Am i being unrealistic? (Renting)

I think that's about right the right price for a reasonable 2 bed place in London. We pay 400 (between 2).

You can probably get by fine on £17k each as you benefit from 2 personal allowances in that combined figure of £34k. You'll be fine.
 
i have lived in a shared house in shepherds bush and now rent a one bed in leytonstone. for £650 exclude bills. very expensive. you can get a one bedroom nice place pretty much anywhere in london, except for the super expensive areas. for like £600-£800 mostly excluding bills.

also remember £100 minimum for the train per month. £120 council tax, elec+gas £50, water... internet mobiles... adds up

you might struggle to get by on £1400 after tax. if you live by yourself with £1400 afer tax you would have to rent a room in a shared house.
 
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groen said:
i have lived in a shared house in shepherds bush and now rent a one bed in leytonstone. for £650 exclude bills. very expensive. you can get a one bedroom nice place pretty much anywhere in london, except for the super expensive areas. for like £600-£800 mostly excluding bills.

also remember £100 minimum for the train per month.
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In zones 1 & 2 you'd struggle to get anywhere for < 800 that wasn't a nasty bedsit. One bed places are still generally 75%+ the price of a similarly spec'd 2 bed.
 
from my experience (renting and now owning) our house/flat related outgoings were approximately equal to the cost of the rent or mortage
council tax - gas - electric - water - insurance - food/drink
then add on:
white goods / furnishings, travel costs, personal bills (phone etc), going out

edit: also if you haven't had a real world job yet - dont forget about income tax, national insurance and pension which will eat a chunk of your salary each month - takes about a quarter of mine :( £17k p/a works out to about £1,137pcm not deducting student loan or pension contribution
 
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SideWinder said:
Myself and my girlfriend are contemplating about what to do after University. We both want to stay in London, we both want to get jobs in London and at the moment we're deciding whether to live together or not - big step. :)

Anyways, looking at a few websites, it seems that for what we want, it'll be £350 a week / 2 = £175 a week x 4 = £700 a month per person. Obviously there is council tax, internet/tv, electric/gas/water and other daily outgoings. But the way I am seeing it...if we are both on at least £17k a year (after tax), we will be earning £1416 a month. Half of that going on rent and a bit more for bills, leaving around £500 or so each - roughly.

Neither of us drive and don't intend to own a car as it is far too expensive in London.

Am i being unrealistic? Obviously £350 a week is a ballpark figure and we're still pondering. It would be better to live with others and we certainly haven't ruled it out but just wondering is someone has tried living on such a budget before?
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You are crazy.

My salary, and the salary I expect the GF to be getting in London combined is around 60K, and I think £1,400 is a stretch for us.

You would not believe the cost of living in rented accom. after council tax, bills, food, transport, etc etc
 
Seems fine to me - the benefit being you don't have any crazy expenses. You won't live amazingly but

That said, £1,400 is a lot to pay a month - put it this way, it's how much our large 2-bed 2-bath flat in Limehouse is, 20yds from the river. A decent one-bed place you should be looking at £1,000, £1,200 a month tops I would have thought?

Your other expenses will be fixed, travel, bills etc - £500 is absolutely fine, you won't be saving much or going on expensive holidays but otherwise you should be quite comfortable

*edit* - council tax is £130 a month, as it has been in the last 4 places I've lived in London - where are these places which are over £200 p/m? :confused: :p
 
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how quickly can you typically move out on rented flats? what worries me with moving out is that i'll have a bad few months (i'm self employed) and then be stuffed in the place i live. i'd imagine it something like 1 month notice but would like it confirmed
 
Mammalian said:
how quickly can you typically move out on rented flats? what worries me with moving out is that i'll have a bad few months (i'm self employed) and then be stuffed in the place i live. i'd imagine it something like 1 month notice but would like it confirmed
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Most contracts I've had have been 1 year with a 6/8 months break clause, with a months notice.
 
£350pw is a heck of a lot for a 1 bed flat. Are you looking in Holland Park or something?!
 
Living with the gf and a friend from uni, we pay 380 a week for a two double bed flat in west hampstead / swiss cottage area. It really depends where you're looking, but you're not going to be getting anything much cheaper than that in some areas without moving into a house share. A single double bed place in the same area is around 300 a week.
 
I think that's a lot to pay on rent with that type of expected salary. You should budget in some form of savings along with all the other outgoings, otherwise you'll never be able to afford holidays or even a deposit for your own home.
 
SideWinder said:
if we are both on at least £17k a year (after tax), we will be earning £1416 a month
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I think you may have underestimated tax/NI deductions - If it’s of any help I’m on 25K a year and my take home after stoppages is only just over £1,500, iirc when I was on around the 17K mark, take home was just over a grand.

I wish you both the best though!
 
Scort said:
I think you may have underestimated tax/NI deductions - If it’s of any help I’m on 25K a year and my take home after stoppages is only just over £1,500, iirc when I was on around the 17K mark, take home was just over a grand.

I wish you both the best though!
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According to listen to tax man if you are paying student loan your take home on a salary of £17k would be £1120-80.

You need to earn £23k to take home £1422.:)
 
I think there are some people in this thread who don't realise just how high rent is in London.
Living in London means that a massive part of your monthly income is spent on rent.
I don't think SideWinder's being unrealistic at all.
I'd rather pay a bit more than live in a ****hole.
 
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