How much rent do you think I should be paying on a new property?

greyville

I've lived in my one-bedroom flat in north-east Scotland for six years.

My landlord has given me notice he's selling the property, so I must move out.

My current rent is £450. Alternatives seem to be £550-£1,200.

I have a really poor judgement of how much rent is fair to pay on a new property.

I earn £1,900 net a month. Bills including food are £1,000, leaving me with £900 disposable.

What do you think is a fair amount that I should feel content paying in monthly rent?

D924

It's not about what's fair, it's about what you are getting for your money. Decide the minimum standard you can accept and then get the cheapest flat you can find that meets it.

There is NO room for haggling with landlords in this rental market.

CSI_Yorkshire

The "fair" amount is not determined by your disposable income.

I doubt that similar flats are on offer at £550 and at £1200.

Either decide how much you want to spend and then look at the best you can get for it, or follow the advice above and decide on the standard you will accept then pay whatever the price is for that.

daveyjp

Rent is based on property value, local market and landlords attitude, not the disposable income of the tenant (although this does affect the market).

oldernonethewiser

Set yourself a budget and look for a property that fits within that.

Just checked a one mile radius in my local area and 1 bed flats range from £625 to £1250 per month.

greyville

Absolutely, and I totally appreciate that logic...I suppose what I'm saying is that I could go for a £1,200 property but it would be leaving myself with a small amount of disposable income each month. Or I could go for a £500 property, which smaller, perhaps older, in a worse area etc.

But I have no barometer of what is a fair amount to pay because I have been fortunate enough to have had a frozen rent price of £450 for six years, and so haven't needed to consider whether any increase is 'fair' or 'the going rate'.

greyville

Thank you for all the replies. You all make fair points.

oldernonethewiser

greyville said:

Absolutely, and I totally appreciate that logic...I suppose what I'm saying is that I could go for a £1,200 property but it would be leaving myself with a small amount of disposable income each month. Or I could go for a £500 property, which smaller, perhaps older, in a worse area etc.

But I have no barometer of what is a fair amount to pay because I have been fortunate enough to have had a frozen rent price of £450 for six years, and so haven't needed to consider whether any increase is 'fair' or 'the going rate'.

  You have been in a fortunate position it appears and what you consider to be fair may differ wildly from what a landlord would.    Look at other rental properties near you and you should be able to get a sense of what the current market is like.

greyville

oldernonethewiser said:

greyville said:

Absolutely, and I totally appreciate that logic...I suppose what I'm saying is that I could go for a £1,200 property but it would be leaving myself with a small amount of disposable income each month. Or I could go for a £500 property, which smaller, perhaps older, in a worse area etc.

But I have no barometer of what is a fair amount to pay because I have been fortunate enough to have had a frozen rent price of £450 for six years, and so haven't needed to consider whether any increase is 'fair' or 'the going rate'.

  You have been in a fortunate position it appears and what you consider to be fair may differ wildly from what a landlord would.    Look at other rental properties near you and you should be able to get a sense of what the current market is like.

Thank you - I shall. I only found out about this yesterday and fortunately I have a couple of months to move, so I can do lots of research.

Miranda25

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/how-much-should-i-spend-on-rent/

_Penny_Dreadful

greyville said:

I've lived in my one-bedroom flat in north-east Scotland for six years.

My landlord has given me notice he's selling the property, so I must move out.

My current rent is £450. Alternatives seem to be £550-£1,200.

I have a really poor judgement of how much rent is fair to pay on a new property.

I earn £1,900 net a month. Bills including food are £1,000, leaving me with £900 disposable.

What do you think is a fair amount that I should feel content paying in monthly rent?

The market dictates the rents.  What I think you are actually asking is how much rent is affordable on a take-home salary of £1,900 a month.  Personally I would feel uncomfortable paying £1,200 a month on your income, especially at a time when the cost of everything is going up.  I'm guessing your gross salary is £27,500 to £28,000 and the rule of thumb many letting agents use for affordability is that the monthly rent multiplied by 30 should be no more than your gross annual income.  That means rents of £933.33 pcm and month and under for you.  Given you are already spending £1,000 a month on all your other bills a rent of £933.33 would be too uncomfortable. I take EPC ratings with a pinch of salt but even so I would give extra points to a property that has a better EPC rating given recent energy price increases.

As you have been in your current rental for 6 years I am guessing that you have a Short Assured Tenancy (did you sign an AT5 form before you moved in?).  There is a moratorium on the enforcement of eviction orders in Scotland until at least 30th September 2023, and it is looking likely this will be extended to 31st March 2024, due to the Cost of Living (Tenants) (Scotland) Act 2022.