Cost of living, studio flat. Council tax?

apeshape

Hi all,

I'm trying to get a rough idea of what I can afford. I've just seen a "reasonably" priced studio flat and am trying to sum up what this will cost me as a single person. See

http://www.choices.co.uk/property-details.html?pid=e1ddb69a-6e7b-44cb-8d7d-b160fa4662c6&aid=%7Bdade559b-5f03-4775-a321-a8856b5a1e26%7D

So it's £600 PCM. Gas and electricity maybe £65. Internet £15. Water rates no idea. Council tax no idea.

Can anyone help me make a rough guestimate on this. Just had a quick peek at council tax on the Mole valley website. 1000 P/Y. On a Room, kitchen and bathroom. Really?

Norman_Castle

This might apply to you.http://www.molevalley.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=17300

pmlindyloo

Without knowing what you earn it is extremely difficult to know whether this is too expensive or not.

The usual way is for the rent to be no more than 30% of your salary. But this would depend on your life style, bills etc.

If you look on the Debtfree wannabe forum you will see people's SOAs (statement of affairs). These give you a good idea of what expenses you would need to factor in each month.

If your salary is not very high then you may be better going for a house share (some people recommend Gumtree) or finding friends to share a house with.

This may not be your 'cup of tea' but can work really well.

If you look at rental prices for 2/3 bed places in your area and then divide that by 2/3 you will often find that the rent works out cheaper that way. Bills can then be split 2/3 ways.

Is this possible?

If this isn't possible for one reason or another than an alternative (if you are on a low salary) is to take another job (evenings/weekends) to give you some financial 'wiggle room'.

Yes, it's lovely to have your own space but if it means you can never afford to socialise etc then it can be a miserable existence.

Make sure you do your sums before you take the plunge (and ALWAYS overestimate)

phatbear

apeshape wrote: »

So it's £600 PCM. Gas and electricity maybe £65. Internet £15. Water rates no idea. Council tax no idea.

Can anyone help me make a rough guestimate on this. Just had a quick peek at council tax on the Mole valley website. 1000 P/Y. On a Room, kitchen and bathroom. Really?

where do you live right now? ask who ever you live with for a rough idea of their bills.

youve over looked tv licence, phone line, which is usually needed if you want internet, sky, contents insurance.

its unlikely the council tax will be £1000 a year if you are living alone as you will get a discount, annoyingly my council tax is £180 a month!

booksurr

welcome to Mole Valley :beer:
irritatingly MVDC website has gone "upmarket" and you now find out the 16/17 CT rates by individual address rather than simply consulting a table of rates :wall: as they don't update it promptly

North Holmwood studios may or may not be band A. Either way assuming you are living there alone you can claim the 25% single person discount. The 16/17 increase will be close to the 2% cap allowed so with £1064 from 15/16 it'll be closer to £1,100 for 16/17. So with 25% SPD you'll be paying a minimum of around £825 per year so budget for at least £70pcm+ based on taking the 12 instalments option (which you have to ask MVDC for, otherwise they default to the 10 instalment plan)

Sadly Choices agency does not have a good reputation locally, so I'm not surprised at the "quality" of the listing you linked and thus the lack of banding info. Water rates are Sutton and East Surrey, but you'll need to get the relevant rate for that flat from the LL or EA particulars.

apeshape

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Without knowing what you earn it is extremely difficult to know whether this is too expensive or not.

The usual way is for the rent to be no more than 30% of your salary. But this would depend on your life style, bills etc.

If you look on the Debtfree wannabe forum you will see people's SOAs (statement of affairs). These give you a good idea of what expenses you would need to factor in each month.

If your salary is not very high then you may be better going for a house share (some people recommend Gumtree) or finding friends to share a house with.

This may not be your 'cup of tea' but can work really well.

If you look at rental prices for 2/3 bed places in your area and then divide that by 2/3 you will often find that the rent works out cheaper that way. Bills can then be split 2/3 ways.

Is this possible?

If this isn't possible for one reason or another than an alternative (if you are on a low salary) is to take another job (evenings/weekends) to give you some financial 'wiggle room'.

Yes, it's lovely to have your own space but if it means you can never afford to socialise etc then it can be a miserable existence.

Make sure you do your sums before you take the plunge (and ALWAYS overestimate)

I'm kind of cross posting here, but some time back I made another thread discussing the issue. While I took the advice on board, I've really struggled to find anything in the way of a promising looking house share within budget (as I agree, the social side would be really good for me esp if they were like minded people) I've even looked as far as Crawley.

Sadly in this area there aren't many young-ish professional house shares within my price bracket. To elaborate, I'm on 1360 PCM after robbery although I get a relatively smallish rise in 6 months (+90 PCM)

I'm also blocked out by a LOT of houses wanting FEMALES only. That caveat is highly irritating. I'm extremely tidy, and conscientious anywhere I live simply because of the fact I take my job extremely seriously and would not want to undermine it either at work or at home. It's very frustrating and really gets my goat. Rant over.

The figures are stacked against me as I really love the job, great environment with advancement opportunities down the pipe if I can stick it out.

I'm currently staying as a lodger @ £400 (which for the area isn't bad) still I cringe at even paying this compared to how much more I could get back home in Gloucestershire for same amount.

So in light of this sticky situation, my (possibly misguided) philosophy would be to invest in myself i.e comfortable whilst building my career rather than rushing into saving which hopefully I can do later when I'm earning a bit more. As opposed to finding somewhere cheaper, saving but having a miserable time. I don't know and none of my friends or family can really give me a straight answer (family mostly suggesting the first option)

booksurr wrote: »

welcome to Mole Valley :beer:
irritatingly MVDC website has gone "upmarket" and you now find out the 16/17 CT rates by individual address rather than simply consulting a table of rates :wall: as they don't update it promptly

North Holmwood studios may or may not be band A. Either way assuming you are living there alone you can claim the 25% single person discount. The 16/17 increase will be close to the 2% cap allowed so with £1064 from 15/16 it'll be closer to £1,100 for 16/17. So with 25% SPD you'll be paying a minimum of around £825 per year so budget for at least £70pcm+ based on taking the 12 instalments option (which you have to ask MVDC for, otherwise they default to the 10 instalment plan)

Sadly Choices agency does not have a good reputation locally, so I'm not surprised at the "quality" of the listing you linked and thus the lack of banding info. Water rates are Sutton and East Surrey, but you'll need to get the relevant rate for that flat from the LL or EA particulars.

Wow! Local I see, great coincidence there. And yes you are completely correct on all counts.

I don't suppose you know anything more about the studios area. I've actually requested a viewing with Choices but after what you've said I may cancel. My limited research of that agent did not exactly come out as confidence giving!

Sadly, long term I'm really thinking the odds are against me here. Either I ambush my boss for a raise in a dark alley while holding a drain pipe, or give up and go home :-(