Rent % of income question

jordon1703

Hi all,

After considering all known outgoings and working out my maximum comfortable rent allowance, I have decided that I'd be able to afford up to £1100pcm; I'll have ~£200 left at the end of each money to save/spend some on a night out etc. So I'm looking for flats between £900 and £1100pcm.

I've heard online that you should be spending, as a general rule of thumb, 30% of your income on rent - but, based on calculations, £1100 is 36% of my income before tax, and 47% of my income after tax.

Is this too much? Am I being silly to even question this as I have worked it out quite thoroughly?

Thankyou!

jonesMUFCforever

What about Council tax,water rates, Electricity, Gas , Food, clothes etc?

jordon1703

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

What about Council tax,water rates, Electricity, Gas , Food, clothes etc?

Yes all has been accounted for. I was going to link an image which shows my spreadsheet, but I'm a new member so it wouldn't allow me

datlex

My rent is under 19% of my wage. You'll be paying nearly 50% of yours. That is a huge amount of money. I am wondering how realistic your other figures are.

jordon1703

datlex wrote: »

My rent is under 19% of my wage. You'll be paying nearly 50% of yours. That is a huge amount of money. I am wondering how realistic your other figures are.

Here are my other figures:
Income - 2334 (after deductions)

Rent - 1100
Council tax - 88
Elec - 30
Gas - 30
Water - 33
Mobile - 43
TV License - 12
Sky TV/Broadband - 38
Contents insurance - 12
Food - 150
Car finance - 336
Car insurance - (Paid in full)
Fuel - 70
Healthcare - 20
Birthdays - 5 (I do spend more than a fiver lol, spread across 12 months what I'd usually spend on my small family)
Flying - 130
Going out - 50 (Only occasionally)
Netflix - 8

Remaining: ~£200

TheEffect

My income after deductions is £2350 (increasing to £2430 in April). I'm looking to rent soon, and my maximum is £900/month, though I'm hoping to get a place for £875.

Paying any more than £900/m for rent on my income (similar to yours) is too much IMO.

I live within a London borough also, so £900 doesn't get you much, however I lower my standards.

jordon1703

TheEffect wrote: »

My income after deductions is £2350 (increasing to £2430 in April). I'm looking to rent soon, and my maximum is £900/month, though I'm hoping to get a place for £875.

Paying any more than £900/m for rent on my income (similar to yours) is too much IMO.

I live within a London borough also, so £900 doesn't get you much, however I lower my standards.

I'd be intrigued to learn what you've worked out for your bills and everyday costs. It would be good to compare.

badger09

I'm puzzled by why you are starting with the max you can afford:cool:

Where are you looking to rent?

Can you get somewhere decent for a lower figure? If so, why not do that instead?

gt94sss2

As others have said, it would be interesting to know which part of the country you are talking about. Also, have you ever lived on your own before?

Looking at some of your figures above:

a) you don't seem to be planning to put any income in savings (for unexpected bills or a housing deposit etc) and/or for potential cost increases;

b) monthly energy bills can vary dramatically due to weather and as many providers change the sums due every 6 months;

c) for things like car insurance, you may need to include a monthly 'notional' sum if its payable annually;

d) some of your figures seem low even if you think you don't go out much etc, while you could probably save money in areas like Sky and on your mobile.

Mrs_Arcanum

If you are renting, you might also be trying to save long term to save a deposit for a home purchase.

Plus with so many short term lets, you almost need to have 6 months rent squirrelled away in order to move if needed. No good relying on a deposit guarantee scheme getting your deposit back before you need to put a deposit on a new place.

TheEffect

jordon1703 wrote: »

I'd be intrigued to learn what you've worked out for your bills and everyday costs. It would be good to compare.

Roughly...

Rent 900
Council tax 80
Electric 30
Gas 30
Water 30
Mobile 22
TV License 12
Food 200
Birthdays/Xmas 15
Holidays 100
Haircuts 10
Going out 50
Godaddy Hosting 15
Bank Insurance with account 13
Amazon Prime 7

Total Outgoings 1514
Salary 2350
Remaining 836


Where I've saved a bit: I do not have a license so no car expenses. i use public transport, which is paid for by my employer. I don't have sky, I just use freeview/amazon prime. I bought my iPhone outright and have a sim only from EE, I wouldn't bother with content insurance, as what I own VS the cost isn't worth it IMO.

If I rented a property at £900, I'd have roughly £800 left at the end of the month. I've got £5k in savings as my emergency fund.

The biggest problem I'm having is I've lived with a family member renting a room for the past few years... which letting agents do not like.