How much rent can DS afford?

[Jackyjill6]

Has been lucky previously to have accommodation as part of his employment, but now with new job is looking at flats.
Obviously there is a huge discrepancy between luxury to seedy.... and what he aspires to...
Net income £2000, has monthly outgoings/expenses ( car, phone etc) of £600
Will probably eat out or eat toast or baked potatoes...

What exactly are his £600 expenses?

£1000 and if he thinks it’s too much he can feel free to move out.

So he has £1400 to spend on rent, electric, council tax, water, gas, internet, house insurance etc?

Well it all depends on where you live. My DS pays £400 for a room in a shared house his own bathroom. He earns probably £1500 leaves him with enough diaspoable income . But rent here cheap

And all his bills included

Most estate agents use 2.5x to work out affordability (ie your gross annual income must be at least 2.5x your annual rent or you fail the reference check). If your DS is on approx 30k gross, then the very most he’ll be able to afford is £1000 a month. Personally, I’d not spend that much as it’s nice to have some flex in your budget, but that’s up to him.

So £1400 left over after expenses. I would say to be comfortable, no more than £500 for rent.
So estimate: £500 rent, £200 bills, £200 food, £200 spending money leaving £300 for petrol/travel, emergencies, savings etc.

£600 expenses for phone and car is pretty high though, if he could get that down he could afford more rent.

It's tricky isn't it, deciding what's affordable according to estate agents, but ensuring there is money left for a life.