Makaya

Hi there,

I'm looking for your opinion of staying in Vancouver vs. going to London.

I'm a married man with a baby on the way. My salary now is about $95K (gross) and my wife doesn't work. We are living a fairly decent life in Vancouver, being able to eat out when we want and to go to Whistler a couple of times every year. We like it here but, with the current real estate prices, we'll never be able to afford a house in an area where we would like to live. We currently rent a pretty nice 1BR apartment in Yaletown and we really enjoy it.

I have an offer from my company to relocate in London, UK. I don't know all the details yet, but everything included, I would be paid 35% more, so around $120K or £74K.

I'm trying to figure out if this is a fair deal or not. The salary is good, but will we enjoy a good living standard in London with it? (I'm of course not expecting to go skiing or hiking every week-end like here!). I did some research and the rentals can be really expensive in London... I don't know much about the local expenses (groceries, cars, utility, doctors, etc.) and about taxes as well. Is there a big difference between the two cities?

My point is, I'm willing to give up a bit of my quality of life here for a bit of extra cash that would allow me to save for a down payment once I come back to Vancouver (it's an assignment that might last up to 5 years).

Also, where would you recommend to live in London? I'm looking for a place that is clean, safe and convenient (close to public transit), and hopefully that would have the same kind of feeling as Yaletown. I'll be working close to Hyde Park/ Paddington Station.

Thanks for your help.

JonboyE

My first thought would be to go for it. London is a great city for a few years and the chance to do it at someone else's expense seems too good an opportunity to give up. When you have had enough (and I think five years is about right) you can always come back to Vancouver.

I might be a bit out of touch but £74k sounds a decent salary to me.

Property in central London is as expensive as in Vancouver. The equivalent to a waterfront condo in Yaletown that costs $1M will be a riverfront flat in London that will cost £1M. It you want to save some money you will have to live further out and commute. I lived for a while near Ealing which is a pleasant and relatively safe area and is convenient for the Central line into Hyde Park There are lots of options if you can live with the commute. However, there are several parts of London that will feel intimidating and unsafe compared to Vancouver so take a bit of care.

Groceries cost about the same, eating out is way more expensive. Cars and gas are also way more expensive but insurance will be quite a lot cheaper if you can get a company to accept your no claims status from Canada. Taxes are generally higher than BC. Public health care is essentially free to residents. Many people who can afford it pay for private health care. I have never understood why.

helcat12

I do not think that £74K will give you a lot of breathing space, with your baby on the way and living in that area. Central London is ferociously expense to rent, probably as expensive as any city in the world and I can see that would be enough to live on decently enough, but you will not, in my opinion have enough money to save for the deposit in Vancouver.
We lived outside London, in Croydon for a long time and that was a decent commute in to town, but because it was on the direct train line renting and buying were both very expensive, so living in the commuter zone is also expensive.
I can't tell you what to do, but having experienced both cities, I would say London doesn't match up for quality of life and imho this move would not fulfil your purposes of allowing you to save to buy in Vancouver.
I'm sure there are other people here who can advise on this as well.

CanadaJimmy

Lived in London for 3 years before I moved out here.

Vancouver all the way. Salary is not everything.

p.s.
<-- Ooo post 666

guardianx

Rentals are expensive but you can always barter them down quite a bit

I'm currently renting in Farringdon London - moving to Vancouver in a few weeks... Farringdon is a nice place to look if you want somewhere like Yaletown that is quite central.

bozonightmare

Go for it. What have you got to lose? You can always come back.

el_richo

I agree with JonboyE. It's a great opportunity.

On the contrary to the above poster, London can offer you a great quality of life on that Salary. It will just be a different quality of life. I think you could be financially better off with the London move. The caveat to this is that you would not be living in "Downtown" London.

£74k is a very good salary and will afford you (in my opinion) a nice lifestyle. I've lived in both cities, more recently around the Kingston Upon Thames / Richmond area of London. Your salary would give you a nice 2 bed apartment in a nice area with good schools etc with a 20 minute commute into central London (probably 30 minutes to work). You also have huge open spaces, parks (with wild deer), and a short drive out into the Surrey countryside. Very nice.

You could get a nice house if you moved further out, but then you forfeit your Yaletown type lifestyle.

If you want a Yaletown "look", try east London around Canary Wharf.

Outside of the "downtown" area, restaurants are no more expensive than those in Vancouver (in my opinion).

European cars are cheaper to buy. Insurance will be cheaper too although fuel isn't and you have to pay yearly tax. It's probably about the same overall.

Have a look at http://www.rightmove.co.uk/ for rental prices and http://www.autotrader.co.uk/ for car prices.

The move would be even better if the £ increases in value against the $

A thought would be to move to London, experience and embrace the cheap Euopean travel on your doorstep, travel around the UK taking in the sights, countryside, historic places, etc. Saving up some money along the way.

I've attached a couple of pictures showing a small part of the local area of Kingston/Richmond (wildlife, the equivalent of the seawall along the river thames on your doorstep, and the beach in Brighton which is 45 minutes away)

Always bear in mind, London is VERY different to Vancouver

All in my opinion of course.

rubberduckofdeath

You'll be just fine on that salary in London. Go for it, it'll be an adventure anyway!

christmasoompa

I think it depends on what you are looking to get for your £74k. If it's a 2 bed apartment within commuting distance of London then you'll be fine, but if you want a 3 or 4 bed house in a fairly central area then it will be tough.

£74k will be approx £49k after tax, so just over £4k per month.

We're approx half an hour from central London on the tube, but if it helps our monthly expenses are as follows (4 bed house)

Gas & electricity - £95 per month
Food (4 of us, plus dog food and cat food) - approx £400 per month
Water - approx £120 every six months
TV licence - £12 per month
Sky TV/line rental/calls/internet package - £20 per month
Council tax - £220 per month

My husband pays approx £60 per week for a travelcard to commute in to London and obviously you'll have rent or mortgage to add to the above list.

If you need any other costs i.e. car costs etc then just shout.

Good luck deciding, I think you should go for it if you can. London and Vancouver are both fab cities.

el_richo

One thing i would suggest is popping over for a visit before making a final decision, especially with a baby on the way.

dbd33

A fantastic opportunity, especially if it is something your employer wants you to do. A chance to see somewhere quite different, travel a bit in Europe and advance your career. I doubt you'll save much but that doesn't seem likely where you are anyway, I think there's every reason to go for it.

dboy

I think it would be a great opportunity. I've had my name as a liaison officer at the Canadian Embassy in London for the past couple of years and would love the chance to go (also a 5 year gig).

Vancouver will still be here

Rob_999

I'd normally say go for it, what have you got to lose. However, the baby is going to be the biggest factor in making your decision. What does your wife think, and where are your & her families located?

Financially I'd say standard of living earning $95k in Vancouver could be replaced with GBP55k in London. So if you're earning GBP74k you could save an extra $19k less tax etc at (40%??) so maybe an extra GBP10 per year if you save really hard.

Lifestyle - well there's nothing even remotely close to Yaletown in London. Commute to work will likely be longer, and probably working hours too. Definitely go and visit before making a decision.

christmasoompa

Got to say I disagree with this, we earn more than the amount given and would struggle to save £10k per year. Granted, we have two children rather than one, but we don't lead an extravagent life and still don't have that amount of disposable income.

Agree that the commute is likely to be longer, but my husband worked longer hours in Vancouver than he has done in London - guess it depends on the industry/job etc. Certainly there was no slinking off to the pub at 4pm on a Friday in Vancouver!

iaink

This is an important consideration. Raising kids as an immigrant with no family to call on to babysit can be a pain, even if its only for a finite time.