How much rent?

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I'm just entering the world of work and am looking to rent a place. I will be living in central London. I've got next to no idea how much it costs to actually live in central London day to day (apart from "expensive") and I've never had much money to play around with before. As a result I'm not sure how much is sensible to spend on rent, whilst keeping enough to pay the bills, have fun, go on holiday and save a bit too. . .

I'm going to be earning a fair amount (lets say around 47-50k before tax for arguments sake). How much of that do you think it is reasonable to sink into rent (excluding council tax and bills) and how much do I need to budget for daily living costs in London? I would like to get a nice place that is very central, but I don't want to end up screwing myself over! Any advice would be appreciated!
 
Soldato
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Well, working on the lower end of your estimate, 45k takehome is around 33k p/a.

£33,000 / 12 = £2,700 pcm.
Probably £1,500 a month on rent? That leaves £1200 for bills, living, going out, savings etc.

Edit: As for a daily budget, it really depends how much of a skinflint you are and what travel zone you're travelling to - from.
If you made your own lunch you could easily do it for under a fiver a day.
 
Soldato
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id say around 1.5k on rent if your centrally located , i know my mate pays about £1100 but hes a little out (but not by much) again really depends on how central is central.....

compared to the rest of the country its expensive but going by your salary i think you can afford it.
council tax is high remember a good £150 a month, bills etc on top another £100 a month at least.
then travel , if not walking then tube which can be what £40 a month?

then you gotta furnish which is a lot of cash to whack down.
so yeh not cheap but your take home will be what £2500+ so you should cope fine and be able to save.
 
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Ok thanks. I was looking at a few places that are around that in terms of price. Thought it was a bit obscene really (going from being a student to earning a fair bit will take a little adjustment!), but thanks for confirming that it isn't too unreasonable!

Ideally I'm looking to move into an existing house-share, which will obviously work out way cheaper, but it seems to be amazingly competitive to get into them at the moment (way more people looking than spare rooms available, probably because all the uni people are looking to move back for the new term). If I run out of time to find somewhere before my job starts then I will just get my own place for 6 months.
 
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Are you looking to rent a single bed flat or share a house. I would recommend the latter (at least to begin with) if you are new to the area and under say 25. A budget of £650/month + bills will comfortably find you a room in a nice house in a very nice location.

Bills and council tax will be in the region of £100 combined.

As you already know getting into the best house shares can be tricky if you are not a super fit blonde babe. I ended up setting up my own with some friends and now I have very smart place (think grand designs) with quite reasonable rent.

Where will you be working? I can suggest some locations where you might want to look.
 
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Are you looking to rent a single bed flat or share a house. I would recommend the latter (at least to begin with) if you are new to the area and under say 25. A budget of £650/month + bills will comfortably find you a room in a nice house in a very nice location.

Bills and council tax will be in the region of £100 combined.

See gumtree.com or findaroommate.com for more details.

Ideally a shared house (see above), but I'm rapidly losing time to find somewhere before my job starts! Some of the places I have viewed have literally had 30 viewings, of which I'm guessing at least 10 must register interest, so it isn't that easy to get into a (decent) house-share at the moment! It also isn't particularly easy to do many viewings when you live around 2 hours away (I've been down to London twice so far. Another two times without success and I will probably lose the will the live!).
 
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As for people who say you can live on £5 that is seriously nonsense but in reality if you are on £50k I wouldn't even worry about it.

Your only financial concern will be covering the deposit + 6-8 weeks rent. It sounds like you have that covered.
 
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Where will you be working? I can suggest some locations where you might want to look.

I'm working in Victoria. I'm looking at Clapham/Balham/Brixton, since they have fast overground trains into Victoria (allowing me to avoid the tube on my commute to work) and a fairly young population.
 
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I assume by Clapham, you mean Battersea? Clapham has no trains to Victoria, but Battersea has the bizarrely named Clapham Junction.

Trains every few minutes, and take about 6 minutes to Victoria. Air conditioned, and from the few times I've taken them at rush house, bizarrely not that busy either. Ideal, and the area's not bad either.
 
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Don't worry many have been there and you will get through it. btw re-read my earlier post as i made some edits.

Try looking in the short term section of gumtree because they will be less fussy and it will be easier to find somewhere that you can move into quickly. They will probably have no deposit either.

Once you are here post on gumtree that you want to get 4-6 people together to start a new house share and you will get lots of offers. This is better than viewing (auditioning for) dozens of existing places.

Where will you be working?
 
Soldato
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I don't know where you live now, but I would say that aside from higher rent prices and council tax, in general, London is no different to the cost of living elsewhere in the country in the day to day things you do and need to spend money on.

You are on a good salary, but I'd look at somewhere in Zone 2. As a lot of the places in Central London in Zone 1 are going to be VERY expensive for a nice place. That way you would also get to save a bit more of your money.

On your above comment on Brixton... a girlfriend of mine used to live there, and as it's the end/start of the Victoria line, you can always get a seat on the tube in the morning.
 
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I assume by Clapham, you mean Battersea? Clapham has no trains to Victoria, but Battersea has the bizarrely named Clapham Junction.

Trains every few minutes, and take about 6 minutes to Victoria. Air conditioned, and from the few times I've taken them at rush house, bizarrely not that busy either. Ideal, and the area's not bad either.

I have been looking around Clapham Junction. There are also overground trains from Clapham High St rail (which probably counts as being in Clapham!).
 
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Deffo go for Balham then as it is 10mins on the train to victoria and has some really nice pubs, cafes and restaurants plus waitrose and sainsburys. Perfect!

Clapham would not be ideal imo, the best value and nicest bit around the common is not a good commute to victoria and hasn't got a waitrose. Also it is a bit pretentious with lots of Durhum grads who think they are some kind of big deal.

Brixton - despite being 'up and coming' you cannot avoid the fact that it is generally a low income area.

Fulham also has a lot of good house shares and is close to Victoria. It is pretty upmarket but shouldn't be a problem on your budget.
 
Soldato
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For a nice place in a nice neighbourhood I'd budget £800 excluding bills per month. You'll be able to go where you want with that in a shared house.

If it were me I'd just go straight into my own place spending £3/400 per week excluding bills: for that you will get to live in a fairly smart place in a smart enough area. For instance you should check out Pimlico if you're working in Victoria.

Otherwise there are plenty of nice spots round victoria too!

edit: I personally would avoid south London living in places like clapham and balham. There are some nice enough spots there, but the times I've been to see friends down there, I've been glad to get out of their neck of the woods. I found it a bit grim to be honest. However, I do know of nice streets in both areas, but I doubt students will be living on the ones I saw.

Equally, you could go to one of the post areas westwards with your budget.

Let us all know where you choose to go!

GL
 
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Associate
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Try looking in the short term section of gumtree because they will be less fussy and it will be easier to find somewhere that you can move into quickly. They will probably have no deposit either.

Once you are here post on gumtree that you want to get 4-6 people together to start a new house share and you will get lots of offers. This is better than viewing (auditioning for) dozens of existing places.

Sounds like a good plan. Some kind of short term let might let me get my feet on the ground whilst I find something a bit more permanent. It pretty much is like an audition!
 
Soldato
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I would not advise clapham junction. Ghetto.
Ever actually been? The station might not be very pretty, but St John's Hill, Northcote Road etc are full of decent restaurants, cafes and bars. And even a Waitrose, as you mention it.

Fairly nice area - a long way from a 'ghetto'.

Lagz said:
There are also overground trains from Clapham High St rail (which probably counts as being in Clapham!).
Ah, had forgotten about that one. They only run twice an hour though.
 
Consigliere
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Paying 850 (divided by 2) for E18. Perfect location really...5 minutes walk to the Central Line (South Woodford) and get a lot of property for the money.
 
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