single person bills amount help

ascdef12345

Hello, this is my first post here and I'm just looking for some help please. I'm in a position to buy my first house however I want to ensure that I can afford everything. I've never lived alone so I have very little idea of how much bills will cost. I've lived at home and we've always had lodgers/students so it's hard to gauge an amount.

How much are bills roughly for a single person household? I'm only looking at the gas/electric/water prices

TIA

steampowered

For a 1 bed or small 2-bed property, you are looking at something like:
- £55 per month for gas and electric
- £35 per month for water
- Council tax - depends on your area and council tax banding. You might be looking at something like £130 - 160 per month as a rough average but it does vary.
- Broadband - £25 per month as a rough average, could be more or less depending on the connection you want
- £13 per month for a TV licence

Hope that helps!

Don't worry about stretching yourself a bit for a first property. As a single person you are in a good position to cut back expenses if you need to.

RobM99

I'd say budget  a bit more for gas/electricity and investigate a water meter if possible.

ascdef12345

Ah fantastic thank you!! I'd budgeted £150 for gas/electricity so I feel like I should definitely have enough spare!

RelievedSheff

steampowered said:

For a 1 bed or small 2-bed property, you are looking at something like:
- £55 per month for gas and electric
- £35 per month for water
- Council tax - depends on your area and council tax banding. You might be looking at something like £130 - 160 per month as a rough average but it does vary.
- Broadband - £25 per month as a rough average, could be more or less depending on the connection you want
- £13 per month for a TV licence

Hope that helps!

Don't worry about stretching yourself a bit for a first property. As a single person you are in a good position to cut back expenses if you need to.

I would certainly advice budgeting for more than £55 per month for gas and electric.Budget for more and if it is less then it is a bonus.

Also don't forget home insurance, life insurance, vehicle running costs, any estate charges or lease charges that the property may have, maintenance of the property and fixtures and fittings.

As a very rough guide we work to spending 25-30% of our monthly income on the mortgage which comfortably leaves us enough for bills, running costs and leaves enough in the pot for us to have holidays, nights out and take outs etc.

RobM99

Oh and if you're living alone, don't forget the 25% Council Tax discount!

davidmcn

Utility bills are going to vary quite a bit depending on the size/type of property, how it's heated, local climate, how many hours you're at home etc.

MoneySeeker1

Summed up in a phrase "Virtually identical to a couples bills - except you pay 75% of Council Tax bill - whereas a couple pay 50% each of CT bill".
My own:
water £20.50 per month
fuel (gas/electric) about £80 per month
75% of Council Tax bill £104 per month
Internet/unlimited phonecalls about £37 per month (just a £1 or £2 extra for metered phone calls usually as well)
annual gas boiler service £90
insurance - about £160 annually (that's house/contents/legal add-on)
TV licence £150.50 annually

So you can ask any couple and all you have to knock off what they pay is a marginal amount for electric and water and 25% of the Council Tax bill the two of them together are paying.

Yep - we get charged a LOT more for our bills than someone who is half of a couple.

NB; Also you will be the only one paying to buy the house/do work on the house/subsequently maintain the house etc and that costs an identical amount to what a couple share the cost of.

jackieblack

MoneySeeker1 said:

Summed up in a phrase "Virtually identical to a couples bills - except you pay 75% of Council Tax bill - whereas a couple pay 50% each of CT bill".
My own:
water £20.50 per month
fuel (gas/electric) about £80 per month
75% of Council Tax bill £104 per month
Internet/unlimited phonecalls about £37 per month (just a £1 or £2 extra for metered phone calls usually as well)
annual gas boiler service £90
insurance - about £160 annually (that's house/contents/legal add-on)
TV licence £150.50 annually

So you can ask any couple and all you have to knock off what they pay is a marginal amount for electric and water and 25% of the Council Tax bill the two of them together are paying.

Yep - we get charged a LOT more for our bills than someone who is half of a couple.

NB; Also you will be the only one paying to buy the house/do work on the house/subsequently maintain the house etc and that costs an identical amount to what a couple share the cost of.

I’d agree, more or less, with most of this, except I found my water bill reduced considerably more than marginally when I went from a 2 person household to living alone - less washing up and laundry, half the showers/baths, flushing of toilet.... 

DoaM

Regarding CT ... you're assuming both partners are working so both contributing 50% to the CT bill. If there's only 1 wage earner then with a couple one person is paying 100% whereas a single occupancy is only paying 75%.  

SallyDucati

davidmcn said:

Utility bills are going to vary quite a bit depending on the size/type of property, how it's heated, local climate, how many hours you're at home etc.

My gas and electric bills reduced by 1/3 when moving from a 2 bed ground floor flat in a 50s block to a new build 3 bed house.  It's surprising how much difference it can make.