First flat

Hello and and merry christmas

Im looking at getting a flat for myself but am totally new to this!

How much would I be looking at roughly for prices of bills etc and what exactly needs to be taken into consideration?

I have found a few places but all it says is £385 a month,

what questions should I be asking? What bills would I need to pay etc

thankyou

check if it has double glazing and what state that is in
you will only probably have electric - no gas - so if it is a 1 bed flat I reckon you should be looking at around £40 maybe £50 a month for the electricity.

then you need to add council tax, phone, internet (if you want these)

also contents insurance if you can be bothered.

I can't see you spending a max of £500 a month and that is generously

£500 per month for the basics but remember you still have other things like eating,washing and drying clothes,ironing----all the little things and extras that add up to another £200 per month for a few creature comforts.
Being realistic,do you have furniture,telly,bedding, hoover,iron,all the things we seem to take forgranted as it is easy to overlook these things when living at home and deciding on your first move out.

Dont forget water rates / meter

From the title i thought you had your first puncture

cheers guys,

So i'll be looking at water rates and electric. I am looking at one bed places. why would there not be gas? Is that why they say storage heating?

Storage heaters are electric, the idea is that they store heat during 'off-peak' periods when the electricity is cheaper, usually overnight and realease it during the following day/evening.

[pookie]

Also have a quick scan over your tenancy agreement for notice periods etc. Make sure the landlord sticks your deposit in a special account for protection.

I found this http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndC...cies/index.htm which may be worth a read. Have a good christmas and happy flat hunting

Originally Posted by specialone

From the title i thought you had your first puncture

+1
I was just about to see if it was a spectacular blow out or a little low runner.

regarding the housing My monthly outgoings are:
Mortgage (Rent in your case)
Insurance,
Gas,
Elec,
Water,
Sky: Tv
Phone
Broadband
Food,
Council Tax,

Your gas water elec etc may be a set rate depending on if your flat is individually metered or not so prob worth asking about that. Of the other stuff sky tv, broadband etc is optional.

In total excluding the mortgage and food I think our monthly spend roughly totals £300 but thats for a 3bedroom semi. If I were in your position I'd be crossing my fingers for anything between £500 and £600 each month and thats before you've driven anywhere or eaten anything.

My HONEST advice is, if you think you can "stretch" or "maybe" afford it then dont do it. My first paid accomodation crippled me becuase there were a million and 12 things which I didnt consider/totally overlooked. Ie I made it so I could afford the house but then I couldnt afford anything else, and its amazing how quick your money actually goes.

ESPECIALLY consider the cost of living increase expected from Jan onwards, if your not expecting a wage rise any time soon the increased cost of living alone may be enough to cripple you and before you know it you've sold bike/car/kidney lol in order to survive.

Not clear if you're renting or buying.

If renting remember that most landlords will expect a deposit and for the rent to be paid in advance. So that can be a fairly big amount to find upfront. The landlord will insure the building but contents insurance is down to you. £385/month is likely to be just the rent so include council tax, contents insurance, elec, gas (if any), water, TV licence, phone/broadband, window cleaner (unless you do it yourself but tenancy agreement might force you to have the landlord's service).

And FFS take photos of the place!!! Most landlords will try to snatch at least some of your deposit on the basis that you haven't looked after the place. Take pics of EVERYTHING. Carpets, paintwork, doors, and make a note of anthing that isn't 100%. It can be tedious but it's your evidence.

If buying - most apartments have some sort of service charge. Be sure that you know how much this is a month and what it covers. The seller should be able to tell you this and your solicitor should check it out in detail to make sure that the lease doesn't allow the landlord or managing agent to demand service charge for things it doesn't actually supply. Generally I think that buying an apartment is rarely a cheap way to live, mainly cos of all the add on charges that most leases contain. When I did this for a living it was not my job to put clients off but I always used to ask them whether they had added everything up. Most hadn't.