First time renter = How do I know if I can afford the bills for a rental property?

dimbo61

So check out the EPC as few renters do this basis check.
Do not part with one penny till your sure they are the Real LL and own the property.
Three pounds £3 to check on Land Registry !
Location and condition all important.
Can rent without EPC, EICR, GSC and pat testing as your hoping for white goods.
Inventory and lots of paperwork to do.
Tenancy agreement, deed of Guarantor, addendum, right to rent, how to rent, deposit info etc

misscaraxo

Me and my partner live in a very small 3 bed and our breakdown is (this is half the bills per month as we also split 50/50):
-Gas and electric £30 combined
-Water £16
-Internet £20
-Council tax £90
-Food £200
-Home insurance/ contents (we pay yearly and it’s £60 each
-Life insurance £7.50 
-Netflix/ Spotify £10 
- Car insurance we both paid yearly but was £250 for me £400 for him 

We also both pay gym and PT but obviously that’s not a house essential plus our own phone bills. 

We do live in a new build which is very well insulated which I think keeps energy prices low. 

bigolsausage

misscaraxo said:

Me and my partner live in a very small 3 bed and our breakdown is (this is half the bills per month as we also split 50/50):
-Gas and electric £30 combined
-Water £16
-Internet £20
-Council tax £90
-Food £200
-Home insurance/ contents (we pay yearly and it’s £60 each
-Life insurance £7.50 
-Netflix/ Spotify £10 
- Car insurance we both paid yearly but was £250 for me £400 for him 

We also both pay gym and PT but obviously that’s not a house essential plus our own phone bills. 

We do live in a new build which is very well insulated which I think keeps energy prices low. 

Thank you, this is really helpful! 

theoretica

bigolsausage said:

Carrot007 said:

bigolsausage said:

Carrot007 said:

bigolsausage said:

Thanks so I've budgeted for around £100 each for electricity and gas maximum. Surely that's enough? 

As long as you plan no heating.

The costs are massive at the moment and only likely to go uo this year. I was paying £120, all current fixes are around £250ish,  so at least do not get put on a fixed tarrif and stay on the standard one as at least there is a cap (thing may change but I doubt it this year).

£200 a month is not enough for gas & electricity?!

Ahh £100 each? Well it never splits equally so no good reason to seperate those costs so I was assuming £100 overall.

Should be fine then. Though I expect it to top £200 for me mainly becuase of heating by the end of the year unless trends mahjorly change. (I do use above average on electric but I think the average is ridiculously low).

Yeah sorry I mean £100 for me and £100 for him for gas & electricity together, if that makes sense?

We both work outside of the home so that should help too.

So long as you get a house that is average or better on insulation and heating efficiency.  Check before renting that it isn't electric day heating and single skin walls...

Murphybear

bigolsausage said:

dimbo61 said:

Citroen C1, Peugeot 108 or Toyota Aygo.

Looking at Toyota auris 2008ish 

I have a Toyota Yaris.  It’s very cheap to run and super reliable.  It’s 19 years old now and still passes it’s MOT, never had any advisories.

Murphybear

bigolsausage said:

TripleH said:

Insurance for contents.

Do you have furniture and house equipment? This takes up a surprisingly large amount of money initially. You may need to consider second hand and live without things initially but it is a good life lesson. Careful planning of meals and division of duties at home is important. (His and Hers jobs) to share the load.

We have two big families who have more than enough to get us by for the short-term. Plan is to get the extra stuff over time. But yes we will have most of the basics already. 

I have a month off work before we plan to move so my plan is coming up with cheap, healthy meals and creating a plan since our spending at the moment revolves around mainly a LOT of food. We need to cut that down!

That’s why I suggested a freezer.  When you cook from scratch, make extra for freezing.  You’ll soon have plenty of good home made meals, better than supermarket ready made and you’ll save a lot of money.

housebuyer143

Cars! They have shot up in the past year, some 40% more. My second hand car actually appreciated in value 😱 it's worth £4k more now than last year. Never heard of such a thing. 

Insurance if you haven't driven in a while and depending on your age could be more and don't forget car tax. 

bigolsausage

housebuyer143 said:

Cars! They have shot up in the past year, some 40% more. My second hand car actually appreciated in value 😱 it's worth £4k more now than last year. Never heard of such a thing. 

Insurance if you haven't driven in a while and depending on your age could be more and don't forget car tax. 

Yep I sold my car in October for £2k more than I bought it for! I'm aware cars are expensive but moving to a village/small town with no public transport means I have no choice lol 

tracytown

You need to budget for food, it is the highest item in your budget and you're not budgetting for it. Yes it will vary but it's a huge outlay each money.

Put everything in the budget then put a "spare" and have at least £100-150 spare each month. 

EPC rating should help with bills prediction. Houses are average of D, so probably more than £100. More like £120+ 

ProDave

If you care about the energy bills than look at the EPC rating, don't even consider anything worse than a C and look for a B or even an A if you can find one.

It is about time we get used to the idea a property with a poor EPC will cost you more to run so should be worth less as both a rental and sale price.