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

bigolsausage

Hi everyone, 

I’m in the middle of major life changes and as this is something I’ve never done before, I’m a little confused on whether or not this is affordable or if I’ll struggle (which I massively want to avoid, obviously). 

My boyfriend and I are looking to rent a 1/2 bedroom property in the South East. I have just accepted a new job at £30k (a pay cut from my current job but whatever) and he is self employed on £100 daily rate. 

Our budget for this property is £1100 maximum. 

How can I estimate how much the bills would be and if we can afford it? 

We are looking at 1 or 2 bedroom houses/flats in villages/small towns near where we work. We like the 2 bedrooms because they frequently come with 2 parking spaces which is what we need. A lot are in developments where there’s no on-road parking so this is something we cannot skimp on. 

A breakdown of my finances are below, I don’t have a breakdown of my boyfriends but we will be splitting rent and bills 50/50. 

Take home: £1930ish 
Rent: £550 max 
Gas:
Electric:
Car insurance: unknown (need to buy car, probably around £400 a year) 
Water: 
Netflix: £5.99

Internet: £15ish each? 

Council tax: £90 max based on band (depends)


And then variables like food, petrol, household items, fun money, savings etc. 

Have I missed any bills? Is there anything else I need to consider? I have never rented before or lived with a boyfriend before so this is all new! 


EDIT; between our families we can get furniture and just buy whatever else we need over time. Things like cutlery, crockery, bedding etc is all covered. I have put aside £2k for initial moving costs, deposits etc. 

TripleH

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.

theoretica

According to the news, 'average' energy bills will be £2k a year from April - which seems a good reason to look very carefully at the property before you commit - what is the heating/hot water, is it well insulated...

You can also, personally, learn a lot from your own past spending.  What was your previous take home pay and where did it go? Which bits (eg clothes, haircuts, holidays, savings, food) will stay the same, which can you choose to change and which (eg rent, bills) will definitely be different.

Murphybear

If you haven’t already got a freezer then get one if you can.  We have tons of things in ours bought with special offers/reductions.  They can often be found on Freecycle.  Freecycle is also good for furniture to start off with. 

When you budget for gas/electric allow for increases over the next year or 2

i wish you luck.  I remember when I first set up home with my boyfriend.  It was scary at first but we got married so turned out ok. 

Carrot007

bigolsausage said:

Our budget for this property is £1100 maximum. 

As long as the is just for household stuff, eg the rent and other DD's, then I would say it's possibly vailble in some places.

If you expect travel/petrol/food/hosehold stuff (cleaning stuff shampoo, washing liquid etc) and all that sort of stuff in there I would say not a chance. Of course you may plan to never leave the house and only drink milk in which case... Maybe!

Expect gas/elec to be £200 a month and maybe £50 for water. Why would internet be each? mobiles now, that would be each.

thegreenone

Council Tax:  have you checked the borough council websites for the area you are looking in?

Have you driven recently?  Try looking on the big secondhand car sales sites, find a suitable car and do a dummy run on the comparison sites for insurance/tax.

ShinyYellowBoots

I live in a two bed Victorian conversion flat. To give you a rough idea, my monthly bills are approximately:

* Energy (gas and elec) - £80 at the moment in winter, but bracing myself for it to keep increasing
* Water - £25
* Contents insurance - £10
* Broadband - £25
* Council tax - £110 (actually a bit lower because I get the single person's discount but that won't apply to you)

Obviously it's all a bit "how long is a piece of string" and my water/energy consumption won't be the same as for a two person household, but hopefully that helps you to start putting together a budget. Good luck with your move! 

Don't forget TV licence from your list!

bargainbetty

Do you really need two cars, as that second bedroom is going to come at a premium - more rent, more council tax and slightly higher running costs. 

Can you look at conversion flats on residential roads where you can park or get permits? The cost of an extra permit might balance against the 2nd bedroom costs. 

If your bf is self-employed, has he told you what his average monthly earning are after tax? You need to have a proper understanding of his income before you link yourself in this way, because if your name is on the lease, you will be responsible for all the bills. If he has an off-month or gets ill, he will need to have back up funds in place to cover his share or you may well struggle. 

canaldumidi

auctions. You can furnish a property for peanuts. White goods, TVs, rugs, kitchen utensils, you name it!

House clearace compaie put all this and more into auctions. Just go and visit a local one to view eg

https://peacockauction.co.uk/auction/bedford-29

bigolsausage

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!

bigolsausage

theoretica said:

According to the news, 'average' energy bills will be £2k a year from April - which seems a good reason to look very carefully at the property before you commit - what is the heating/hot water, is it well insulated...

You can also, personally, learn a lot from your own past spending.  What was your previous take home pay and where did it go? Which bits (eg clothes, haircuts, holidays, savings, food) will stay the same, which can you choose to change and which (eg rent, bills) will definitely be different.

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

Previous take home pay is the same as my new take home pay due to less going into pension so not much change for me. Not currently paying rent or any bills and don't have a car so most of it goes into savings and the rest on takeaways. Partly moving to a village to cut down on the available delicious takeaways so I'm not as tempted but planning on home cooking 99% of the time. 

I've budgeted savings of £400 a month but obviously can be more/less depending on the month. That's also my emergency wiggle room.