15 replies to this topic

[sven_2k4]

Hey all,

Me and my other half have decided to get our own little place to rent, its a 2 up 2 down terrace in Chester.

I'm after some advice on the following any help would be greatly appriciated:-

• How much does the avarage early 20's couple spend a week on food and toileteries?
• how much is gas, electric, and water a month roughly?
• is there anything we should keep an eyeout for with respects to the Landlord or estate agents.... has anyone been stung by either?
• anything else?

Cheers all!

[Ethel]

Ask to see old utility bills if you can, or ask the neighbours, or see if there's a similar property for sale so you can have a look at the Home Information Pack. Sure there'll be loads of info online check out Citizens Advice, Shelter, National Union of Students etc.

[Bounce]

Or if you cant be bothered doing all that. Live conservatively for the first week/month/quarter and then budget accordingly.

[minislapper]

Don't forget to check which council tax band it's in. I can't see it being that much for a 2 up 2 down though.

I know it's in a different area but, in my previous 3 bed end terrace I paid about £60 council tax (with single person discount though).

Gas and electric (on a monthly) plan was about £40-50 each depending on the time of year and how much fuel used etc. Water charges (before I went onto meter) were about £40+ a month (if I remember right). As said above, just be careful for the first few months until you can work out how much it's costing you. We went mad in our new house using the heating etc and ended up with a £600 first quarter utilities bill !!!!

Food etc depends on how extravagant you are I suppose and whether you mind buying supermarket own brands etc.

Hope that helps a bit. Good luck.

[markaboot]

i know its not what you asked but to me renting seems crazy. its money down the drain.
id look into buying, especially with the market at the mo. everything is still dropping and will continue to for some time.
i didnt think i could afford a mortgage but went in to see an adviser and i can.
its still like paying rent but at the end you get to keep the house.
the only reason i've stopped looking at houses is i dont want to go into negative equity right from the start. so im waiting a few months and then i'll start looking again.

i know it all depends on your circumstances, but between 2 of you i think a mortgage would be manageable.
and if you dont mind waiting for a copuple of months, you can save that money you would have spent on rent and put it towards a deposit.

[sven_2k4]

Hey all

Thank for the quick reply........

I've searched the net but when trying to guesstimate at living costs its not much help, more times than not its link to link to link to advert so not much help.]

Didnt think about the forsale property packs, I'll go hunt the estate agents this afternoon.

With a morgage even with my and gf's wage combined there isn't a hope anywhere near Chester as a 'starter' home is around the £170k mark....D'OH!!!
so we're gonna rent for a year and then reassess the market and build up a deposit.

The tax band is B and seems a resonable £106 a month but might be able to claim some of it back for low earnings.

Cheers again

[markaboot]

Hey all

Thank for the quick reply........

I've searched the net but when trying to guesstimate at living costs its not much help, more times than not its link to link to link to advert so not much help.]

Didnt think about the forsale property packs, I'll go hunt the estate agents this afternoon.

With a morgage even with my and gf's wage combined there isn't a hope anywhere near Chester as a 'starter' home is around the £170k mark....D'OH!!!
so we're gonna rent for a year and then reassess the market and build up a deposit.

The tax band is B and seems a resonable £106 a month but might be able to claim some of it back for low earnings.

Cheers again

lol its a bit cheaper round here.

[Guess-Works.com]

When renting a property, you will need to pay a bond up front, this is usually 1 or 2 months rent, it's like a deposit but there are laws wrapped round them to protect both the tenant and the landlord..

Watch out for silly admin fees... question everything... however it's sometimes better to rent via a property agent rather than a direct private rent.

Avoid properties which have 'pay as you go' meters for utilities, these are VERY expensive.

Do some form of credit check on the property address, you don't want to be landed with any black marks accrued by previous tenants.

[minili]

Most estate agents will have a standard list of their charges and general advice which they should give to you without trying to force you into seeing any homes, I went round all the local ones when I moved. My rent is £485 but I think it cost about £1,300 to get moved in with fees, deposit, etc. Also the additional charges of buying any furniture etc to fill the house when you first move in. Sounds obvious but is easily forgotten about when budgeting!

I've been renting for a year but I live on my own in a 1-bed maisonette so my bills will probably be less...

Council tax band B £1065 for 08/09 (but I get 25% single resident discount off that)
Water £200 / year (fixed rate no meter)
Electric about £60 / month - no gas, so if you have both your electric should be a bit less maybe.
Landline & internet £25 / month
TV licence £140
Food about £100 / month (not including takeaways etc)

Once I factor in the car and my mobile and random stuff you have to pay for, I spent about £1,100-1,300 / month.

Trying to keep it to the lower end of that now as I was saying hello to my overdraft a little too often!

[blacktulip]

one of the most important things to do before you hand your deposit over is to get them to do a walk around check over the place with you and get them to write any defects down and that you both sign them, otherwise they nit pick when you leave to get out of giving the deposit back. when we moved out of our old place they made us shampoo the carpets, fill the picture frame holes and paint the kitchen floor. luckily we got the materials free to do it. what was worse is that they gutted the flats out for renovation just after we moved out!

[Ethel]

Your deposit is now protected so they can't make deductions without good reason. Landlords can also get a pretty hefty tax deduction for property maintenance, dunno how many actually know or claim it, but it's useful ammunition if they are kicking up a fuss. Take photos as soon as you move in and take more before you hand the keys over when you move out.

If house prices still have a way to drop £400 - 500 a month in rent is cheap compared to £20-30K of negative equity. Without getting too Jeremy Kyle, you need to be sure you're in a pretty solid relationship before hanging a joint mortgage round your necks, living with some one first seems a sensible way to find out (Checks to see I'm still here 'n haven't been zapped by a fundamentalist God).

There's a huge catch 22 if your income entitles you to benefits, your benefits will be wiped out, in deductions for having excess savings, long before you have a hope of scraping up a deposit to get on the housing ladder. One of my crusades that doesn't involve Minis.

[bert998]

To reiterate what has been said I cannot clarify how important it is to make sure you go round the flat with the landlord, noting EVERYTHING! No matter how silly they will most likely try it on. I have been shafted by both my previous land lords

[minili]

My estate agent sent a man round when I got the keys to go round the whole flat with me, he was taking photos and noting any defects at all that we found. Do most agents not do this? I actually have found mine to be really good all round and my parents are using the same agents to sell their house and they're doing a blinding job considering the market at the moment - if anyone local is thinking of moving house soon I recommend Christopher Pallett!

[Ethel]

I doubt many private landlords would be so thorough, some agents might since they are in a position to get stick from both sides. They all do their best until they're taking your money >

[Jammy]

i know its not what you asked but to me renting seems crazy. its money down the drain.

I don't want to sidetrack this topic, but there was a program on recently about whether it's more prudent to buy or rent, and the answer is it all depends which way the market is swinging. There is a LOT of capital investment required when buying a home, especially at the moment, with deals on mortgages being quite hard. For the average home, say £150k, you'll be lucky to get more than a 80/20 mortgage, which means you then need to find £30k for a deposit. You'll also have roughly £3-4k in fees. Now, because of the market the way it is at the moment, you're unlikely to gain any or much equity on that property in the next 3-5 years. So if you took that £30k and invested it you could actually get at least 5% APR on savings, still have your own place and be quids in at the end of the 3-5 years with more as a deposit in hand in order to get a better deal on the mortgage you need on the house you want to buy which will, by then, also be cheaper.