Live Alone or House Share?

peggymoon

In the next few days I'll be moving out of my parents' flat and starting a new job in Central London. While I love my parents dearly, I don't have my own room and have been sleeping on the couch for a year while I completed my studying, so this move is more of a necessity for me then a need. I've tried to convince them to move to a 2 bedroom house as it will save us all money but no dice. It's quite alright though - I'm looking forward to having my own space!

The place I'm moving to is keyworker housing, meaning that I will be sharing a kitchen and bathroom for very low cost (£550, which is low for London!). The thing is, I don't think I want to share anymore. There are definite advantages to living in this accommodation, I'll be saving money, I'll be close to work, all bills inclusive. And I have to stay there minimum 6 months as per my contract. However, after a few years of sharing with people (both during university and while working prior to this course), I'm a bit sick of it. I want my own space, I'd like to have my boyfriend over whenever I like (he doesn't want to move out of his family's house until he can afford a deposit on a flat) and I'd like to have guests stay over as often as I like. I have a lot of friends and family from other places and I'd love to be able to offer them a space to stay if they were to come here for vacation.

6 months is plenty of time for me to save up enough for rent, furniture and moving cost, and if I move to a place where I can commute from, I can find a nice 1 bedroom flat for £800pcm (my budget). The thing is, should I? I have many other plans with my money over the next few years including a part time masters and going abroad, and my mother would really like it if I start looking into buying a house so that they can live with me when they can no longer take care of themselves. It would be the frugal thing to continue to house share, but I'd be so unhappy! And all my friends are either unable to move out or live with partners. Thanks everyone!

goodwithsaving

800pcm for a flat in London is somewhat pushing it, and that's without bills as well. I would also recommend not 'saving up for rent' as it should be affordable out of a monthly income. Rent isn't an investment.
Your parents should sort themselves out and not rely on you.

csgohan4

would you want to live with your parents when your boyfriend is around or your own family is there with children, lack of space and privacy will creep in and it will feel like your being treated like children again.


Tread carefully with parents living in. It may not sit well with your other half either. While it may sound like a good idea, practically it is not.

aneary

I don't know where you are looking in London but when I was looking it was a min of £1000 for a very small studio flat.

I have paid £800 pcm for a room in London. Have you actually taken a look on rightmove for rental costs? Bills wise you are probably looking at £70pcm for council tax (this is with the discount) £50 pcm for energy, water is around 35pcm, tv license £12 then there are any other costs such as sky etc. So you are looking at at another £170 on top of your rent.

Mojisola

peggymoon wrote: »

my mother would really like it if I start looking into buying a house so that they can live with me when they can no longer take care of themselves.

goodwithsaving wrote: »

Your parents should sort themselves out and not rely on you.

Agree with the above.

Who knows what your living situation will be in some years time?

Your parents should be working out how to manage their own future. If you are around and able to help, that would be good for them but that may not be the case.

TBagpuss

I think that whether or not you should is up to you, if you can afford to rent somewhere that is just you.

Only you can balance whether the pleasure of having your own place outweighs the downsides of having less disposable income for things such as travel, or for saving for a deposit to be able to buy somewhere. It may be worth thinking about what you expect your career path to be over the nexct few years. If it means renting and having little spare for anything else for a year or so, but then advancing and having more disposable income you may decide it is more 'do-able' than if the reality is that you income is likely to be fairly static for the foreseeable future.

I do think that you need to look very closely at your budget to make sure that if you do move out, you can afford the rent and other outgoings from income - by all mean save to cover moving moving costs and emergencies, but you need to be able to cover rent and bills from your income, not savings.

I totally understand wanting a place of your own. I personally would be willing to cut back a lot in other areas in order to afford somewhere of my own (and did exactly that, when I was younger) It was worth it for me, but I didn't do it until I could afford it (it meant a very tight budgeting for food, and being very frugal with pretty much everything else, and I had to make compromises about where I lived and how far I travelled to work, but it was doable, and having my own place rather than sharing was important to me, so i made it a priority)

longer term, I agree with those saying that you should encourage your parents to think about their own plans for the future, rather than assuming that you will be willing and able to take them in. You might be able to do so, but it is not guaranteed nor should they expect it. ( and even if you and they chose to go down that route one day, it might have to involve them having funds in place to met costs of extending / adapting you home, or moving together to a larger place, covering care costs of you can't do everything needed, around your work, etc.

Ultimately, the decision comes down to you deciding what is best for you - you can't have it all, so pick your priorities!

TBagpuss

Just to add - think too about what specifically you like / dislike about sharing. Would you feel differently if it was your property but you had a lodger, say? If so, then planning to let to a point where you can buy or rent somewhere where you can sublet a room may be worth considering. Or even looking into renting with someone you've chosen rather than renting a room where you have no control over who else lives in the property.

I found having a lodger was much easier than a house-share, and that living with people where we had decided to house hunt together, were both much easier than living in a shared house where you don't know, or have any choice about, who else lives there.

EachPenny

Bear in mind that even if you have your own (rented) place, you won't be able to do everything you want. For starters the tenancy agreement might limit the number of occasions (or nights in a row) when you are allowed to have guests staying. This kind of clause might be difficult to enforce, but is something to consider in your overall plans.

saajan_12

Few thoughts from me but ultimately it's what you value more.. own space vs money to travel/study etc.

1. Are you sure about finding your own place for £800pcm? The best I've seen (well my friends have seen) within zone 3 is £1200pcm for a one bed.. closer to £1800 within zone 1 (very annecdotal, I haven't done thorough research as I'm not looking for this but 800 seems way low..). If you can find £800, how much are you compromising on area / size / commute?

2. With your own flat, bills and costs are all yours.. council tax, gas, electricity, water, phone, broadband, line rental.. In a share the extra person hardly increases the cost but you only pay half. Also in a house share often these costs are bourne by the landlord and included in the rent, so make sure you are comparing like-for-like (ie excl or incl bills)


3. Is there a happy median.. HMO with a large double room and ensuite bathroom. Then there is space to hang out in your room and others are unaffected by you having a bf / 1 guest over. Only really interact in kitchen and if you find sharers who spend most of their time at work / socialise outside the house, you hardly notice the 'sharing' aspect. But likely cheaper than a 1 bed flat

mummytofour

Or after 6 months in London you may decide to head of somewhere. As time goes you will make up your mind, don't be in a rush x

glasgowdan

It sounds like you want what you can't afford. Leaving you with the options of moving away from London, accepting heavy compromises such as house mates, or working overtime and having £5 left in your pocket every month after paying rent.

I wouldn't even consider buying a place with the aim of moving my decrepit parents in, but I guess we all have different relationships with ours!