First time wannabe renter

missymerlot

I’m a 23 year old female, and I get 1200 a month. I’m currently living with mum paying £280 rent, I’m getting very frustrated living at home and having a very desirable feeling for wanting to fly the nest. My questions are;

Would I be able to afford to rent?
Would I be eligible for rent allowance?
What’s the total cost of renting?
How much would you reccoment saving before renting? Deposit wise

bouicca21

Where do you want to rent? Do you want a place to yourself or Some kind of share?

Down my way (London) you could pay your entire monthly salary or more to get a decent place. If you're in flat cap and whippet land it will be different. Have you thought about council tax, utilities and the cost of food ? £280 sounds like a really good deal!

HampshireH

If your mum doesn't mind you living there I would stay for as long as you can and save

If I could go back in time I would do this. Get a good chunk of money behind you 1st.

That said if you already have a good amount of savings check out rightmove or zoopla etc they will answer all yours questions on how much rent in your desired area is. Usually have EPC and council tax band so you can also gauge some costs and efficiency

need_an_answer

How much are the rental prices in the area that you are looking to rent,That would give you an idea of if you could afford to rent.

The cost of renting assuming you were not going into a shared house where bills are either included or split between you and the other renters would be council tax,broadband packages gas/electricity/water.
With council tax if you lived alone you may be able to claim a percentage reduction of possibly 25% but you need to check with the specific council as discounts vary from area to area.

Deposits are set by the LL/LA and again vary in amounts you will need a minimum of one months rent in addition to your first month and some ask for higher deposits in the region of 6-8 weeks. Again check this when you make an enquiry regarding the properties.

Some letting agents will also request fees for credit checking and referencing again these vary but should be available for you to find out if you ask.

It is possible that you may require a guarantor again fees may be payable to set this up but generally a guarantor needs to be in employment and a homeowner in order to underwrite your rent.

On top of the expenses directly associated with the property you will have food and any general living expenses.

If you have never lived away from home previously then I would suggest you look at houseshares they are more sociable and usually much less expensive than living on your own.

Whilst you have been living at home have you managed to make regular savings from your salary?
If you have then hopefully you are in a better position to move out,if not then you need to question with yourself where a large amount of money is going each month and decide if you are able to give up a lifestyle that you currently have to enter the world of renting.

Young adults don't always get on with their parents but sometimes its a good opportunity to live somewhere that's comparatively cheap whilst you save for your next move

missymerlot

Good afternoon!

Sorry it took so long for me to reply, I lost my account details !!!55358;!!!56614;!!!8205;!!!9792;!!!65039;

So I have had a !!!8220;pay rise!!!8221; in the sense that I get paid half hour more everyday, plus a £100 bonus if I don!!!8217;t go off sick/leave early. So that makes my total pay £1350.

This month being the first month I got that, I have figured to pay my mum £400 a month (to do with a loan she gave me), my car total (insurance, tax and petrol) is £150. I also have a phone at £30 a month. They are my main bills, and the rest of the !!!8216;bills!!!8217; are wants, so I can!!!8217;t make do without them. (Netflix, nowtv, Spotify, Apple Music)

The cheapest rent in my area for a studio I!!!8217;ve seen in £350, a one bed flat cheapest I!!!8217;ve seen is £435.

I!!!8217;ve heard people on my wage have ended up with £200 for themselves (without buying food) but obviously I don!!!8217;t want to be in that situation. I am very frugal, I!!!8217;ve lived with an ex before and I was in charge of food money, electricity and gas, so I know where to shop to get a months worth of food for 2 people(so myself it won!!!8217;t be hard at all)

The reason why I!!!8217;m aiming to move out is because my mother is a hoarder, and my brother is insanely messy and (though it may sound lame) it!!!8217;s affecting my mental health.

How would you budget to save for a flat? I have what everyone refers to !!!8220;a banger!!!8221; of a car, it!!!8217;s making noises that are making me anxious, so I either need to scrap in or see if it!!!8217;s worth while fixing up. Not having a car isn!!!8217;t an option as I work 14 miles away, and it!!!8217;s cheaper than public transport (train: £200 a month, bus: £180 a month)

FreeBear

missymerlot wrote: »

The cheapest rent in my area for a studio I've seen in £350, a one bed flat cheapest I've seen is £435.

Did some "back of fag packet" calculations for a young girl earlier in the year - She was looking at a small flat for around £450 per month. Once we had factored in council tax, gas/electricity/water, she would be paying out something in the region of £600 per month. With food on top, her expenditure exceeded her income. Even after allowing for HB & CTAX discounts/benefits, she was financially screwed. Didn't help that she was pregnant and the BF was just passing through.

If you fancy a house share, you may be able to find something in the £300-400 bracket with all bills included (depending on the area of the country). Being a young female, you will need to be careful about what sort of house "mates" are living there. Perhaps a lodging with a single female landlord would work...

missymerlot

I know I seem ignorant, but I!!!8217;ve been in house shares before, all being bad experiences. So I!!!8217;m not really looking for a shared house. Though I agree that they are cheaper! The area I live in is very..derelict and it!!!8217;s a very run down town, lots of crimes at the moment, and I wouldn!!!8217;t want to chance another bad experience because I!!!8217;m housed with someone who likes to torment people for fun!

SeaVixen

You've had some pretty good advice further up re: what to factor in. You need to do the calculations based on your income (without the bonus. You don't want to be pressured to work if you're sick because you can't afford not to!) minus any expenditure. There are pretty comprehensive lists online.

Don't kid yourself about any social spending or treats. Chances are your lifestyle won't change very much when you move out, so keep it realistic. I'd built a 10% contingency into anything.


Re: making do without your "wants". I'd be very careful about taking this too far. You are still a human being who needs to enjoy themselves.
I had a friend who wanted to live alone, but made those sacrifices to afford the additional rent. He spent more time down the pub/visiting friends for the company because he felt bored at home alone. This obviously cost him much more than just having Netflix would have done....

Also, if you have to factor a car into this, especially if its playing up, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving until I had the money in savings to make any necessary repairs to the car, on top of spare cash for unexpected bills etc.

Finally, I would factor in a a sum of money to go into a savings account each month. This should be enough to keep topping the 'Emergency Fund' (see above), as well as possibly saving for a house deposit. This might be not be an immediate plan for you, but you don't want to risk falling into the cycle of forever renting if you can help it.

I am on the same wage as you, and for me this was £300 a month. £200 for the Help To Buy ISA and £100 as a top up to the emergency fund (until this reached £3k as I figured this would more than cover any reasonable unexpected costs, at which point I carried on putting the £100 into a savings account.

£300 a month is more than any of my friends have managed to save, but I live with my partner so

Hope some of this helps!

SeaVixen

Missed the end of a sentence there, and can't get in to edit - sorry!

I live with my partner, so our 750rent and other costs are split.

takman

If your very frugal, earn between £1200 and £1350 only paying £280 to your mum and £150 for your car then you must have lots of money saved up; so why did you need borrow money from your mum?.
If you don't have lots of savings you need to work out where the money is going.

Shakin_Steve

bouicca21 wrote: »

Where do you want to rent? Do you want a place to yourself or Some kind of share?

Down my way (London) you could pay your entire monthly salary or more to get a decent place. If you're in flat cap and whippet land it will be different. Have you thought about council tax, utilities and the cost of food ? £280 sounds like a really good deal!

How's life in Mandela House, Del Boy? And have you stabbed anyone up today?