Cost of living in London

Can anyone who's living in London at the moment break down their monthly expenses and rent?
Got a conditional offer from one of the London Unis and I want to know if its feasible for me to live there :/

I am not a student, so this is private sector rental etc, but I have an awesome quality of life on a relatively low income in London and I'd highly recommend it, even if you're compromising a bit on quality of life it's worth it for the opportunities and lifestyle you get being in the city.

My rent is £600pcm including bills for a single room in a shared flat, fantastic quality (this seems to be a theme in London, I've literally never seen a bad property here, and believe me I've been looking for them lol), including a shared kitchen and bathroom and more space than I need (also seems to be a theme, seriously where are the tiny rooms at?!) and in a very central location (E3 postcode). Private rent seems to run from about £500-800 for these kind of rooms if you rent the room individually, if you get together with some friends and rent the whole flat as a group it can work out cheaper but is also a lot more variable. Lots of places won't rent to couples but those that do will usually only rent larger rooms so you're looking at higher costs, but works out cheaper per person. If you're living with a roommate you MUST say you're a couple, in nearly 4 years living here I haven't found a single agency that will rent a shared/twin room, no idea why but it's a gigantic pain in the ass. (Again this is private rental, hopefully student lets are better!) I'd advise you to get a place with bills included in the rent (easy to find, there are a lot of them) as it nearly always works out cheaper and is super convenient. Don't go way further out of town for cheaper rent, distance doesn't drop the prices that much and you'll lose whatever money you save on transport costs/lost working time because of having to commute.

My other costs are around £50/month for groceries (I don't think London is much different to the rest of the UK for food costs) and £10ish for toiletries, cleaning products etc, £40 for gym membership (HIGHLY recommended, mine (PureGym) includes a great range of unlimited classes as well as 24-hr use of the gym, independent sports clubs get expensive FAST so unless you're doing something that needs really specific facilities a flat-rate membership is the way to go) and £30ish for social activities/going out etc (although this is massively variable, my preferred lifestyle is quite cheap anyway, if you're wanting to go to fancy places it will rack up fast, if you drink buy alcohol in the supermarket not pubs/clubs it's crazy expensive). I don't really go out shopping etc but again if you do that's something to consider, you can be flexible on it though, there are a lot of options with markets, thrift stores, community freecyling groups etc so you don't need to spend a lot to get what you want.

The other big thing is transport - if you can I would HIGHLY recommend getting a bike, London is tiny and extremely cyle-friendly, you can get a good bike for £100ish and go everywhere on it, I spend nothing on transport except very occasional parts etc and it's by far my biggest saving. DO NOT drive in London unless you need to for accessibility reasons, the public transport links most places faster than you can drive, parking is a nightmare, traffic delays are a nightmare, insurance is insane if you're young, just don't (I sold my car when I moved to the UK, I miss driving but I'm glad I did lol). Public transport is EXPENSIVE so be prepared for that, I'd recommend renting a place near your uni to cut down on it, there are also some discount passes you can get for being in a certain age range/having disabilities/being a student etc so check those out for sure.

If you're struggling with uni costs I'd also really recommend a part-time job, there are a lot of agencies that offer completely flexible shifts in a range of sectors and pay pretty well, there's a ton of work going in general and it shouldn't be hard to find stuff that fits your schedule

Thank you so much!

I am not a student, so this is private sector rental etc, but I have an awesome quality of life on a relatively low income in London and I'd highly recommend it, even if you're compromising a bit on quality of life it's worth it for the opportunities and lifestyle you get being in the city.

My rent is £600pcm including bills for a single room in a shared flat, fantastic quality (this seems to be a theme in London, I've literally never seen a bad property here, and believe me I've been looking for them lol), including a shared kitchen and bathroom and more space than I need (also seems to be a theme, seriously where are the tiny rooms at?!) and in a very central location (E3 postcode). Private rent seems to run from about £500-800 for these kind of rooms if you rent the room individually, if you get together with some friends and rent the whole flat as a group it can work out cheaper but is also a lot more variable. Lots of places won't rent to couples but those that do will usually only rent larger rooms so you're looking at higher costs, but works out cheaper per person. If you're living with a roommate you MUST say you're a couple, in nearly 4 years living here I haven't found a single agency that will rent a shared/twin room, no idea why but it's a gigantic pain in the ass. (Again this is private rental, hopefully student lets are better!) I'd advise you to get a place with bills included in the rent (easy to find, there are a lot of them) as it nearly always works out cheaper and is super convenient. Don't go way further out of town for cheaper rent, distance doesn't drop the prices that much and you'll lose whatever money you save on transport costs/lost working time because of having to commute.

My other costs are around £50/month for groceries (I don't think London is much different to the rest of the UK for food costs) and £10ish for toiletries, cleaning products etc, £40 for gym membership (HIGHLY recommended, mine (PureGym) includes a great range of unlimited classes as well as 24-hr use of the gym, independent sports clubs get expensive FAST so unless you're doing something that needs really specific facilities a flat-rate membership is the way to go) and £30ish for social activities/going out etc (although this is massively variable, my preferred lifestyle is quite cheap anyway, if you're wanting to go to fancy places it will rack up fast, if you drink buy alcohol in the supermarket not pubs/clubs it's crazy expensive). I don't really go out shopping etc but again if you do that's something to consider, you can be flexible on it though, there are a lot of options with markets, thrift stores, community freecyling groups etc so you don't need to spend a lot to get what you want.

The other big thing is transport - if you can I would HIGHLY recommend getting a bike, London is tiny and extremely cyle-friendly, you can get a good bike for £100ish and go everywhere on it, I spend nothing on transport except very occasional parts etc and it's by far my biggest saving. DO NOT drive in London unless you need to for accessibility reasons, the public transport links most places faster than you can drive, parking is a nightmare, traffic delays are a nightmare, insurance is insane if you're young, just don't (I sold my car when I moved to the UK, I miss driving but I'm glad I did lol). Public transport is EXPENSIVE so be prepared for that, I'd recommend renting a place near your uni to cut down on it, there are also some discount passes you can get for being in a certain age range/having disabilities/being a student etc so check those out for sure.

If you're struggling with uni costs I'd also really recommend a part-time job, there are a lot of agencies that offer completely flexible shifts in a range of sectors and pay pretty well, there's a ton of work going in general and it shouldn't be hard to find stuff that fits your schedule

The other big thing is transport - if you can I would HIGHLY recommend getting a bike, London is tiny and extremely cyle-friendly, you can get a good bike for £100ish and go everywhere on it, I spend nothing on transport except very occasional parts etc and it's by far my biggest saving. DO NOT drive in London unless you need to for accessibility reasons, the public transport links most places faster than you can drive, parking is a nightmare, traffic delays are a nightmare, insurance is insane if you're young, just don't (I sold my car when I moved to the UK, I miss driving but I'm glad I did lol). Public transport is EXPENSIVE so be prepared for that, I'd recommend renting a place near your uni to cut down on it, there are also some discount passes you can get for being in a certain age range/having disabilities/being a student etc so check those out for sure.

The monthly costs of living in London as a full time student vary a lot.
Based on accomodation expenses, the specific region of London, health & transport needs, ability to homecook & stick to a budget, diet, social life and standard of living expectations.

Here is a friend's monthly budget for living in London, he studies at Imperial and lives in Sussex Gardens W2.
His parents pay his monthly rent of £1038 and an extra £400 a month travel allowance because he cannot drive due to medical restrictions & they do not want him using any public transport.


Groceries- £75
Eating out- £270
Takeaways & Nightlife- £420
Clothes and toiletries- £140.
Mobile Phone- £60.
Other- £18
Transport- (Parents send this allowance to cover his usual uber & cabs costs, they arrange separate transport for home visits)

TOTAL excluding transport allowance= £983.

Blimey that's a lot on food out, takeaways, and night life £690 a month on those? So like £20+ a day. His parents must be pretty well off

Completely fair enough if he has additional needs/requirements etc. But this seems a lot higher than a typical student budget, is all!

I know.
I have tried to encourage him to cut down on the takeaways and start making his own simple snacks & homecooking meals a few times a month.
I've taught him how to make all his favourite snacks.

But it's like he's got the eating habit of a 6 year old, hopelessly addicted to sugar and all things that are deep fried or a one way ticket to sky high cholesterol.
Constant supplies of krispy kreme & subway snacks, fizzy drinks brimming with sugar and a never ending procession of ubereats deliveries.
His entire birthday wishlist were items from Kingdom of Sweets and Kaspa's ice cream parlour.
He's 32.