How much Rent can one afford?

Ralphy101

on a £20,596 salary?

Is there a standard calculation ?

HappyMJ

It's about a third so £429 per month or £99 per week. But....this does depend on your other outgoings.

Ralphy101

Thanks for your answer..

That seems so low?

Ive been able to afford higher than that in the past on a lower salary.

poppy10_2

Ralphy101 wrote: »

That seems so low?

Ive been able to afford higher than that in the past on a lower salary.

As stated, it depends on your individual circumstances. The average is around a third of take-home salary, which would be £448/month for you, but it all depends on your other outgoings, how frugal you are - you might be able to live comfortable on 55% of your salary after paying rent whereas others would struggle even on 66%.

princeofpounds

One third is an old rule of thumb which is nice to aspire to but is a bit low for the experience of any of my peers. Then again, they are mostly in London and South East. They are all paying 35-55% - rent is especially expensive these days. Those who are in house shares are more 'on target' though.

Obviously the lower the better!

PasturesNew

Some agents set a top limit of 40% of takehome.
Thing is, where I live, 1-bed flat rents are 60% of takehome..... so I don't think they do that here

ovoreo

This made me giggle! You asking us what we think you can afford! haha! As others have said a good rule of thumb is a 1/3 as you might want disposable income or have debts to repay. I hope you find something affordable to you.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Ralphy101 wrote: »

How much Rent can one afford??

However much you need to spend to obtain suitable housing.

Housing is a primary need, and people have to pay for it to the exclusion of most other things if need be.

If you can't afford it by yourself, share with others.

There isn't a rule of thumb anymore, it's really down to supply and demand in your area.

And with rents in most areas currently soaring, and predicted to continue doing so, such percentage calculations are going to be outdated by the following year anyway.

dreavi

As others have mentioned 1/3 to 1/2 is a good benchmark but your individual circumstances are important. It depends how much you spend on food, transport entertainment etc.

I.e if you can walk to work you can spend more on rent

Gorgeous_George

The OP needs to work this out for himself.

Add up all the other things that you HAVE to pay for each month and whatever is left over is how much you can afford. That doesn't mean that is how much you should pay.

Be careful because bills (including rent) may rise faster than your wages. What is affordable now may not be so affordable in 6 months or a a year's time. You don't want to be forced in to a move.

GG

80schild

It depends on so many things-do you have a car, do you have to pay travel to work, do you socialise a lot, do you have a partner? kids?

We have a combined income of 25k or about 30k inc benefits (tax credits, child benefit and DLA) and easily manage on a £520 mortgage and running two cars but don't go out that much or buy expensive clothes