Surviving in London – The Property Chronicle
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Surviving in London Two recent entrants into private equity real estate recount their first few months in London

The Guest Essay

Vintage suitcases in a pile

This article was originally published in December 2017.

Excited to start their new jobs in real estate private equity and experience the life of glamour and money in finance, Jordan and Patrick are hit by the sobering reality that is London prices.


Read the first part of this series


Patrick: I was imagining myself sipping Dom Perignon and driving an Aston Martin around Mayfair, but instead I am spending 95% of my salary on a tiny 1 bed and £6 Stellas in a dark and dirty pub in Zone 2. London is bloody expensive. Eye-wateringly so and there is no getting around this.

Jordan: Oh come on, it’s London! What did you expect? It was never going to be affordable at the start of our careers. And while I personally think that it is quite ironic that two well-paid young professionals are priced out of the very product/service that our industry is founded upon, we are still doing way better than most other 20-somethings.

P: There is absolutely no denying that. Bizarre, isn’t it? And while I work in real estate, ironically the people I have come to hate the most are London estate agents. Absolute vultures, circling above our heads bombarding us with voicemails and emails to squeeze us for every penny we have on rent. We definitely shouldn’t have provided them with our personal email addresses. Clearing out my spam folder took forever…

J: Lesson well learnt. In terms of rent, there was a golden rule within the previous generation that your rent should not exceed 30% of your after-tax income. I think I am on 60% right now…

P: It was a pretty fun year though!






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