Rent - How much as percentage of earnings?

[Notopel]

Making some big life changes in the next few months, and I’ll unfortunately be moving from a great rented property in a fantastic location, and relocating for work in the South East.

Take home pay will be around £3000 a month. Using the 50/30/20 rule, I shouldn’t really be spending anymore than 1,500 a month for all bills? Am I understanding that correctly?

Factors I’ll be taking into consideration will be enough space for furniture. I’ve bought some really nice furniture in the last few years which I’d like to keep as much of as possible. Also suffer really badly with anxiety and depression, and I want to minimise the effect of the move as much as possible. Not happy about the move and having a nicer living environment would lessen the impact of this in a small way.

Would anyone be able to give a view on what my upper limit should be for rent?

As context - I don’t have any debt, own my car outright (it’s about 4 years old), and will have shared care of one primary school aged child.

To pass a credit check for a house your annual wage will need to be the same or more than 30x the monthly rent. So basically diving your annual income by 30 and that's what they say you can afford!

I think on 3K I'd be looking for a rental of circa £1200 per month - bills on top will be around £300-£400 per month. That will leave you a decent amount for food, petrol, savings and living. The SE towns and cities are expensive though so depending on what size property you need, it may not go far or you may not have a lot of choice. One bed flats will obviously be cheaper.

Not sure where in the SE you're going but the Medway towns are cheap (although not necessarily the nicest areas).

Thanks!

It needs to be in commuting distance of Stevenage. I’ve seen some nice properties in SG5 between 1000 for lower end and some really nice properties for 1300/1400.

Think the affordability for agent checks won’t be an issue (Gross salary of 67k). Don’t want to overcommit myself though.

It depends on whether you ever intend to save up a deposit and buy or are happy long-term renting.