is spending half your monthly wage on rent doable?

fitnessguy1

hi,

i am 28 and want to rent my own place but looking around it seems a bit costly to do so. i would like my own space as i currently live at my parents. i go visit and stay with my gf pretty much every other week, but i am getting frustrated with not being able to have my own space to entertain friends or bring my gf to stay. i have been looking into what is available in my are specifically and there is not much. i would be spending half of my monthly wage on rent (not including bills) which isn't something i would like to do, but if it means getting my own space then i'm willing to sacrifice a few things.

do you think it is doable to rent a place on half of your monthly wage?

*max*

It depends what your wage is! If you earn 4K a month, it would probably be fine. If you earn £800, then it isn't.

pickledonionspaceraider

I think more specifics are needed, as in what wage you are on, etc? Say you were earning £800 a month and your rent was £400 - that would leave you with £400 for utilities such as gas,elec, council tax, water rates, tv licence as bare basics - other things such as mobile phones may be unaffordable.

Then figure in any transport costs to work, (do you run a car?) and other monthly outgoings that would be moving with you - such as do you have a gym membership/car insurance/loans, etc. This will leave you very little for food and even less for any kind of social life.

Like I say , we need more specifics, as we do not know how much you earn as to know what you would have left over, and if you have any outstanding debts etc, that need figuring in - we can work out a rough cost for utilities for, say a one bed flat.

Do you have any friends that are in a similar position to flat share?

BigAunty

I know you are asking a slightly more specific question (income to rent ratio) but you've had heaps of advice on this topic before.

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5050289

This should have given you the impression that you are not really in the financial position to have your own place, despite your strong preference for it.

On top of the rent is council tax, energy, water, telephone, internet, tv licence, contents insurance

Many landlords and letting agents will have in their mind what is an affordable sum of rent according to the tenant's earnings and will thoroughly resist offering a tenancy to someone where it swallows up such a high degree of their disposable income as they'd be at risk of arrears. Knowledgeable ones will know that a tenant under the age of 35 can only get housing benefit at the shared property rate and would therefore struggle to afford a 1 bedroom property should they lose their job.

I don't know what the ideal ratio is but I doubt that 50% of net income is going to be an acceptable one.

Forgive me if I've misremembered, but doesn't your GF flat share at the moment? What is wrong with you getting a shared property, one where there are house rules that allow the tenant's to have occasional overnight guests.

Most people leaving home for the first time don't swan into a self contained property and especially not on a low income like yours. It usually goes something like this - parents house> shared house/lodgings>single property or move in with partner.

BitterAndTwisted

I'll repeat what I said in your previous thread in case you didn't read it:

"It's the low-paying dead-end job that's handicapping you, not necessarily the very high rents.

Most young people share, not leave the comfort and security of their parent's homes and move straight into somewhere of their own. For the moment your expectations exceed your ability to satisfy them. In your position I would concentrate my efforts on improving my future prospects, not complaining that I can't have what I want or think I deserve."

Asking the same question and expecting a different answer when the circumstances haven't changed is utterly pointless.

fitnessguy1

ok i take home just over £1000 per month. i have a couple friends in similar positions but one is unreliable with money and the other won't move out because he has health issues. the only issue with flatshare is not knowing the people. i would like to share with people i know. it would make things a lot easier.

@bigaunty. yes my gf flat shares. the issue with flat/houseshare is getting idiots living with you and the rules & regulations. i just don't want trouble with people i am living with. if i brought my gf over and others didn't like her using the water, electricity etc it would become a big argument. i houseshared for a short time a few years ago and this kind of aggravation occurred. this is why ideally i would like to share with people i know. i just don't know anyone who wants to move out and share a place.

Callie22

Generally if you're renting through an agency they'll do an affordability check and they normally expect you to be earning 3x the annual rent. So if your annual rent is 5k in total, they'll want to see a wage of at least 15k. Some may be a little lenient on that but I'd imagine that annual earnings of just double the rent would be a no-go.

BitterAndTwisted

Actually, in my experience living in shared accommodation with people who aren't friends generally makes it easier to reach a compromise when there might be disagreements. I've found it 100-times harder when living with close friends.

Still, put up any barriers you like: the situation will not change unless you're either willing to deal with what you've got or change the circumstances.

You earn a pittance so your choices are very limited.

BigAunty

Are you ultra thrifty and frugal?

In 1988, I netted about £80-90 a week and my lodgings cost £35 so included all bills, kitchen ware, bedding etc, the approx ratio being around 40-45% of my income.

It was in the era before mobile phones, I had no transport costs to work, I rarely went to the hairdressers, had next to no social life (rare trips to the pub or cinema, a coffee and a cake in town was a major event for me), never had a holiday and bought most of my clothes in charity shops. I had no cookery skills but tried to avoid ready meals and bought the cheapest groceries I could.

So I can't really account for how I managed to spend the remaining half or so of my income but it wasn't on the good life. I couldn't save a penny and fretted about the rail fares to see my parents, for example. It was a miserable existence.

Download the MSE budget planner. Populate it with the rent and realistic figures for all the household bills/utilities, plus your current mobile phone, travel, clothing, haircuts, gifts, social expenses etc. Can you make ends meet? Does it say you are likely to spend more than you earn? Does it make it obvious where you could slash expenditure?

theoretica

How much are you giving your parents for keep at present? How much are you saving? I suggest you go for a few months putting into savings the difference between what it costs you to live at home and what it would cost to move out (rent, bills, council tax, groceries) so you can try and see how doable it is.

DUTR

BigAunty wrote: »

Are you ultra thrifty and frugal?

In 1988, I netted about £80-90 a week and my lodgings cost £35 so included all bills, kitchen ware, bedding etc, the approx ratio being around 40-45% of my income.

It was in the era before mobile phones, I had no transport costs to work, I rarely went to the hairdressers, had next to no social life (rare trips to the pub or cinema, a coffee and a cake in town was a major event for me), never had a holiday and bought most of my clothes in charity shops. I had no cookery skills but tried to avoid ready meals and bought the cheapest groceries I could.

So I can't really account for how I managed to spend the remaining half or so of my income but it wasn't on the good life. I couldn't save a penny and fretted about the rail fares to see my parents, for example. It was a miserable existence.

Download the MSE budget planner. Populate it with the rent and realistic figures for all the household bills/utilities, plus your current mobile phone, travel, clothing, haircuts, gifts, social expenses etc. Can you make ends meet? Does it say you are likely to spend more than you earn? Does it make it obvious where you could slash expenditure?

Big Aunty you remind of when I had my 1st place, was netting about the same, I remember the 1st electric bill arriving it was £5.85 and I was in a panic about how I'm going to manage to pay it, that was in 1998 too, now I have been mortgage free for over 4 years in my 2nd house.
The OP probably can manage it, but needs to realise the 1st few years are going to be a struggle. And not to try and get all the mod cons overnight, I went years without a washing machine.