Flat renting advice

RKid85

Hi there, I was looking for a bit of advice regarding flat letting. I'm a male of 24, in a steady full time job paying a net monthly wage of £1100. I'm looking to start renting my own flat in the near future once I've settled my overdraft which at the moment is £500, (I owed £3000 approx 18 months ago). Most flats in my area are all in the region of £400-£550. I'm just looking for advice on what would be more affordable given my cirumstances, at the time of renting I won't owe anything and my only real outgoing will be a monthly £50 iphone bill. If I had a flat say £450, utilities of £70, food of say £180 a month, council tax of approx £100, this totals approx £850. I'm not sure if the leftover would be enough to comfortably see me by. I've done part time bar work for 5 years also so I wouldn't be against seeking this out as a bit of extra income but would rather not unless I need to. Any feedback or advice anyone could give would be appreciated. Cheers!

ceh209

Given your age, would you consider a houseshare? It might reduce some of the costs, and you would get more of a living space compared to a studio/1 bed flat - although you would have to share it obviously!

Also £180 a month for food is pretty high - I do it for about £100 i think. I know you're male but it might be a good idea to learn to cook (just joking - meal planning, batch cooking etc all help)

RKid85

Hi mate thanks for getting back. I've considered house-sharing but most of my friends don't live in the same area as where I'm looking to move, can't afford to or already live with partners etc. There are rooms available for let but I'm not to keen on the idea of moving into someones spare, I'd much prefer my own space. I'll bear in mind the cooking part as well lol, it suits where I'm looking to move to as it's within walking distance from work and there's a tesco 2 mins from work also.

flutterbyuk25

To give you an idea....

I rent a 2bed flat for £400/mth, electric £40/mth, Bt phone/internet £20/mth, water £15/mth, Council tax £90/mth (for 10mths a year), mobile £30/mth.

I spend anything between £60 - £80/mth on food. (£180/month is far too much for one person!!)

So I think it's perfectly do-able on your wages.

But remember to factor in things like the deposit, any furniture costs, instalation costs of phonelne/sky/internet etc. Also how far away will you live from friends/family/work as you may then have increased petrol/transport/taxi costs. (EDIT this cross posted with you saying it's 2mins from work!)

HTH

x

RKid85

Sounds good! The cheapest 2 bed flat is about £450 (I'd prefer 2 bedroom), price of your utilities sounds good as well! Hopefully I can get by on as much for food a month, perhaps I was jumping the gun slightly lol. I'm intending on having any furniture, installation and deposit covered upon moving anyway so I should be fine with that. I want to be walking distance from work, all my family and most friends are 10 mins drive/bus away, other friends are 15 mins train away, there's a train station within walking distance also. So hopefully I'll manage ok, but it's doing my head in the people on at me saying I'm going to struggle etc so I was just wondering how other people got on

PasturesNew

RKid85 wrote: »

utilities of £70, food of say £180 a month, council tax of approx £100, this totals approx £850. I'm not sure if the leftover would be enough to comfortably see me by. I've done part time bar work for 5 years also so I wouldn't be against seeking this out as a bit of extra income but would rather not unless I need to. Any feedback or advice anyone could give would be appreciated. Cheers!

Utilities would be more like £150. Mostly people's basic bills are: gas/electricity, water, TV licence, contents insurance, telephone line, broadband connection. These I'd say would be £150.

Look at the cost of a studio if you don't fancy sharing.

<sebb>

Do you really need two bedrooms if you are going to be on your own? If you're having occasional friends over to stay you can always get a sofa bed!

Your budget does seem very tight to me to be honest. You might have enough to just get by month to month but you wont have much left for going out saving for the future, saving for holidays etc.

The £50 iphone bill per month seems a bit excessive too. Are you at the end of your contract yet? Because if you are you can move to the O2 simplicity tarrif for £20 a month which I have and gets me 700 minutes and 1400 texts plus unlimited internet.

RKid85

Sky, broadband and telephone line (which I'd only need for b-band) is available for £25 a month. Don't know much about contents insurance though.

I don't need 2 bedrooms, I'd be happy with 1 bedroom if the price was ok, but a lot of flats in the area is £50 difference between 1 and 2. Originally I thought the same myself about having enough just to get by, so I may seek a small additional part time job. My girlfriend may eventually move in also (which I'll have to sort with landlord) she cant to start with as she's starting uni soon and doesn't want too much going on at the one time. She also works so would more than likely be able to contribute, less than me obviously.

Fire_Fox

RKid85 wrote: »

Hi there, I was looking for a bit of advice regarding flat letting. I'm a male of 24, in a steady full time job paying a net monthly wage of £1100. I'm looking to start renting my own flat in the near future once I've settled my overdraft which at the moment is £500, (I owed £3000 approx 18 months ago).

Most flats in my area are all in the region of £400-£550. I'm just looking for advice on what would be more affordable given my cirumstances, at the time of renting I won't owe anything and my only real outgoing will be a monthly £50 iphone bill. If I had a flat say £450, utilities of £70, food of say £180 a month, council tax of approx £100, this totals approx £850.

I'm not sure if the leftover would be enough to comfortably see me by. I've done part time bar work for 5 years also so I wouldn't be against seeking this out as a bit of extra income but would rather not unless I need to. Any feedback or advice anyone could give would be appreciated. Cheers!

The general concensus amongst the debt charities is that if your rent plus council tax is around half your wages that is not sustainable long term. If the flat you choose is all-electric then expect your winter fuel bills to be in the region of £100 a month. Mine are £30-40 a month year round but I often shower at work and barely use the heating (14C in the snow :eek:). To prepare a budget that includes everything (Christmas/ haircuts), use this:
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Please also consider that you need enough money for 'rainy day' savings, or for a car or deposit on a house if you want these in the future. If you fall ill or injured, your girlfriend gets pregnant, you get made redundant you need to be able to pay the rent and council tax. Housing benefit is paid in arrears and under 25 you can only get the shared rate, not enough for a one bedroom flat.

A two bedroom flat may 'only be £50' more rent but it may also be more council tax, more to heat and more to insure. If your girlfriend moves in with you all her student finance will have to be adjusted to take account of your wages. If you are not used to paying all the bills yourself I would recommend you spend at least six months in a flat share or studio, just to get a feel for budgeting.

Personally I cannot see the point in renting a two bed place and then never being in it because you are working two jobs or visiting family and friends! Are you actually going to have time to watch Sky if you do that? Do you really need two phones (mobile AND landline) and two internet connections (iPhone AND broadband)? Often a second job is not a great move for someone new to renting, as you end up spending all the extra money on takeaways and ready meals as you are too tired to clean the kitchen, cook and wash up.

RKid85

There's a few fair points there, about the 2 bedroom. Perhaps a 1 bedroom may be more advisable, which I more than likely will end up with anyhow. In regards to the 2nd job though, I wouldn't be overdoing it, 1 night or 2 maximum. I've juggled 2 jobs for years and currently do all my own cooking/cleaning anyway so I'm confident I'd manage that, if I did take a 2nd job this would also be local to my main employer and flat so I'd have time to sort that out. Thanks for the advice