Huge dilemma, second opinions please.

missbiggles1

apeshape wrote: »

Thanks all, much appreciated.

Just to confirm, in my shoes would you all pay the extra for the studio flat option? Or would this be too high a proportion of this income to be spending on rent alone. Maybe the opposite is true.

Back to house shares here. Sadly, there really doesn't seem to be many options in my area at all. I'm talking 10 mile radius of Reigate in Surrey : 1/3 of the rooms are mon-fri only. And the other 1/3 want females only. The rest are closer to what a studio would cost.

House sharing preferences : being a single, 30 yr old professional guy I'd really prefer not to be amongst young couples or even just people I have nothing in common with. I hate being that picky, but that's the way it is. But even disregarding my odd preferences, the pickings here seem to be oh so slim.

I digress somewhat, but looking back people tell me someone on my income could get a 3 bed semi in this area on roughly my income levels. Oh how times have changed.

And yes spare room is good, found my current place on it. Made a profile too, but sadly no responses on it :-/

No, I wouldn't - I always think studio flats (ie bedsits) are often the worst of both worlds in that they're comparatively expensive but lacking in space.

I'd use your current place as a base while you explore the area, do a bit of networking and get some money put away ready for something better.

You're not far away from my home area so don't believe what people tell you about how you'd once have been able to rent a 3 bed house on sch a modest income - unless they've forgotten the other 2 people who would've been in sharing with you, they're lying.

sniggings

Widen your search, at only £35pm for travel and 10 miles, you could afford to look further afield.

£100 for a room and can't sit in the living room and no heating! your LL doesn't deserve your money.

Person_one

You can't spend 900 a month on rent alone when you're only earning 1350. You'd end up in debt really quickly, you wouldn't have enough left over to cover essentials never mind have any kind of life!

zagubov

This is all sound advice you're getting from everybody.
Network and find if any friends/co-workers know someone with a room available. In the meantime, £400 isn't a bad rate for accommodation in your area.
Absolutely don't go for a studio flat, your housemates in a shared house/flat could be a boon to you, not a burden, especially as they'll have contacts and possibly more local knowledge.

Don't hesitate to play the house share lottery -you'd have a better time with flatmates.

Hutchch0920

There's no way I'd pay for a studio on that kind of income.

Have you thought about looking further in to London? Epsom is quite nice. I was living in zone 3 last year in East London for £425 plus bills in a palace of a place with great housemates.

Living further In will give you better access into to London and to meet people.

danslenoir

apeshape wrote: »

Thanks all, much appreciated.

Just to confirm, in my shoes would you all pay the extra for the studio flat option? Or would this be too high a proportion of this income to be spending on rent alone.

Not only would a studio being an even bigger chunk of a small income, but as you complain of being lonely, a house share would be an excellent way to meet new people and make friends. Yes, it might be a bit of a gamble to move in with strangers, but you will normally get a good idea of what people are like when you meet them at viewings.

lawriejones1

Agree with everyone else. I'd get out of this place because it seems like a nightmare...

Rosemary7391

Person_one wrote: »

You can't spend 900 a month on rent alone when you're only earning 1350. You'd end up in debt really quickly, you wouldn't have enough left over to cover essentials never mind have any kind of life!

Surely that depends on tastes? I could manage quite easily, about £100 for bills/month, OP said £35/month for travel? And £120 ish for food. Still leaves some left over, and gives you the option to have friends over which is good for socialising. Certainly doable if you have cheap tastes and are economic. Wouldn't work for a lot of folks, but if the OP is unhappy enough to consider leaving his job, I'd certainly consider whether my own space would make the difference - I'm sure the OP can work out what he would and wouldn't be able to afford having paid for that little luxury, and whether he'd cope with it. (Whether letting agents would let him rent would be another matter - they tend to pluck some fairly arbitrary salary you must earn to 'afford' it).

AnotherJoe

Rosemary7391 wrote: »

Surely that depends on tastes? I could manage quite easily, about £100 for bills/month, OP said £35/month for travel? And £120 ish for food. Still leaves some left over, and gives you the option to have friends over which is good for socialising. Certainly doable if you have cheap tastes and are economic. Wouldn't work for a lot of folks, but if the OP is unhappy enough to consider leaving his job, I'd certainly consider whether my own space would make the difference - I'm sure the OP can work out what he would and wouldn't be able to afford having paid for that little luxury, and whether he'd cope with it. (Whether letting agents would let him rent would be another matter - they tend to pluck some fairly arbitrary salary you must earn to 'afford' it).

It wouldn't be a little luxury, it would be a huge one. It also wouldn't give him the companionship he wanted and a studio flat isn't the greatest space for entertaining either (which is not a free activity either). . If the OP spaffed £900/m on a studio apt, he'd have very little if any left to save, which he may well need as deposit for a future house share, for emergency funds, for holidays, whatever. He'd be right on the limit or ove it. You omitted ground rent, council tax for example in the £100/month for bills.

Kynthia

You have a roof over your head for now so you have time on your side for finding the right place to move to next. Go exploring and see what areas you'd like, that are okay to commute from, that have activities you'd like to do. Make friends with colleagues and find out what areas they live in. Do activities and fun things in tge area and meet people. Then start to look at house shares where you want to be and take the time to find a good match. It's hard relocating and people say it takes up to 2 years to really make it home. So don't feel bad that it's hard right now as that's normal and it takes some work on your part to improve things.