Is £200 a week enough to live on in the south-east? (Portsmouth)

latherandfroth

Hey guys,

I'm 20 years old, and currently living with my parents. I'm pretty sick of it. At the moment I'm working on my A2s, but they aren't going to well. I have an idea that I want to move from my current town, to Portsmouth to do an apprenticeship. I'm aware the apprenticeships have !!!! pay, so I have a few questions.

- If my rent/gas/electricity/internet come to roughly £100 a week (Is that a reasonable figure to assume?), do you think I could purchase all my groceries, toiletries and all the other essentials on the extra £70 I'd have left over?

- What exactly is the 'deposit' in the context of renting a room of a house? Do I need to pay the deposit before I move in, and the first months rent the day I get there?

- What sort of questions will my Landlord ask? Do you think it will matter that I'm an apprentice?

JuicyJesus

£100 a week is a reasonable figure assuming you plump for rental of a room in a shared house, which is pretty much all that's affordable (rents in Portsmouth aren't the most expensive around but are by no means cheap.) It's more than doable if you're a single person in a shared house, although a strict budget would be a must, and I wouldn't expect to be going out drinking all the time or whatever.

You would need to pay the deposit before you move in, possibly substantially before, and the first month's rent is payable whenever you agree with the landlord to pay it, although typically on the day you move in. The landlord won't give much of a toss that you're an apprentice so long as you can pay the rent, but they or their agent may request you have a guarantor if they're uncertain.

thr1969

I live in Portsmouth and I can tell you that there is a huge amount of student accommodation around and fairly cheap to rent privately without going through a letting agent! By going private you can often negotiate the rent and the deposit amount you have to pay. However most of these are a room in a shared house. The local housing allowance is a little over £67/week in a shared accommodation so that is an indicator of what you would expect to pay. As for the food etc there are lots of shops locally including asda, lidle, aldi and morrisons so you should be able to food shop on a small budget. I hope this helps.

Tixy

latherandfroth wrote: »

- If my rent/gas/electricity/internet come to roughly £100 a week (Is that a reasonable figure to assume?), do you think I could purchase all my groceries, toiletries and all the other essentials on the extra £70 I'd have left over?

Have a think about all the costs you might need to pay e.g. council tax, water rates, tv licence (if you plan to have a TV), mobile phone, any transport costs (bus fares or whatever), ideally contents insurance. As well as food & toiletries don't think about entertainment/going out spends/haircuts/clothes/presents etc

It might be doable but I suspect very tough financially. I definitely wouldn't rush in to anything.
Is living with parents the thing that you are most wanting to change? or continuing with your A2s? Have you chatted it through with parents?