come back and check with us when you find something! To be honest it's mostly nice but there are some iffy estates and so on but they are not too bad really.

There are buses!

You could look in Cobham, to be honest it's a lovely little place but again a bit quiet after dark.

I visited a train yard in Slade Green earlier this year.
What a dump.
I couldn't wait to get out of the place.
Soul destroying.
That bit of London where the M25 goes over the Thames is awful.
Reminded me of the film "28days".

We used to have an office in Farnham. That was a nice place.
But this is of course no use to you is it. 🙂

Cobham is very nice, and quite pricey. Consider Woking, much cheaper (also cheaper than Guildford) and 25 mins into london with trains every 10 minutes or so. Woking to Cobham would be a nice 15 min ride, it's fairly easy to make that ride almost entirely off road too.

Tons of good riding around, ash ranges is full of singletrack, leith hill is nearby, and close enough to the M4 you can get to Cwmcarn in 2.5hours without flooring it. I live in woking, and the thing I like best is the fact I can run/bike out of my door and be off road in a couple of minutes in some pretty decent train.

Worth pointing out that Woking / Guildford / Cobham are pretty leafy bits of surrey, the further in you get the more Clockwork Orange it gets. Personally I'd avoid Dorking, don't really like it compared to Woking / Guildford.

Be worth checking with someone in the area which roads are rubbish in the mornings. If you end up near Woking, give me a mail and i'll give you the low down (ewan at ewanpanter dot co dot uk)

All the 'London haters' seem to have gone, I do want to visit this panacea that is Edinburgh. My personal favourite comment is:

Of course, being well-off would allow you to fly to the Alps on a regular basis, but squeezing it into a weekend wouldn't be too pleasant and how many holidays would you get?

WTF has that got to do with being near London?!

Anywho... Cobham's v nice, Woking would be the cheapest place to look, Guildford's alright, Leatherhead/Bookham area are worth a look. You're not really going to go wrong frankly, there's no 'rough' areas really!

Great riding too, not the huge hills of Scotland, but I can easily do a 50 mile with 99% off road and tonnes of singletrack.

[i]Surrey is the most wooded county in England[/i]

ace...so it'll burn well? I always get the urge to destroy things when I'm down that way. Horribly bland part of the world.

In what way is it bland? There's quite a mix here...in my younger days I'd have liked Guildford as lively stuff to do at night, these days I prefer sleepier villages. Would be happy in Dorking but I'm in a village near Leatherhead - I like the gentle pace. Maybe that means bland?

To the OP - Fetcham and Leatherhead might be worth looking at though Guildford would be my 1st choice is nightlife is of interest. Woking has never appealed to me as it is perhaps a bit bland(!) in the centre though communications are good. Roads get v.busy around there when going to the M25 though.

Bland ? LOL, far from it. Ever visited the Surrey Hills AONB ?

[i]In what way is it bland[/i]
it's all very samey.'pretty' quiet villages and grim towns. Lots of bad driving. No proper wild countryside. And it contains my inlaws.

[i]AONB [/i]
?

Well I like the villages so each to their own - actually they tend to have an upper-middle class feel which ain't great; not sure about grim towns but I suppose I avoid those. I wouldn't live in places like Cobham and Horsley as too much money about even though there are poor people there too; I reckon I chose a good compromise.

Surrey does well here if though so does Edinburgh....

http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/best-and-worst/

How much extra would you want on your salary in the South East?

About 100k, with company earth tax and three times my current holiday allowance.

I suspect all these northerners have never ridden the surrey hills....
I would hardly call the lake district/peaks wild - i see far less people out and about down here than up there.
Grim towns - none in the north then!

Yes i supose if you are youngish & single and want abit of night action then guildford might be a better bet. Dorking tends to have more of a pub/restuarant scene - but the riding is better from Dorking and feels more like small town IMO (f you are after that feeling?
more likely to find a room in a houseshare in guildford as uni there.

[i]I suspect all these northerners have never ridden the surrey hills....[/i]
I can't speak for all the other northerners but I have. If you can call them hills.

[i]Grim towns - none in the north then! [/i]
plenty actually.

As good riding as anywhere in England, FACT.

I'll be calling on all these Surrey locals for a ride sometime in January. Start date is the 11th!

Guildford sounds like the ideal location. I'm wondering what late-night transport to and from London is like though... how late does it go on?

AONB = Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Having lived and ridden round there, it was alright at the time, but now I've moved up north Id never move back