Cost of living (renting)

Greyhorse

Hi everyone,

I think I have found a house to rent we like. Rent is 500pcm, cheapest in the area but has been on the market for over 2 months. Is it usual to be able to negotiate with rent or is it generally fixed?

We can certainly afford the rent, but how much extra do we need to budget for living in general (gas,elect, etc?l House is a 2 bed semi in the north east?
Having never moved out before we need to be sure of all costts before comitting?

Thanks

reset1

Nothing wrong in trying to get the rent reduced. Living cost all depends if it is you alone or you have partner or kids.

BigAlC

This thread has a break down in percentages of what you should budget for.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4041211

Also mentions some things you might not have accounted for.

I know it's asking a different question, but the replies include how much to put aside for living costs.

BitterAndTwisted

If you don't have any idea of what it can cost to run a home, why not ask those who are doing it now and have been for rather a long time? Like your parents.

Council tax can vary hugely but the LA website might help.

Heating and hot-water: depends on the property-build, the fuel used and how many rooms you're heating and at what temperature you're heating them to. Budget for £50 a month in summer (ha!) and £100 in winter as an absolute minimum.

Electricity: between £30 and £50 a month. Depends on what appliances you're running, what they are and for how long. Also whether the cooking is leccy or not or whether you choose to cook at all..

marieparr

This is what we pay for living in a two bedroomed house in the north east of england, rent £500, phone - internet and phone around £35, tv licence £14, gas & electric £87 through British Gas, council tax £118, water £32, I have rounded up my figures though. The biggest one for us is gas/electric seems to go up/down. Up over winter, down in summer when i dont put the heating on. I hope this helps

drummer_666

I would say, we'll take it for £475, they might well say yes. They might say £485... they might say nope £500 - but worth a try for a haggle

the first flat i moved into with my now ex, it was up at £450 i think, we got it for £440, bit of a saving to us - peanuts to LL

and Marie - £118 council tax for 2 bed up north, wow that's expensive! tv license is also £1/month flat rate, but they take 10 payments per month

my water is £19 per month in the house i just bought, but is £29ish in the house i rent that is smaller and a few houses away, very strange. it's all about rateable value which means !!!!!! all these days (i worked for the waterboard 5 yrs ago!)

girl_withno_name

You can ask for a reduction (you may not get it though)... our current rented house was on for £550 and we got a reduction to £525, despite "lots of other interested parties"