How much would you spend on rent + bills?

elnana

Hi guys,

I apologise if a question like this has already been posted!

If your salary was 15000-16000 a year (before tax), what do you think is a sensible amount to spend on rent plus bills/council tax ???

I am hoping to move out for the first time in the new year and need a bit of advice on this. I've mostly been looking at 1-2 bedroom places with a maximum of £500 a month. Is this too much?

Thanks a lot :-) el

willsonline

Depends on your outgoings such as car, insurance, loans etc.. difficult to put a figure on it.

poppy10_2

£15,500 a year would give you a take-home pay of around £1,030 per month. Spending half of your take-home on rent is probably a bit much.

Scousebird_2

I am on £14k and my partner is on £16k-between us we gross approx £2k pcm and we spend £1k on rent and bills inc food.

PasturesNew

It's way too much. Look for a studio flat for your first place.
A studio might only appear to be £100 cheaper on paper, but council tax will be less and so will heating.

As a rough rule of thumb, you'd need to spend £200-250 on bills on top of your rent.

£50 Electricity/gas
£80 Council tax (completely guessing this as it varies around the country)
£40 Water - this is on rateable value, you might be able to change it/might not (I changed mine to a meter and it's now about £10/month)
£12 TV Licence (double for the first 6 months as they like you to get ahead)
£20 Contents insurance (varies between areas)
£12 - Phone Line
£16 - Broadband
===
£230 before you've even thought about eating or getting to work or buying soap!

The bills won't vary much no matter what place you rent, but the smaller/cheaper the place the less heating it will require, the chances of the council tax being lower are better and insurance will be cheaper too.

pinkshoes

Don't forget you'll also need a deposit for 1.5x the monthly rent.

If you want to live on your own, then go for a studio, or why not look into sharing a house with some people? It can be a good laugh if you find the right people! (I'm presuming you live with your parents at the moment and are not trying to escape a houseshare to live on your own!)

andrewmp

How is council tax less on a studio out of interest?

My bills are £584 before petrol and food earning similar to what you do. That's on a mortgage, it was more when I was renting.

Sazzyukrafc

Me and my fiance bring in £2500 between us each month.

We used to put £800 into a joint account (£400 each) each month, which would run the house - rent, bills, food etc...This was based on a £450 rental house.

Now we own our own house and put £1200 into the joint account (£600 each) a month. This is based on a £700 mortgage.

DGJsaver

andrewmp wrote: »

How is council tax less on a studio out of interest?

Cat A + 25% off as a single occupier

pinkkaz

elnana wrote: »

Hi guys,

I apologise if a question like this has already been posted!

If your salary was 15000-16000 a year (before tax), what do you think is a sensible amount to spend on rent plus bills/council tax ???

I am hoping to move out for the first time in the new year and need a bit of advice on this. I've mostly been looking at 1-2 bedroom places with a maximum of £500 a month. Is this too much?

Thanks a lot :-) el

If you're living in London you won't have much of a choice! Otherwise I'm sure you can find something cheaper. It's do-able.

robpw2

i think 800 a month should be enough to cover all bills and that rent which will not leave you with much spare ,

could you not share? that would reduce your outgoigns to about 400