Going it alone/downsizing (renting)

penthouse89

Hi All,

Not been here very long but been lurking for a while.

A couple of years ago, I moved into a city centre penthouse, with my mate. I was earning £24k at the time in quite a good job. A string of bad luck meant that the flat got hit by burglers twice, and we moved out.

We're now in a 3-bedroomed town house, quite far out of town. However, my job has moved back to the town, and it's quite a commute by bus. I own a car, and I want to keep it, but I usually bus to work. It costs me around £200 a month all in for the car.

I took a pay cut last year, I'm now on £16k, sign of the times and my company had to chop wages to stay solvent, jobs are secure for the next three years, however.

I want to be nearer to work, and sack off my mate. I've spoken to him and he's happy to jack the flat when the tenancy finishes (June).

I want to be nearer to work, and can get a nice flat for £400-£450, but I'm struggling to calculate my budget based on my new income.

Can I afford a flat at £450? Obviously, I'll be alone, so costs will be minimal, council tax discount and gas and electricity would be minimal. I'd also need to have broadband for work. My only real other cost is the car. This house is also very expensive to heat, as it is old, stone built, and for all it has a new boiler etc, it isn't efficient. The rooms are cold, and it's quite big and requires more cleaning.

I have another car I'm willing to sell to raise some cash to pay for a bond and agent's fees, but I'm worried that the rent will be unaffordable.

Can anyone offer any tips/advice? The area I want to be in has an abundance of flats available, usually 2 bedroom Tyneside flats, which I'd be very happy with. Is it reasonable to barter with agents with regards to rent/fees/bonds?

Has anyone here downsized? The rent would be about the same, but obviously my costs would be less, plus i wouldn't have to worry about my flat being a mess when I come home from work or all my food being eaten!

Sootzer

Try this ....
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1633404/Household-budget-calculator.html

Ciderarmy1987

Fill in the spreadsheet on this link:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning

and how it comes out. that should give you a pretty good idea

penthouse89

Thanks

Seems to work out OK for me, but I am so nervous about doing this, it has me really worried.

mkgirl1981

You can negotiate on rent I did for the flat I just left
When it was on the market it was on at £535pm I asked if the landlord would take £500 & we settled on £510. A year later he increased to £525pm & that's what I paid the rest of the time I was there.
It's always worth a punt if you don't ask you don't get all they can do is say no