Really need some advice

barbarawright

Have you given any thought to how you will fund £1300 a month in rent - this would require an after-tax income of twice that. Don't assume that housing benefit will make up any shortfall.

monkeypuzzle32

seriously you can rent a nice flat in zone 3 (where I live) for about £650-750 a month with a garden and near 2 tubes and overground, at least that cuts down on rent and I'm not expert but coucil use private flats too don't they?

smj43

I do live in Zone 3! The going LHA rate for this month for a 2 bed flat is £300 per week in my borough which is £1300 per month. Sure, there are a few places cheaper than that available, but I might aswell get a council flat looking at the state of them. If they are offering it, why not take it? Moving out of London isn't an option, I like it here too much! I just got out of the country, I'm not going back.

Remember, the rent may be higher, but so are wages and LHA rates!

barbarawright

How are you going to pay £1300 a month rent. At 18 I very much doubt you're taking home £2500 a month in wages. Are you taking it for granting you'll get benefits to cover this amount?

vaporate

smj43 wrote: »

Well the monthly rent is £1300. Deposit is £1300 rent in advance + £1800 security deposit. Already that's £3100 but since I would be applying for LHA, which I can't do till AFTER moving in, I would need the second months rent on top just in case the application takes a while to go through. So that's £4400, which is near enough the £5000 I stated at a guess as to what I would need.

London is an expensive place.

no way. My sister pays £400 a month in earlsfield, London. house share.

OP, for 1300 quid I would want a pent house with 2 babes lol

fozmcfc

Has the OP actually stated how much take home pay they get a month yet, that is key considering the high demands and debt, they want to take on.

smj43

vaporate wrote: »

no way. My sister pays £400 a month in earlsfield, London. house share.

OP, for 1300 quid I would want a pent house with 2 babes lol

That's in the same borough as me, right near me actually. But that is a house share. Are you missing my point? We already share a house, but we need to move out because we are expecting a baby. Please read the post.

My take home pay about £1000 4 weekly. And yes, I'm planning on getting benefits. I'm not taking for granted that I will get it, because I know I will, everyone does. Why would I not?

TUS

smj43 wrote: »

That's in the same borough as me, right near me actually. But that is a house share. Are you missing my point? We already share a house, but we need to move out because we are expecting a baby. Please read the post.

My take home pay about £1000 4 weekly. And yes, I'm planning on getting benefits. I'm not taking for granted that I will get it, because I know I will, everyone does. Why would I not?

Erm, that IS taking it for granted.

You need to:

1. Check what you are entitled to (exact figures) - see entitledto.co.uk
2. Do a Statement of Affairs showing all of your incomings and outgoings to see what you can afford
3. Re-evaluate where you are going to live, but being realistic this time - there is no way you'll be able to afford the kind of rent you are talking about. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Getting into £5k debt at 18 is a VERY bad choice, trust me. Been there, still paying for it 10 years later. Its also not the best thing for your kid, whatever you may think.

Even IF (very unlikely at 18 btw) you could get a loan @ 40% APR, this is what you'd repay:

£5000 over 5 years @ 40%
£193.76 per month repayments
£6625.49 in interest
£11625.49 repaid :-o

Is it worth it?

Listen to the advice given here.

smj43

TUS wrote: »

Erm, that IS taking it for granted.

You need to:

1. Check what you are entitled to (exact figures) - see entitledto.co.uk
2. Do a Statement of Affairs showing all of your incomings and outgoings to see what you can afford
3. Re-evaluate where you are going to live, but being realistic this time - there is no way you'll be able to afford the kind of rent you are talking about. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Getting into £5k debt at 18 is a VERY bad choice, trust me. Been there, still paying for it 10 years later. Its also not the best thing for your kid, whatever you may think.

Even IF (very unlikely at 18 btw) you could get a loan @ 40% APR, this is what you'd repay:

£5000 over 5 years @ 40%
£193.76 per month repayments
£6625.49 in interest
£11625.49 repaid :-o

Is it worth it?

Listen to the advice given here.

Ok, yeah I guess I am taking it for granted. But why shouldn't I? I obviously can't afford it, so what else do I have to rely on?

And I don't understand what you mean by being more realistic. That is the going amount of rent at the moment. Why can't anybody understand that? I'm not looking at a palace, that's just what places cost.

I have been to entitled to and worked out we are entitled to £360 a week. Rent of 300 a week will leave us with 60 a week extra plus my 250 earnings. So we will have 310 a week after the rent has been paid.

Also, I have decided against the loan idea. You are right, it is not worth it at all. I will just have to save.

TUS

smj43 wrote: »

Ok, yeah I guess I am taking it for granted. But why shouldn't I? I obviously can't afford it, so what else do I have to rely on?

And I don't understand what you mean by being more realistic. That is the going amount of rent at the moment. Why can't anybody understand that? I'm not looking at a palace, that's just what places cost.

I have been to entitled to and worked out we are entitled to £360 a week. Rent of 300 a week will leave us with 60 a week extra plus my 250 earnings. So we will have 310 a week after the rent has been paid.

Also, I have decided against the loan idea. You are right, it is not worth it at all. I will just have to save.

The point I was making is that you can't afford the deposit ... if you have no other debts, £1200 per month rent probably is JUST about manageable. But you could move to a different area which is cheaper. You are NOT forced to stay in an expensive area!

Also remember to factor in cost of council tax, gas, electricity, water, telephone, travel, food, etc. This is why you should do a Statement of Affairs (see the Debt Free Wannabe board for more info).

You've made the right decision in choosing to save. I went down the instant gratification route and it got me nowhere. A third of my wages now disappear on payday EVERY month and will do for the next 5 years. It was not worth it.

Best of luck.