What proportion of income should be spent on rent?

gorgeous_gwen

I was taught in Geography at school (this would be around 1991 - 1992 time) that when we were grown up (lol), that rent and food should take up no more than half of your monthly wages. If you lived in London, this would be different because your rent may take up to half of your wages alone.

Now, I'm not putting any stock in that, or saying I have lived by it! I'm just interested where they might have gotten that from because I don't remember it being taught later as part of our GCSEs...!

poppy10_2

Treadmill wrote: »

I currently pay £220 a month mortgage, it would cost about £650 a month to rent my house

Yeah, if I could go back in time and buy in 1992 I would too. Unfortunately I was only 11 at the time

PasturesNew

It's difficult to say how much I earn, things change so regularly, so I take a figure of £1000/month takehome as being achievable every month. I can only tell what I have earnt in the last 12 months, not what I'll have in the next 12.

My rent is 35% of that, then there's another 20-25% on bills probably.

neverdespairgirl

poppy10 wrote: »

Yeah, if I could go back in time and buy in 1992 I would too. Unfortunately I was only 11 at the time

Me too. Well, I was 14, but not in house-buying mode either (-:

lostinrates

Rent...as little as possible! In the last few years we have comprimised in a way i wouldn't if buying to keep expenditure low so we could continue to save whgile buying. Mortgage I'm very prepared to pay a much hight percentage of wage than we have renting.

greektony

41% for me on my mortgage :-(

byrneand

Probably about 13% for me

beingjdc

Just under a third. But, y'know, London Zone 2, so.

enjoymarcus

phil_b wrote: »

I spend 7.5% of my pre-tax monthly income on my share of rent.

Do you live with your parents?

Some quick maths, £20,000 x 7.5% = £1500 x 12 = £125 pcm or roughly £32 pw.

Something doesn't add up there.

lkmc01

we were spending £375 on rent a calendar month - 43% of my partners wages. Here are details -

I became pregnant in my first year at uni. It was while I was back home at Christmas with my boyfriend who I had been with for a couple of years. I then went back to uni 250 miles away and lived in a halls of resistence. I left the first year hall when I was 5 months pregnant and lived with my parents for 2 weeks.

I then moved in with my partner.

He was working 44 hour weeks on £6 an hour and we were living in a one bedroom flat. Since I had only been at uni I could not get an maternity paid or anything similar. We were under 25 years old so could not get anything from tax credits before my son was born. The flat we lived in had a dressing room which had been converted from a very small bedroom (too small for even a cot). This we had to use for our clothes as the bedroom was too small for a wardrobe. We were therefore classed as having 2 bedrooms!!! and so over our needs (even though I was 7 - 9 months pregnant). I did look for a job in a cafe part time between 6 - 9 months pregnant but no one would employ me as I was 'too much of a risk' being pregnant.

Although we lived together we could only afford about £15 a week on food shopping so found ourselves eating at our families houses.

When my son was born and we started to get tax credits, child benefit and the sure start grant I felt like I had won the lottery as I could eventually buy by son a cot instead of using all second hand stuff.

Now he's nearly 3 and I'm back at uni. I took a year off. We do ok now for money now but it was very tight before my son was born. I had to walk to the doctors for check ups at 7 - 9 months pregnant and in the very hot July - August heat of 2005 because I couldn't afford the bus fare.

Before my son was born we could not get any other money apart from my partners wages. He was working all the hours he could legelly do (driving job).

we had to pay full council tax and had bought a car on finance over 5 years 1 week before I found out I was pregnant.

I hope to fully contribute to tax when I leave uni but felt negelted as my son came when he did.