How much rent can I afford on £26k?

bigolsausage

Murphybear said:

You sound very sensible 

I agree with others, do not stop paying into your pension.  If you do you will probably regret it when you get to my age.

if you need furniture IKEA is good value although not to everyone’s taste.  Freecycle is useful too but your areas anything like mine things have been taken before I can read the emails.  I bought some clothes on eBay during the lockdown and got some amazing bargains.  

Some of the bigger charities sell furniture and they usually have lots of wardrobes.  

Let us know how you get on. 

Thank you! I have a couple of viewings on Friday so we’ll see! It’s good to know that it’s doable with the salary I’m on and the average rent costs in Reading! 

Tokmon

bigolsausage said:

leypt1 said:

You have probably already thought about this and have good reasons, but you have pretty good savings and on your salary could actually buy a 1 bed flat in Reading with a 10% deposit

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION^1114&maxPrice=150000&propertyTypes=&includeSSTC=false&mustHave=&dontShow=sharedOwnership,retirement&furnishTypes=&keywords=

The problem is, I really don’t want to settle in Reading long term. At the moment it’s just the area that I can afford that’s inbetween my family and my boyfriend/his family. I’ve never lived there before (although my sister did for uni and that’s where I got more acquainted with it). So yeah I don’t know what it’s like to live there and don’t want to commit to long term until I’m sure I’m happy with the area. I’m also at a stage in my job where I’m ready to move up (but golden handcuffs have stopped me so far) and so my salary is likely to increase whereby I could buy something either bigger than a 1 bed or in a nicer area. 

But yes it’s definitely crossed my mind. I also don’t think I’d be able to afford shared ownership, the rent portion on those properties push the monthly amount quite high from what I can tell 

Don't rule out shared ownership without looking into what's available. Some schemes don't charge any rent on the part not owned by you so are very affordable and even more so than renting.

Murphybear

It might be worth applying for housing benefit/council tax benefit.  People who are working are entitled to it if their income is low.  by modern standards £26k isn’t that high.

even if you only get a small amount to quote Tesco, every little helps.

there are a number of sites such as “entitled to” where you can check in advance what, if anything, you are entitled to. 

EmmyLou30

All your bills and costings look pretty good to me except the gas and electric which I wouldn't expect to be that high in a 1 bed flat with 1 person. Water will be £15 or less on a meter too (unless you're incredibly wasteful which I don't imagine you are from what you've said). Go for it, enjoy your freedom but definitely keep paying into the pension as others have said, too many younger people forgo this for 'living in the moment', you sound like you've got it all under control. 

bigolsausage

EmmyLou30 said:

All your bills and costings look pretty good to me except the gas and electric which I wouldn't expect to be that high in a 1 bed flat with 1 person. Water will be £15 or less on a meter too (unless you're incredibly wasteful which I don't imagine you are from what you've said). Go for it, enjoy your freedom but definitely keep paying into the pension as others have said, too many younger people forgo this for 'living in the moment', you sound like you've got it all under control. 

Thank you! I’ve gone with what the national average is but appreciate it may be more than I’d pay. I’d rather round up and over-estimate than under and be short every month! 

I completely get that and understand that it’s important but at the same time living my life now is also important and if I couldn’t do so without then it may be something to sacrifice. But appreciate that it looks like I should be ok with still paying it in. I have a good pension setup as my employer contributes 18% so I don’t want to lose that. 

datlex

You may be under estimating a bit.

Don't forget TV licence is normally required.

You don't seem to have savings planned either for items such as a replacement car.

Furnished doesn't necessarily mean that.  It can vary.

bigolsausage

datlex said:

You may be under estimating a bit.

Don't forget TV licence is normally required.

You don't seem to have savings planned either for items such as a replacement car.

Furnished doesn't necessarily mean that.  It can vary.

I won’t be getting a tv license and if my car breaks, I can manage without/get an old banger if completely necessary 

I’ve also stated in previous comments regarding finding free/cheap furniture online and asking family if they have anything I may need. I have bedroom furniture, I would only need living room bits I.e sofa etc and some kitchen appliances like toaster