Beoz

It was relevant. Someone compared Adelaide to Greater Manchester then complained the thread had no relevance to the to Glasgow / Melbourne? Go figure.

The point is no one has successfully been able to point out a Glasgow / West Melbourne comparison so its important to let the poster know that every comparison is subjective and circumstantial.

Pollyana

I reckon he got the message. He then made a post pointing out he was moving t Melbourne and asking advice on his situation.

This way its possible to have an overall discussion that can run for months on the cost of living, in its own thread.
Also tere is still a link in the old thread if he wishes to continue following this discussion.

Any further complaints should go to Admin (BEVS).

christmasoompa

Or (again to avoid those sweeping statements), you could have bought a house not that long ago for less than the £600k mentioned, with 6 beds and 1.5 acres, and within half an hour of London on a fast train. Granted, it's a £3300 annual season ticket, but it's still possible to buy housing within a shortish commute of London for a lot less than London prices.

I've no idea how that compares to Sydney and if you could get a large house within the same commuting time there for similar money, but just wanted to point out that not all houses within 50 miles of London are £600k for a tiny 3 bed! We're less than 30 miles from central London.

ozzieeagle

I gave this a look whilst I was on my last visit.... I was totally dumbrounded by the travelling prices, but also amazed how much quicker it was to travel by train v road... I'm sure it the difference between road and rail was as pronounced when I did my 10 year commuting stint back in the 70's (mostly South London to the Square mile).... Not many people are lucky enough to work near a main line station. So on top of that is the travelling time Main line to London destination and costs involved.... so that 3,300 Pounds quickly becomes 4,000.... plus the extra 20 mins in London. It takes 6,000K of earnings to payout 4,000 pounds.... due to tax.

I did Stony Stratford to Aldgate Pump for about 18months.... I could never do it in any less than 2 hours 10 mins...more like 2 hours 40 mins. When I lived near Norwood Junction in would be quicker by train from there to London Bridge than the walking involved over to Aldgate... Walking was quicker and far more cost effective than waiting and catching a bus.... So even Norwood Junction to Aldgate was up near 45 to 50 mins.... Door to Door... So I dont buy some of these travelling times.

Beoz

You can get a 3 bedroom house IN London for less than 600K without a massive rail fare.

The point is we were told earlier about how ridicules property prices were in Australia, and I just wanted to demonstrate the UK South East was no stranger to that property phenomena and that prices can vary wildly depending on location.

Yes I'm sure Sydney has those bargain basement 3 bedders somewhere where I fear to tread.

Moses2013

I think it's always very difficult to compare and to do a cost of living calculation, you need a lot more information. There are many reasons why London will be pricier than Sydney and the main reason is location. Calculate how many people can live in London without a visa and how many people can live in Sydney without a visa. It's also a lot easier to travel to other major cities from London, so it will always attract wealthier people.

christmasoompa

I think trains might be just a smidge quicker than they were in the 70's! We live in Berkshire, my husband cycles 4 miles to the station, gets on the train and is in central London 25 mins later, he then bikes to his office. So perhaps 50 mins door to door max if he gets the fast train (there are slower options). His bike is paid for by the bike to work scheme and he has a season ticket loan with his company.

Definitely much quicker than him travelling by car, I totally agree. He does occasionally drive, and we do it often on the weekends when it only takes us 30 mins to get in to central London, but in rush hour on a normal day (not school holidays) it would probably take him at least 1.5 hours if not 2 hours. Plus cost him a lot more.

denzil73

There's also a difference between a sweeping statement and a generalisation. Generally London isn't a great example just as NYC, Venice, Paris etc aren't great examples as average house prices are a good percentage higher than anywhere else in those countries. However, generally house prices in London are far more expensive than the rest of England. A sweeping statement would be to say they are generally more expensive when actually the prices would only be marginally higher. Just saying there's a difference.

Personally it's up to the reader to do the research based on peoples opinions on here and not mine to give exacting figures.

Peps need to chill

And I meant 50k not 50 miles. My bad on that one.

One funny thing with Aus house prices is the lesser states i.e. not Vic or NSW think that they can charge similar pricing to Sydeny and Melbs. I mean not as expensive sure but have you seen apartment and house prices in Brisbane? I mean, it's Brisbane and not a metropolitan, international city people. Amuses me greatly

Moses2013

I think it's always a problem on this forum and London always seems to be the measuring factor for house prices. Although I do find house prices expensive in many parts of the UK, it's nothing compared to many parts of OZ. Of course you have to take everything into account, but a basic 3 bed house in Emerald Qld can cost 200K and you're 90 mins (flight) away from Brisbane. In the UK there are plenty of 3 beds for that money and you can reach 4 capitals in that time, maybe even more:-).

Beoz

That season ticket is 6-7 weeks of the average persons London take home wage. A London commute does cover most of the south east. Out to the coast in the south and east, Bristol if needed and pretty far north. That's a massive hit covering a very large part of the UK.

Berkshire .... ah the M4 ... yes if you are lucky you can right into Earls Court pretty quickly by car. No such joy if you are south east or south west of London.

The South East is blessed with such a great train system when comparing it to Australia, the US and many parts of the world

DC10

I would say there is significantly more difference between average (let alone top) salaries in London and Manchester or Glasgow than there is between Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. The latter four are much of a muchness - but plenty of people still seem to earn appalling salaries like £13-15K in the grim north.

BadgeIsBack

I think this is a good point, any move to the UK for me would factor around London in the same way Melbourne factors for me in Australia.

The reality is that UK house prices are not realistic. We are approaching the 15-17th year perhaps after they were!

It's true that cities like Melbourne had late extensions to big booms eg around late 000's to 2012 etc which makes it particularly painful for new arrivals. We arrived after a very small correction in 2004. It was the time of the end of the first big millennial boom in both UK and Australia. Gfc appeared to effect prices in the UK, not Australia.

I don't think Australia is as expensive as people make it out to be and I don't think the UK is as cheap as it is made out to be, esp for professional people needing to be in London, or near London, or in Melbourne or Sydney, it's probably about the same. Council tax and bills are not cheap in the SE. In fact, I would say the clincher is where you are on the housing ladder and your entry into the market where you are, and how transferable you are. And those of us who don't have to live near a big city can remain smug.

I don't buy into this value proposition of UK housing. I wouldn't want to live in a box. There are substantial homes in Melbourne, I still admire many of them from the trams! there are cheap Wimpey homes in the Uk. I also don't get into this endless 'Little Englander' obsession with heating, radiators, boilers and insulation. I find it vulgar and tedious..we have a wood burner for winter and I love it! That is the end of it and there are these things called jumpers..

Cheers

isgraham

I lived in Sydney for 5 years then moved back to London 5 years ago. I had a month in Sydney in October and for me it's not so much that Sydney is more expensive than London it's more about the salary you can achieve. As a programmer Sydney simply doesn't make any sense to live in I could get something like A$150k to A$200k per year with my skillset in sydney but in London I'm making in excess of about A$300k so although house prices are high it's cheaper for me than Sydney was. Of course if you're doing a job which is more highly valued in Austealia than the UK your experience will be different.

Beoz

There's the London salary ceiling in effect.

You can certainly go higher in London than anywhere in Australia.

ozzieeagle

Not completely true...my soon to be SiL industrial electrician is Fifo'ing to Onslow WA 6K a week !

I'm really looking forward to seeing what toys he puts in my Daughters newly bought house in Torquay. Got my fingers crossed for easy access to a nice boat