The Student Room Group

How much does It cost to live in London for a year.

Hey there I'm thinking if heading to UCL or KCL next year and was just curious If any london students could let me know much It would cost (everything) to live in London a year? I went out with some work friends the other day and the bill was a real sting (£65 for a night out). When I mean costs I mean everything accomodation (decent private one), food etc and for going out and having a good time side I was thinking about 2 times a week.

Cheers for reading, Vincente
Reply 1
London is so overrated its untrue. I lived in London last year for a year. I got by on around 80 quid a week.
Depending on your lifestyle, it's going to cost you 6-8k per annum for living in london.
Vincente
Hey there I'm thinking if heading to UCL or KCL next year and was just curious If any london students could let me know much It would cost (everything) to live in London a year? I went out with some work friends the other day and the bill was a real sting (£65 for a night out). When I mean costs I mean everything accomodation (decent private one), food etc and for going out and having a good time side I was thinking about 2 times a week.

Cheers for reading, Vincente


i don't know where you went in london but it never costs me £65 for a night out! it's £30 absolute max, and that's for a treat. just going out to the pub can be a tenner, or a tenner for a meal etc. if you want to go to a good club it's generally no more than £10-£15 to get in. obviously it may cost £65 if you went for a NICE meal, then to a club, and bought a lot to drink... but i doubt you'd be doing this very often.
Journalistix
London is so overrated its untrue. I lived in London last year for a year. I got by on around 80 quid a week.


how did you get by on £80 a week? was that including accomodation, bills, food etc? i can't believe this! accomodation alone would cost £80 a week (or more)!
Reply 5
how did you get by on £80 a week? was that including accomodation, bills, food etc? i can't believe this! accomodation alone would cost £80 a week (or more)!


Strange. My cousin is in SOAS and accomodation in that area is costing him £95 a week alone.
Reply 6
the ritz resturant...........
Reply 7
Obviously acccomodation is a little more expensive in most cases- but my friend who goes to a uni in London is not actually spending as much on living exepenses as she thought she would have to. London really is not that expensive, as long as you are aware of how you are spending.
All my friends who went to London paid around the £100 mark for rent alone (shared, not ensuite which will be about £50 more). Bare in mind you will probably use the tube everyday, then add food and bills and it IS most certainly more expensive than any other part of the UK.
silent ninja
All my friends who went to London paid around the £100 mark for rent alone (shared, not ensuite which will be about £50 more). Bare in mind you will probably use the tube everyday, then add food and bills and it IS most certainly more expensive than any other part of the UK.


i don't think that ensuite is £150 a week. it's more like £100-£120. i've seen a lot of standard accomodation at UCL, KCL, QMUL etc which is from £80-£100 (which is actually not THAT different to places such as Leeds and Sussex). obviously travel is VERY expensive. a student travelcard is about £18 or so a week for zones 1-2. and then there's food (however, like anywhere else, you can eat cheap economy food and from market stalls etc). this adds up, in my opinion, to about £150 a week for all living expenses. however, you could do it for a lot less (or a lot more, if you're going to the ritz like the OP... i doubt any student goes to the ritz).
Vincente
the ritz resturant...........


I doubt you're going to find many other students who are up for going for that calibre of meal anyway :wink:

London doesn't have to be hugely expensive, you'll soon learn the cheaper places to go.
Reply 11
Am in my first year at KCL at the moment, living in university accommodation - zone 1, ensuite, costs me £114.45 per week (£4578 for 40 weeks, basically), and that's the most expensive accommodation KCL has. Obviously private accommodation won't be quite the same, but you can get some reasonable places for not too much more - especially if you're prepared to share a flat or house with other students.

After accommodation and disregarding tuition fees, my budget (for food, course materials, going out, travel, absolutely anything else you can think of) is £89 per week, and I'm surviving quite comfortably on that.

Hope that helps. :smile:
Reply 12
notsoperfect
i don't think that ensuite is £150 a week. it's more like £100-£120. i've seen a lot of standard accomodation at UCL, KCL, QMUL etc which is from £80-£100 (which is actually not THAT different to places such as Leeds and Sussex). obviously travel is VERY expensive. a student travelcard is about £18 or so a week for zones 1-2. and then there's food (however, like anywhere else, you can eat cheap economy food and from market stalls etc). this adds up, in my opinion, to about £150 a week for all living expenses. however, you could do it for a lot less (or a lot more, if you're going to the ritz like the OP... i doubt any student goes to the ritz).


It depends on the area. There are some rooms in one of Imperial's Halls that are £150 but then you spend no money on travel (provided you're not a medic) as it is right across the road from the South Kensington campus so you do save some cash there. Also you don't end up spending a huge amount on food and whatnot if you know where to get your stuff. On food this week I've spent probably £20 and that's due to me going out tonight for a Chinese meal. It's possible to get by on a very low budget.

Do bear in mind that you're also getting a much larger loan to compensate for living in London (up to about £6000!) and while accommodation may be expensive you can get by quite cheaply in London.
Reply 13
tis very true, if you know where to go, and get used to living a bit differently (i.e. DON'T go out drinking every night!) then it's not that expensive. I'm not doing too badly for cash (although if it weren't for the government bursary I'd be a goner already!)
If you can live in South London and if you live on the Thameslink rather than the tube, it's really not that bad. I currently live in Leeds (working, not a student at present) and my London-dwelling friends don't pay an awful lot more for anything. In fact, there's a pub in Peckham where you can get a gin and tonic for the BARGAIN price of £2.15!
horseofthedog
If you can live in South London and if you live on the Thameslink rather than the tube, it's really not that bad. I currently live in Leeds (working, not a student at present) and my London-dwelling friends don't pay an awful lot more for anything. In fact, there's a pub in Peckham where you can get a gin and tonic for the BARGAIN price of £2.15!


it's true. living in south london, or living in east london will definitely ease your bills. you can get accomodation (in a shared house) for as little as £50-£60 a week there. then you've just got to be sensible with going out - you can always drink on the cheap if you find the right places!