London is expensive and the rest of the UK is much cheaper, so where you base yourself changes your budget more than anything else. This guide covers how much money you must show for the visa, what you'll earn, what London actually costs, and how to make the numbers work.
You must show £2,530 in savings held for 28 days straight to get the visa. The National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for ages 21 and up from April 2026. A room in a London house-share runs roughly £978 a month, and London is far pricier than anywhere else, so many working holidaymakers base themselves in Manchester, Bristol, Leeds or Edinburgh to save. Your biggest costs are rent and the weeks before your first payday.
To get the Youth Mobility Scheme visa, you must prove you have £2,530 in personal savings, held in your account for 28 consecutive days, with the 28th day falling within 31 days of applying (gov.uk). This is a visa requirement, not just guidance, so the money genuinely has to be there.
Treat £2,530 as the visa floor, not your travel budget. Realistically you'll want more to cover your first month: a deposit and a month's rent in advance, plus living costs while you find work.
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| YMS visa application fee | £340 |
| Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) | £776 per year (£1,552 for 2 years) |
| Savings you must show | £2,530 (held 28 days) |
Sources: gov.uk Youth Mobility Scheme, gov.uk IHS. The IHS is the big one, and it's worth knowing it's not a fee for nothing: it prepays your NHS access for the whole visa (see our healthcare guide). Flights are on top.
The UK sets a legal minimum wage that rises each April. From 1 April 2026 (gov.uk):
| Age | Hourly rate |
|---|---|
| 21 and over (National Living Wage) | £12.71 |
| 18 to 20 | £10.85 |
| Under 18 / apprentice | £8.00 |
Most working holidaymakers are 21 or over, so £12.71 is the relevant floor. Hospitality, retail and bar work often pay around this, sometimes a little more in London or with tips. Tax and National Insurance come out through PAYE, but your first £12,570 a year is income-tax-free (see our tax guide), so your take-home on early earnings is healthy.
Most working holidaymakers live in a house-share or flatshare, renting a room. The UK quotes rent per month (or sometimes per week for rooms; check which).
Reference points:
Outside London, room rents drop sharply. Expect to pay a deposit (capped by law at five weeks' rent for most tenancies in England) plus a month's rent in advance, and possibly a guarantor or several months upfront if you can't provide one.
London reference points (indicative, third party):
| Item | Weekly cost |
|---|---|
| Room in a house-share | ~£225 (≈£978/month, indicative, SpareRoom) |
| Transport (PAYG, capped) | up to £44.70 (official) |
| Groceries and basics | budget around £45 (indicative) |
| One meal out | ~£20 (indicative, Numbeo) |
Realistic total: roughly £335 to £360 a week in London before nightlife and travel (indicative, built from the figures above). Against full-time work at £12.71 an hour, London is liveable but tight; outside London the rent line drops and saving gets much easier.
London is by far the UK's most expensive city for rent. As a planning guide (indicative):
For live room rents by area, check SpareRoom and Rightmove rather than any single published average.
Bringing your savings into pounds and taking them home again both go through an exchange rate, and banks usually add a margin on top of any fee. Specialist services such as Wise and OFX often mean more money arrives, worth comparing for the big initial transfer especially.
You must show £2,530 in savings held for 28 consecutive days to get the visa. Bring more to cover a deposit, a month's rent in advance and living costs before your first pay.
From April 2026 it's £12.71 an hour for ages 21 and over (the National Living Wage), £10.85 for 18 to 20.
A room in a London house-share averages around £978 a month. Rooms are far cheaper in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Glasgow. The UK usually quotes rent per month.
It's the priciest UK city by some margin, mainly because of rent. It's doable on full-time work, but many working holidaymakers base themselves in a cheaper city to save more.
A £340 application fee plus the Immigration Health Surcharge at £776 a year (£1,552 for two years), which prepays your NHS access, plus the £2,530 savings you must show.
Sources: gov.uk · tfl.gov.uk. Last verified 2026-06-11.