rent from family or continue saving?

lolypopcorn

I have been offered the chance to rent a relatives house as they have moved out of the country. They have asked me how much rent I could afford and I am trying to calculate it but I'm not too sure.

I am currently living at home and pay low rent but I have been saving as much as possible to enable me to buy a house at some point. I have £12k saved but due to my earnings I could only borrow £50k so it's proving difficult to find a house in my price range.

I bring home £1000 a month and partner currently works part time and brings home £300 a month (however he is on quite a casual contract so job security isn't too good at the moment).

My current direct debits total £60 per month (phone & insurance & eye care) and petrol costs me around £100 a month. The house is relatively new and is always very warm so I imagine heating would be quite cheap. We would need internet (£20 a month) and tv licence, council tax would be £99 month.

I was thinking at the moment we could afford max £450 a month. However as I had got into the mindset of potentially buying a house I'm not sure what to do. Rent until we are earning more money to get a better mortgage or look at buying a very cheap house asap (in a rubbish area). What would you do? I'm stuck

dimbo61

Will your partner be earning better money any time soon ? Full time work?
How long have you been seeing each other ? Does he want to live in a place with you ? Age, jobs,income, how you spend your money all have a huge part to play.
How much does your relatives want for the house ? Each month ( it maybe less than £450 a month)
What would the same type of property rent for if you were renting from a Landlord or Letting Agent.
Who will look after the property while your relatives are " OUT OF THE COUNTRY" an have they got Consent to Let ?
Well done on saving £12K for a deposit on a take home income of £1000 a month but you would spend between £600/750 a month just on living and buying food in the rental property ( Your Call Good luck)

lolypopcorn

Hi thanks for the reply, all good questions. I was a bit concerned about making my post too long so I accidentally left some details out. To answer your questions:

dimbo61 wrote: »

Will your partner be earning better money any time soon ? How long have you been seeing each other? Age, jobs,income, how you spend your money all have a huge part to play.

It is possible his hours will increase soon, therefore so will his pay but this is not certain. We have been together for 7 years and have lived together before so we are aware of what it entails. We are only in our early 20's but don't mind living frugally if necessary.

How much does your relatives want for the house ? Each month ( it maybe less than £450 a month)
What would the same type of property rent for if you were renting from a Landlord or Letting Agent.
Who will look after the property while your relatives are " OUT OF THE COUNTRY" an have they got Consent to Let ?

They haven't said how much they would want, just asked what I could afford. Similar houses go for between £600-800 a month so I am aware that they may need more than I can afford. Not sure about the consent to let, this is a new idea for them. They were initially going to sell but the house is currently worth about £40k less than they paid, as they bought at the height of the boom.

Well done on saving £12K for a deposit on a take home income of £1000 a month but you would spend between £600/750 a month just on living and buying food in the rental property ( Your Call Good luck)

Thanks I know, this is the part I am struggling with. We are desperate to get out and have our own house but I don't know if it is worth the cost at the moment, but saying that I could still be living at home in 5 years time still unable to afford to buy.