Budgeting for bills etc in a 4 bed detached house

sarah_elton

OH and I are in the early stages of planning a move from a 2 bed flat to what will probably be a 4 bed detached house.

I'm starting to work up a monthly budget, so we can work out how much we'd like to be spending on our mortgage repayments (we don't want to take out our maximum possible mortgage).

I know my monthly budget for bills on my flat, but have no clue about a much bigger house. Can anyone provide guesstimates for the utilities (gas/elec/water)? All for 2 of us living there, and assuming water is metered. In my flat I'm on flat annual rate water and getting screwed by it bah.

I'm looking at council tax on the local council's website (I'm guess a 4 bed would be around a Band D or E?), will take phone, TV etc from my current budget, and will do some quotes online for home insurance.

poppysarah

An arm and a leg.
Ask whoever lives there now how much their bills are.

You can find out more accurately if the house is for sale or by ringing the council - they should tell you what band it is in.

Heating will be dearer. Hard to say how much without knowing how well insulated/type of heating etc.

sarah_elton

Thanks - we're not at the stage of viewings yet. We want to be looking at things in the right price range before we waste anyone's time, and also aren't planning on buying till next year.

If it helps anyone take some rough guesses, we're looking at relatively modern - mostly 1990-2000 builds in the area in question. Just wondering if anyone lives in properties vaguely similar and could provide some guidance. To the nearest hundred is fine lol. Let's assume gas central heating...

At the moment, I don't have gas at all - my flat is all electric including heating. That's why I have no clue what sort of figures to look at.

MoneySavingSpender

sarah_elton wrote: »

OH and I are in the early stages of planning a move from a 2 bed flat to what will probably be a 4 bed detached house.

I'm starting to work up a monthly budget, so we can work out how much we'd like to be spending on our mortgage repayments (we don't want to take out our maximum possible mortgage).

I know my monthly budget for bills on my flat, but have no clue about a much bigger house. Can anyone provide guesstimates for the utilities (gas/elec/water)? All for 2 of us living there, and assuming water is metered. In my flat I'm on flat annual rate water and getting screwed by it bah.

I'm looking at council tax on the local council's website (I'm guess a 4 bed would be around a Band D or E?), will take phone, TV etc from my current budget, and will do some quotes online for home insurance.

Rough guideline for a North London 4bedroom Semi Detached with 5 people living there:

Council Tax: £2500/year
Leccy: £1500/year
Water: £1100/year
Gas: £1400/year

If you budget is tight have you considered getting a lodger for the other double bedrooms?

sarah_elton

Thanks - those figures are useful as a starting point! I'll scale down water and electricity a bit for less people.

Budget won't be tight at all at first. We don't want to borrow anywhere near our maximum possible mortgage, so at first we'll have plenty of leftover cash each month. The point of doing the budget is that we want the house to be affordable on a single salary once kiddie time comes along (or single plus a bit of part time evening work if required but this is several years off). So we're looking at how much we actually want to be spending on mortgage repayments, not at how much we can possibly borrow.

geoffky

I Reckon £500 For All Bills Including Car/clothes/sat Plus Mortgage

LisbonLaura

sarah_elton wrote: »

Thanks - we're not at the stage of viewings yet. We want to be looking at things in the right price range before we waste anyone's time, and also aren't planning on buying till next year.

I hope you are trying to shift your existing place(s) now, then living elsewhere & later picking off a good deal? -- This will affect your attitude to budgeting I would have thought?
Get your timing right & the move should not cost you much, if anything (I did a similar 'swop' in the early 70s & early 90s......flat to detached).


Heating a large detached is all down to insulation.
With my timber-framed bungalow it was very cheap, & the stone detached cottage quite the opposite!- A huge difference.

AbbieCadabra

we're in a 15 year old large'ish 3 bed detached. 2 adults. me at home most of the day. gas CH (original boiler, which i'm sure could be replaced with something a lot more efficient!). cavity wall insulated. metered water. band C council tax. East Midlands.

per month
gas/elec £101
council tax £113
water £25.50

contents/bldg insurance with Admiral - £141 p/annum in June

HTH & good luck!

Lemoncurd

You can find out your council tax banding on http://www.voa.gov.uk/council_tax/cti_home.htm?home-sideimage
For our 4 bed it is around £1750

Haven't got the exact figures to hand but our gas and electricity are approx £50 per month combined, we switched to a water meter last year and are now being charged £21.50 per month, there are 4 of us in the house. Buildings and contents insurance is £450 a year.

sarah_elton

Thanks all - the figures are very helpful for working it all out!

LisbonLaura - only I own a place at the mo which I'll put on the market right away in the new year. Got a fixed rate till start of Feb so redemption penalty till then. Going to price well below everyone else, take the negative equity hit :eek: and hope a buyer bites. If they don't though we'll have to stay at mine longer and put the plan off.

As and when I manage to offload this place we'll rent in the area we're heading to for at least 6 months as neither of us have lived there before (nearby town - we know it socially but not residentially). And with any luck prices will fall a little further while we rent. At least we know they won't be running away from us while we do!