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?!

My DD was paying 480 for a 3 bed council house before she bought…..my youngest DS pays 370 for his one bed ground floor flat ( with a garden) council house and he liv3s alone…..my 2 neices and my sons ex ( mother of my GC) are all 3 living in new build 2 bed council houses paying 460 a month ……they also get one free month a year ( so just pay the rent for 48 weeks) …..there seems to be lots of social housing where I am ( NW) ….. none of them waited more than a year on the list….in fact my DD got hers in 4 months …..i could list you maybe 150 people who I know personally who have life council tenancies….it seems so unfair that this isn’t the case everywhere…..

You cannot compare the housing market of your grandparents generation with today.

Landlords are not charities so I’m not sure what your point about the price of houses five years ago and the rental cost today relates to? Landlords in the private rental market operate on a market price and can charge whatever the market will bear. The OP is presumably paying an extortionate rent not because she wants to but because there are very few good options for her to choose from.

Yes, the BTL market exploded because people saw it as a good way to invest their money and hopefully as a pension. Indeed, financial advice in the 90s/00s was to do just that.

The problem we have now has been years in the making but is a combination of over regulation of the PRS, over taxation of landlords, under supply of state housing and increase in population growth.

We can pretend landlords are all evil bastards who need rent controls but that would exacerbate the current housing crisis not improve it.

@Cat1504 do you know if that is still the case in your area now? I've worked across the NW and I don't know anywhere that has short waits for social housing properties, especially family sized homes. There are areas with a lot of social housing but still very difficult to get enough points to get a realistic chance of getting a property and then long waits once accepted. 3-5 years in temporary accommodation for homeless families (so those most in need) is very standard for the families I've worked with.

Is it a fight to be as poor as possible. I have not said I can’t afford. I explained my outgoings as someone asked. My car insurance nearly doubled and I shopped around. I don’t have a gas guzzler 🫣. School is 10 mins from my door.

The arguments are always the same. We should all move to a town. Live on porridge and live in a shed and be grateful.

My 3 bed house is tiny, the third rooms barely more than a cupboard!

@TeenagersAngst a second ago you were saying that the reason rent was going up was because of the poor landlords being squeezed by charges, now they're 'not charities' and entitled to get whatever the market offers them...
It is greed, and it is unethical. Landlords are charging extortionate rents because they can. There should be a limit to how much profit they can charge for someone having a home - shelter is a basic human right. As I mentioned so many of the properties I see aren't even for for habitation, they are structurally poor, riddled with damp, and zero investment from the landlords, and yet they keep putting the rent up.

People say that it's a stereotype that landlords are evil, my previous work was supporting homeless and vulnerably housed people. I've met hundreds of landlords over the years. I could count the decent ones on one hand, genuinely.

If your house is tiny, no way should it cost that much to heat. Does it have an EPC (isn't there some standard that rented houses need to meet, does yours?).

Does your ex pay maintenance, if not, do everything you can to make sure he does.

The arguments are always the same. We should all move to a town. Live on porridge and live in a shed and be grateful

It's not that, it's doing something constructive to make the best of your situation. If you live in a house that is larger than you need, is inconveniently located so you spend loads on fuel, spend more than average on groceries and costs more than it should to heat then you'll always feel like you're struggling for money for extras, because your basic expenses include costs that could be reduced to free up money for a nicer lifestyle.

We also pay nearly £200 for gas and electric so it sounds about right...and we also try not to have the central heating on all the time (we use heated blankets instead)..and approx £800-£900 per month on food/toiletries/cleaning products (for family of 4) so again it sounds like you're being v sensible with your outgoings xx

I really do not feel I’m spending much on shopping at all. Not with all the household bits too.

There sadly isn’t a lot of choice for rentals these days, you have to get what you can. So no it’s not wildly efficient at all. I just looked I pay £192 a month and I am £600 in credit to credit to cover winter.

I’ve just looked at rent and most the 2 beds are £1300 and you could touch both walls. My rents actually well priced for the area I’ve realised! Now I’m worried it will go up!!!

Lots of people saying the OP should move don't seem to account for the fact that if you move to reduce one bill you often end up paying more for another.
I have high fuel costs because I live in a small town that doesn't have great facilities or public transport. Living closer to the nearest city my fuel costs would be lower, but the rents and car insurance would be higher, and the city borough charges more for water too. Further out from town is cheaper rent but in those areas the fuel costs would be higher and the local shops etc are limited and more expensive. My heating costs are similar to the OP as we live in an old terrace but an efficient new build is way out of our budget.
Moving to a smaller house is about the only way to be sure of paying less, but once you've factored in the costs of moving and the associated fees, and that landlords usually use a change of tenant as an opportunity to review the rent and re-let higher, it would take a good while to see any savings.

Shelter at someone else’s expense isn’t a basic human right, though. Owning property and renting it out for profit isn’t immoral and is a system as old as humankind.

I agree there should be more government funded affordable housing (where, though? Eating up more green spaces?) but the bashing of landlords is really tiresome.

Exactly.

Its not about racing to be the poorest, but when you're living rurally, have an expensive-to-insure car (and let's be honest, you really can do better than £800 a year for insurance for a small, newish family car for you and 2dc, and spending £250 a month on fuel if school is only 10 mins away that's max 10 miles each way for the school run, where are the other 30+ miles every day coming from? Non of this is shouting affordable/manageable car to any of us OP)

Your home can be better insulated, or the heating set lower without you all freezing to death.

£20 a day on food and groceries IS a lot op, however much you try to dress it up.

Its about choices and the consequences of those choices.

Maybe if the government hadn't brought in right to buy in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess. There are many many excouncil properties that are now in the hands of landlords who are renting them out at vastly inflated amounts which the council are paying through the nose for through benefits.

Excessive profiteering off someone's need for shelter is immoral. The example I mentioned earlier of a landlord increasing rent on a shithole by £300 because they could is immoral. The landlords I used to work with who would increase the rent because they could cram people in room by room were immoral.

If I bought up all the food and charged vastly inflated prices because I could, because of the market, that would be immoral. Why is it that landlords are some sort of special category who should be protected from having their feelings hurt?

@Kpo58 I agree, right to buy meant the loss of so much affordable housing, and so much of it has ended up in the hands of private landlords. Though I'm sure that someone will be along in a minute to tell us that those poor landlords are doing us a favour and that we don't understand the cost of letting an ex council house for four times the rent it was originally intended to be.

Unfortunately it is a common situation now OP.

Rents are ridiculously high and salaries have stagnated.

Have you put your name on the council housing list or look at housing associations properties?

The only other option would be to move to a cheaper area (out of the South East).

Expect renting to get much worse as small landlords are driven out by rising costs. Banks and large corporations are buying up properties. The renters are then totally faceless, no knowing your landlord.

Unintended consequences, it was always going to happen.

One of the big issues with housing is how almost 35% are now single person households compared to 10% in the 1970’s. It’s purely supply and demand fuelled by people living longer but also the breakdown of relationships. I have 3 friends divorcing so there is now a need for 6 houses instead of 3. That is a huge societal shift.

@Greenwitchart ignoring the fact that the OP presumably has a life, network, schools for kids etc, how do you think moving out of the south east will help?
It's really frustrating how everyone says 'move north' when the issue of housing costs come up. I've mentioned earlier in the thread, in my very average northern town a 3 bed starts at 1200pcm, so not that much less than the OP. Wages though, are significantly lower. The amount of help offered by UC, due to the LHA caps, is significantly lower. It does not become any more affordable. The parts of the country with the lowest rents also have the lowest wages, highest unemployment, and often other high costs such as transport due to a lack of good services.

That’s a really good point about demand growing due to fewer people living in each household.

@TeenagersAngst And how do you suggest OP acquires a mortgage on her income? Answer: It's not possible.
My husband and both work (social care and education) and still can't afford to - hence why we have been privately renting for a decade now.
OP - some people just don't understand.

I think your only option is looking to relocate to save on car fuel by reducing school run, commute and their clubs etc.

A more modern property that is cheaper to run.

However as you rent that is difficult to achieve and not secure.

You don’t say their ages which is also a factor of when you could relocate if that would mean a change of school.

I agree with @RandomMess. Why are their school or schools so far away, OP? Being more local would also be more convenient and save a huge amount on fuel. Kids are very resilient and will adjust quickly, I assure you.

But have things really changed that much?

Do people think rent control is a viable option? As always thought might be a good idea.

I grew up in 80s when interest rates went sky high. So mortgages and rent followed.

I remember mum going to several shops to get the best deals. Often day before pay day (weekly pay) was chips and eggs as potatoes were cheap as were eggs. Activities were cheap or free like guides or stuff John's which needed 50p to go. Clothes were once a year or for special times like Easter and mum knit quite a lot. Every penny was watched an accounted for. They only had me as couldnt afford more.

There wasnt food banks or similar. Neighbours did help each other out.

I think society was lulled by so many years of low interest rates.

@Hankunamatata Was mum on her own and working like OP? I know it's very hard, especially when you have no choice but to rent privately.

Like others have said, you can tweak your budget a little to reduce the costs of outgoings. Council tax looks high - are you claiming the single person discount?

It is far from ideal not being able to save a penny. Needs must time - share a room with your daughter or do seriously think about relocating to a cheaper part of the country if this is possible without adversely impacting on your kids. This is advised a lot and I know it’s not practical for everyone but I really think you need to start thinking of your future to start saving and get out of the insecurity of privately renting - perhaps for a shared ownership property? Rents are only ever going to go up and up.

Also wondering if you’re on waiting lists for social housing.