Tax is 20% on all but the first about �5000 of salary a year, on top of which there is National Insurance at about 9�%. You will have to check the rates carefully on
our tax website. So you will be looking at a little more than �2000 net monthly.
The South of England is generally expensive, not quite as bad as London, but if you are unlucky you will be paying �800 monthly for rent. At that price it might be worth considering buying a house; at present house prices are falling across Britain and sellers are having to take a considerable discount. Look on a
building society website to see how much the interest on a mortgage would be. Remember you will have to spend �100 monthly on local taxes and �100 monthly on house insurance as well. My electricity and gas bills are something in the order of �80 monthly, but you will probably want a smaller house than I've got.
Whether you can make a
profit on a house is uncertain, depending how long the prices remain low, but if you do make a profit you don't have to pay tax on it.
Even with those costs, you ought to be able to live on �36000, but I think it might be worthwhile trying for �40000 if you have several years' experience.
Remember there is an inverse correlation between the salaries offered and the likely security of the job
CR