Half on my monthly income goes just on rent. Unsustainable?

[UnsustainableMum]

Single mum. We live in the south east. 3 bed as two children of different sexes. Half of my monthly income now goes on rent at £1600 per month. The rents just keep rising along with every thing else. Surely rents can’t rise anymore?!

Yes, but you are adequately house, alot of people are not.

@Netcurtainnelly OP and her children are adequately housed because she works hard and pays a lot of money to be (private rent). She's also a single mum managing everything else. Respect where respect is due!

You earn £3200 a month AND receive UC…? Really?

@tellmesomethingtrue Half of her wages goes on rent alone.

No universal credit tops me up that income!

You Gas & Electric is double ours for 4 of us in a 3bed, one of whom WFH most days of a week.

Your food bill is more than ours too. We spend about £90 a week or roughly £400 a month for 4 of us.

Can you cut back on car journeys at all?

There's no alternative though is there. You either buy or rent usually.

@Netcurtainnelly But rent is nearly always more expensive than a monthly mortgage payment, sometimes considerably more so.

Can’t explain the gas and electric. I pay this all year around to cover the bigger bills in winter. We do not have the heating permanently on. I think the house just is not that efficient it’s old.

Three bedrooms for three people, two of them children, is luxury relative to how previous generations lived. You get what you pay for.

I think we desperately need more social housing. I remember 25 years ago when you could just turn up to a council office and get a flat as an 18yo ( in a rubbish area) £200 quid a month ish which was 20% of my take home pay. This was in Edinburgh where you’d be hard pushed to get a council property nowadays.

We were all able to get by and have a fairly jolly time on our entry level £12-14k jobs. I do think housing is an investment.

Do you get 25% discount for council tax as only 1 adult?

Is your ex paying CMS? If not that needs sorting. I was in your position at one time, I was working full time as a nurse, living in rented property, and bringing up two kids on my own, Even back in 2006 my rent was half of my wages, it’s really hard and I remember how anxious I was.

I would agree if my children were of the same sex but it feels inappropriate.

Hats off to you OP you are working hard and prioritising your children . Nursing is hard and emotionally draining too.
small savings on olio or to good to go food apps may help you make some savings ? And a blue light card for discounts and the occasional eg cinema treat?

Rents keep going up because of more and more costs dumped on landlords by the government and local councils . I’m not saying what they are doing is wrong but it’s inevitable the tenant will pay .

Absolutely this .

Not any more. Used to be the case when interest rates were nearly zero but many mortgages are more expensive now.

This.

Someone upthread said that the government should introduce rent controls. Anyone who knows anything about the rental sector knows that rent controls are the worst thing possible for tenants.

Landlord bashing and increased regulation and tax controls have led to this situation. Governments have shut off the flow of private rentals without building more social/affordable housing. Coupled with demand increasing due to population rising and divorce leading to couples living apart.

If people want to blame someone for rents rising, it’s not landlords. It’s government.

See, read and inwardly digest

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014/

Bear in mind that building costs have risen roughly in line with inflation since the year dot so a 30's or 60's house costs no more to build today than when it was put up.

Somebody is making a lot of money somewhere

And they’ll rise again if this government imposed NI on rental income .

£800 a year for car insurance plus £3000 a year for petrol isn't just a small family car op... On £250 my little Renault can do at least 1500 miles, so you're either driving 50+ miles every single day of the month or are driving a huge gas guzzler. If you can't afford to live in the sticks (where rents are usually higher too) you need to move closer to school/childcare/activities.

Nor is £200 a month on gas and electric, £90 for water, £140 a week on groceries for 1 adult and 3 kids.

You are choosing 3 beds over 2, which is commendable, but knowing a family member has 4 kids in 2 bedrooms again you cannot claim this is a very financially savvy decision if things are that tight.

Lots in your posts doesn't add up - car costs, utilities and groceries. Cut your cloth more wisely.

Well, then as others have said you could sleep with DD.

My grandfather was raised 7 kids & 2 parents in a two-up, two-down 700 square feet.

If you are going to prioritize separate bedrooms for each person, then that’s where a large chunk of your money will go. There’s no magic wand.

@TeenagersAngst I said rent controls. My grandparents generation had them and had affordable rented housing and a right to stay in it as long as they wanted (private, not social) They could even afford it once they reached pension age.

Five years ago you could buy 2 bed houses on our high street for 90k. Today those same houses are being let at £975 a month upwards. There is no way that's needed to cover a landlords mortgage or extra costs. We bought our house ten years ago with an average deposit and our mortgage is now £400. I know landlords usually have interest only mortgages but that's part of the problem. Buying property became something people started to do because they wanted easy passive income and now they're surprised that it comes with some costs and responsibilities.