Okay, so some might remember my fairly monumental breakdown around 18 months ago when I split with my ex (no idea who I was talking to on MSN, I apologise!!!!!), since then Ive met a loverly girl and were considering moving in together.
Problem is, whilst Ive lived in a lot of rented accomodation, its been all-inclusive (all bills etc paid), and previously was sorted by the ex. Since then Ive grown a pair and learned a lot, problem is Im still all-inclusive, and at the moment Im renting privately. I pay one of my housemates who pays the landlord.
The missus is a few years younger than me ( :heehaw: ), and has almost no experience of living away from home, and the finer details have been left to me. Weve looked at a couple of flats, but none of them seem to meet our needs. What kind of thing should I be looking at? Im looking specifically at places that have certain bills included (council tax for one), and it must be partially furnished.
What kind of questions should I be asking? We want to live quite close to work (as we work in the same place, although she will be going into nursing shortly, but drives so thats not an issue). I dont intend to spend the rest of my life cooking for drunkards, although the way the economy is Im glad to have a job.
Where were looking to live is fairly well respected, and we want some space. We looked at two places, one was tiny but very well maintained, the other, larger but little work had been done in about 10 years. The larger one was £150 per month more, but included water and council tax - although wasnt furnished. The smaller included no bills, but was fully furnished, and well laid out. Weve decided to wait until a little money has been saved, approx £1700, assuming the place we move into has literally no appliances, although this includes the bond and first months rent along with agency fees.
Any advice? What should I be looking for? etc.
Ta. :nana:
Why are you so keen on having certain bills included? Its not like youll be saving any money that way, if anything its then a hidden cost they are probably making a bit extra off. If you expect to pay around £80-£100 per month for council tax you cant be far off whatever band its likely to end up in.
In terms of how well maintained the place is, obviously a better looking/maintained place is better, but dont forget that when problems arise it wont be you footing the bill the have repairwork, etc carried out. You need to check whats covered and what isnt (white goods in the house might not be covered if its unfurnished, unless you have a nice landlord/agency, mine always have been though).
Really I think you shouldnt be mincing about with this, youre not setting yourself up long term by taking baby steps into renting/home owning. Keep all the bills seperate so you can better evaluate where your money is going. There are plenty enough of us here to give you good estimates on what things should cost.
I pay about £80 council tax per month and was paying about £70 per month gas + leccy, which has recently been reduced as I was overpaying apparently (of course, winter will change that again - swings and roundabouts).
I think my water is something like £10-£20 a quarter.
£10-15 contents insurance, £11 tv licence fee, etc. Get Excel fired up.
Nige is right in that any problems wont be yours to take care of - however bear in that mind that endless issues can just be a hassle. But generally speaking you shouldnt have too many problems anywhere - what really can go wrong with a house?
Ive never rented in the UK but here appliances are always included - Id imagine is the same ? Nige... ?
Cooker is normally included and occasionally a couple of other appliances too but its more likely that you have to sort those out yourself.
Main problem is getting a landlord who will fix any repairs, so make sure the place is fixed before you put your name on the papers if at all possible. Biggest issues are leaks and damp.
A flat shouldnt have council rates, it should have a service charge?
My mate rents in the beer quadrant - one of them places & another is down in the bay.
No idea what they pay or whats included though.
TBF furnishing can come quick & free - especially if you put the word around, you be suprised
how many people decide to get a new sofa, dishwasher, fridge, freezer, etc.
Quote from: Clockd 0NeWhy are you so keen on having certain bills included? Its not like youll be saving any money that way, if anything its then a hidden cost they are probably making a bit extra off. If you expect to pay around £80-£100 per month for council tax you cant be far off whatever band its likely to end up in.
In terms of how well maintained the place is, obviously a better looking/maintained place is better, but dont forget that when problems arise it wont be you footing the bill the have repairwork, etc carried out. You need to check whats covered and what isnt (white goods in the house might not be covered if its unfurnished, unless you have a nice landlord/agency, mine always have been though).
Really I think you shouldnt be mincing about with this, youre not setting yourself up long term by taking baby steps into renting/home owning. Keep all the bills seperate so you can better evaluate where your money is going. There are plenty enough of us here to give you good estimates on what things should cost.
I pay about £80 council tax per month and was paying about £70 per month gas + leccy, which has recently been reduced as I was overpaying apparently (of course, winter will change that again - swings and roundabouts).
I think my water is something like £10-£20 a quarter.
£10-15 contents insurance, £11 tv licence fee, etc. Get Excel fired up.
This is sage advice indeed. Knock yourself up a quick spreadsheet with an assumed budget to check you can afford everything, and when you move in and start receiving the actual bills update it with the actual figures. Also the first thing you want to do is call the gas and electricity companies and re-negotiate onto a fixed monthly payment plan. You might pay a little bit extra but it all gets saved in your account and you tend to burn through it all in winter anyway, but it saves you from any really nasty surprise bills.
Another piece of advice; Ive rented a lot since I graduated and in my experience the places to avoid are the super-shiny clean just renovated ones. They will charge you a premium just because they are so pristine throughout and they almost always develop all sorts of nasty problems later on. With a slightly more worn in place you can walk around and see where any problem areas are fairly quickly; they havent just been papered over and ignored.
Dont worry about furniture - get yourself signed up on your local freecycle group youll soon get everything you need without spending a penny.
Included bills dont always work out cheaper - as Nige said dont be afraid to get yourself a budget planner and have all your costs broken down. Youll find your finances a lot easier to manage that way regardless. My budget planner made a huge difference to me when I finally sat down and made it and Ive been a lot better off ever since.
Other than that theres not really a lot to get wrong. Check the area at night to see how noisy it is and if you can, ask the current occupants what the neighbours are like! Oh and stay away from storage heating because its sh*t and youll freeze your balls off!
Have fun mate - and good luck!! :cheers:
Top point about storage heating - stay well away, it just doesnt work.
I agree about not bothering with all-inclusive. It does make things a bit simpler but youre really limiting your choice of flat if you insist on it. Getting a council tax direct debit set up is simple, ive arranged for all my bills to come out on payday so its like it all goes out in one anyway.
Gas central heating/hot water is far cheaper to run than electric so bear that in mind, might be £20-40 a month difference.
It might be worth checking if the council tax rates are the same of the whole area you are willing to live. Where I am the area is divided under two different councils, one charged twice as much as the other per month. Might not be such an issue outside of London though.
I would get at least pert-furnished. These are sometimes advertised as unfurnished but have a bed, washing machine and fridge/freezer. Its just handy for the first few months after youve spend all your money moving in.
Apart from the above my only advice is be careful if you end up in something like rented block of flats that have little hidden extras. Ive lived in a block before that one day decided to install video answering service and charged everyone £500 on the spot for something I didnt even want! (same will happen if they suddenly decide to paint the halls or re-carpet etc... sometimes the costs can come unexpectly and at the worst times)
Do recommend picking furniture up on the cheap/free. May take a week or two to get everything you want but if you can rough it for that time you can get a damn good/free deal!
Dooms is right, beware the managed blocks.
I BOUGHT my first flat in a block of 9 in a council owned building. Even though I had a mortgage I still had to pay ground-rent and annual upkeep. Which one year stung me for £1700 for painting the Windows and adding secondary glazing since it was a listed building and I wasnt allowed to alter the external appearances, so the council got in contractors to add secondary windows to all the flats.
Also, check the electric meter - you do NOT want a key meter. ITs a PITA and much higher tarrif than a billed account.
Three things to check:
Central Heating
Decent Shower
Double Glazing
If you can get those things right + a decent amount of space, I reckon youre generally on a win. Plus you generally dont have to go ALL-inclusive to get a furnished flat etc... in fact in my experience most places that are funished arent ALL-in.
How are you searching by the way, Ive only done London and the SE so dont how good these sites will be but Id start with:
findaproperty (also useful for finding long lists of estate agents)
rightmove
Globrix
Gumtree
and go from there....
Good luck! And grats on the success with the new ladyfriend, is reassuring to hear whilst being sat in a fairly dark place regarding my own relatively recent break up.
Quote from: dogbertAlso, check the electric meter - you do NOT want a key meter. ITs a PITA and much higher tarrif than a billed account.
Thats no longer allowed.. always worth having your meter read as you may get a refund!
i forgot you had to pay for water over there
If you can - Id get a flat direct from a landlord - gumtree or the free papers in your area should have a few, just skipping the estate agent can save a bit. If you do go via an estate agent then negotiate the price down, theyre just trying to make the sale and it makes very little difference to them if it rents out for a slightly lower price than advertised.
Im renting from a private landlord at a very reasonable price - he owns the flat Im in and the one below and thats it - hes not some wannabe entrepreneur whos gone and bought 15 odd properties in the housing boom and over leveraged himself rather he used to live in the flat were currently in and having bought a house he now just rents it out. Minor things I dont mind fixing tbh.. and he does have a regular bob the builder type who we can phone for other repairs also all appliances get covered by some British gas scheme - Id certainly recommend trying to find a private landlord like that - they do exist - parents who perhaps bought a student flat for their kid and now need to rent it out, professionals who simply hung onto their first home when they moved house such as my landlord....
you also sometimes see some detached houses with separate flats over the double garage - likely to be a good deal as just renting direct from a private individual wholl worry just as much about wholl be moving in as how much money theyll get - make a good impression, come across as a nice young man who doesnt like to party or any of that nonsense etc.. and youll likely get a reduction in the rent when you deliberately make a comment like so council tax isnt included, oh that changes things a bit - assuming they like you theyll likely reduce the rent in order to get you to take it than let it out to some of the random mongs whove been to look round. Only problem with this one is that as soon as you do have a party youll probably get a passive aggressive note through the door the next day and a few dagger type stares when you next pass on the driveway.
Quote from: Marki forgot you had to pay for water over there
Is it free in the provinces ?
Cheers for the advice chaps, Id completely forgotten about free-cycle!
Quote from: SamQuote from: Marki forgot you had to pay for water over there
Is it free in the provinces ?
Know its free in NZ (except Auckland methinks?) but not sure about other places.
Quote from: SamQuote from: Marki forgot you had to pay for water over there
Is it free in the provinces ?
Free except for farms. Theyre talking about bringing one in - but there is as much chance of that happening as collecting a tv license in the Belfast Ghettos - west or east.