OK, that makes sense. Although I'm "mid-career", I'm not looked at that way. For one, 10 years of my teaching career were at the public school (i.e., government school, elementary and high school) level. Ironically, at my first US position, these 10 years would have counted toward salary if I'd been teaching in the university's "Education" department, but as I was in the "Physical Education" department, it didn't.

Also, although I'm in my 10th year of college teaching, I still haven't gone up for tenure (moved around too much, places reluctant to give you years towards tenure). I have a great teaching and research record and don't think I'll have any trouble getting tenure. However, faculty of a similar age and years experience to me are getting paid up to 20k more.

Ironically, places in the UK just look at my record and say "Great, we'd love to have you here, you'll help our RAE tremendously and we love alll the teaching awards you've got!", and tell me mid-40k shouldn't be a problem. So, for me, US salaries are similar to what I think I can get in the UK.

we live in Ruislip, 6 miles from Northwood. you would be hard pressed on £ 55K to be able to rent a hovel, let alone qualify for a mortgage around here. and the Chav and Ned culture is destroying the whole area. £ 75K would see you OK.

we are leaving, heading Oz way. trust me, you don't want to live in Northwood. it is near Rickmansworth, ground -0- with a NATO HQ there or so we're told

Guess what....hubby works for NATO Didnt know that a NATO HQ is such a bad thing....
Whats wrong with Rickmansworth....?
I got told that Northwood is actually quit nice.

Yes. Everyone gets a 'Personal Allowance' exempt of tax which is roughly 5k, then the tax brackets kick in on income over that which are 10%, 20% & 40% once you are earning in the 30ks. So 2 people on 25k are much better off than one on 50k.

Must be a difference if you single and earn 50k being single or earning 50k and the main breadwinner for a family of 4?

Yes in terms of spending power and lifestyle, not in terms of income tax due, although families may get tax credits, dependent on income level.

A salary of £50k will be fine for a family of 4 (it's more than we have and we have a 4 bed detached house in a highly desirable area), but will need a large deposit for house purchase to buy a decent sized home. But lots and lots of people live on much less, and some lucky one on much more! If it's your dream to live here, you will make it happen. Shopping (food & clothes) can be bought very cheaply here, no doubt you know of Tesco's & Asda for example. Good luck.

I know that shopping will be cheap it is very expensive here in Belgium.
I'm only worried over the house prices in Northwood..being sooo expensive
Yes we have a good deposit just not sure if it is a good deposit for Northwood...aah well..just have to shop around long enough
Looks like the income will be more toward the 60.000k line anyhow.
Thanks anyhow...

have to say even £35k is possible if you have 4 kids and a reasonable sum of cash to use as a house deposit.

£35k is a reasonable London salary almost average I would say given the city boys distort things a little. But on that money you would be net earning about £2100 per month. Say you have a £100k repayment mortgage costing about £700 a month and then have to pay council tax, bills, utilities etc say £400 that leaves about £1000 per month plus the child allowances around £200 per month so say £1200 to live. Groceries may be £150 a week so not a lot of room to move but then society everywhere is geared up to both couples working. Add even a part time job into this £500 a month and things start to look better and maybe even enough for a small holiday once a year.

these figures would be fairly typical for a family and obviously if they have lived in london for a while then we have to assume plenty of equity in the house. starting out is a different game as house prices have risen so much not only in london but all around the world relative to local earnings. One thing in London's favour is there are plenty of decent paying jobs around.

Thank heavens for a good realistic post. £35 k in Guildford must be hard going though - houses are even more expensive than in Farnham where we live!

100k mortgage near London...you must have had a very good deposit, considering you look at around 300.000k for a 3 bed semi.
We think rather about 150.000 - 200.000 mortgage.
2100 per month with 4 kids....wow..I dont know, if I could do it...we only have 2 kids.

Mmmhh.. just had a look were Guildford is...not exactly London, isn't.
In and near Northwood houses are so expensive, ridicules really.

Don't know Northwood. Never even heard of it so couldn't comment on it at all. However I know Guildford very well (it's 10 minutes down the road) and is in Surrey. It is a cathedral market town set in beautiful countryside. An affluent, highly desirable area, 30 minutes into London by train, thus very commutable to working in the city, as many of its residents do. Hence it offers a semi-rural suburban lifestyle chosen by many families. Houses are expensive though and traffic at rush hour particularly is not pleasant.

Carmen.

The reality is that just about any house under 350K is either small, (by family standards), or in an average area of London. There are many average areas of London. I am often worried when people mention where they will be moving back to; they are often very ordinary and after being away in parts of the world where the quality of life is high they might expect a better area.

If you want a nice area, and more than just a 3 semi box, (hall, kitchen, diner/living room, landing, 3 beds and a bathroom, maybe 2 toilets) with a bit of character then it is 350k + all the way. Even with a deposit that is a lot of money. I worked out I needed to buy a 400k house to live where I grew up, and have a 3 bed house that wasn't a box.

cheers

Why not wait and rent for a while?. UK house prices are over-valued, unemployment is rising and looking at the economic indicators the economy is likely to be heading for recession.

Last time this happened house prices dropped dramatically, and places on the periphery of London were badly hit.

You could save yourself some money.

I know, I know...but 2005 was suppose to be the year of the crash and now they going up again.
Somehow I dont think anymore that the house prices will go down .
We will rent for a while anyhow, but should nothing happen we will buy.

This is a bloody good post. Very true. 35k was a great salary in 1997 for families back then. Now, if you assume double income, then you can have a 200k mortgage on Dugongs terms quite happily. But this was all very well pre 1999-2004. Now you would need to borrow another 100k-200k...assuming no deposit, and you need to think about childcare and the ability for 2 professionals to work in 2 very good jobs.