Renting advice for dummies needed!

sad_muso

Hi,

My girlfriend and I are planning to move in together in the near future. I currently rent a house with 2 other workmates and pay £320 a month, which includes all bills (council tax, gas, water and electricity) Due to this, I actually have no idea on how much the gas, water and electricity is likely to be per month. When you are searching for a property, how do you find out the total cost of it 'all in'? I found a guide on council tax bands, and it seems that if we go for a place in category A or B, we won't have to tack more than £40 on to the monthly rent.

Can you nice people please give us some advice for finding a place within our means?

Thanks in advance,

sad_muso

conniemander

depends where you live. we rent a one bed in brighton and it all adds up like this: (per month)

rent: £575.00
council tax: £91.00
gas: 26.57
electricity: £35.00 (prepay meter which is apparently more expensive)
water: £23.00
total: £750.57

but dont forget..
tv licence: £10.95
phone,int & tv: £50.00 inc call charges

plus any other monthlies like credit card/loan repayment, mobile bill/top-up etc
check whether you can get any housing/council benefit and use this site to make sure you get all the best deals for utilities
finally take lots of pictures of property when you move in - stains/smudges/damage etc to ensure you get your deposit back when its time to move on
also i would recommend askind for a 6 month let with a view to extend - just to make sure that you arent stuck with a place that actually turns out to be really unsuitable once youre actually living there (noisy neighbours etc) - but check if you will get charged estate agents contract renewal fees.