How much does everyone pay for rent?

our mortgage is 25% of our monthly income on a brand new 2 bed flat.  When we rented we paid £700 for a brand new 2 bedroom apartment that had an upstairs and downstairs. All of this is in Essex

This is an interesting thread, thanks for asking.

I used to pay about 25% of my gross annual income in housing in London (5 minutes' walk from the Tower of London).  Now I pay less than 20% in Edinburgh (New Town).

Modified to add on net terms, those numbers were 40% and now about 30% or so.

We pay way more than is advisable, but we had some special problems to deal with when we arrived. This place was the only thing we could find that really fit the bill and fit it fast, so we went with it.

We pay about 55 percent of my husband's take-home income for rent (and he makes a very good income, not that we get to keep it, and his is the only income). That percentage doesn't include council tax. And the landlords now want another 125 pounds a month as our lease is almost up. It's a nice, large 2-bedroom flat on the water in Reading in a safe, secure area.  Neither of us have ever lived to the top of our means like this, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who can help it. Go as low as you can while still getting something that meets your needs.

Now that we have a mortgage me and my husband pay just over a third of our dual income on mortgage payments.  Probably more than is advised but we just went for it, glad we did, could never get on the housing ladder now.

I *think* we're paying about 1/3 of our total income which is a combination of my salary, my husband's part time job, and tax credits.

For rent and council tax, we pay just under 1/3 or our net income.  It's definitely more than I want to be paying but the house is worth it. 

Before we bought our London place 2 years ago we paid 22% of our net on rent (single income though).

This may be age dependent because I'm sure I paid a much higher % when I was younger & poorer, so if you're in your 20's don't be as concerned if more goes towards rent.  Just try to make sure it's not so high you can't save a little or at least not go into debt!

This may be age dependent because I'm sure I paid a much higher % when I was younger & poorer, so if you're in your 20's don't be as concerned if more goes towards rent.  Just try to make sure it's not so high you can't save a little or at least not go into debt!

Exactly. While I'm not comfortable with the percentage, I know it won't be like this forever. At least I'm doing better than I was when I was living on my own in NYC. I was probably closer to 50% at that point, but oh how I loved that little apartment, and I still managed to save a bit

We pay about 30% of our net income on rent and council tax for our 3 bedroom house (supposedly - it's more like 2 and a closet really) in Gloucestershire.

I've found finding rental housing to be difficult in England in general, I suppose in part because so much of England's housing is very old.

In any case, we pay £750 (excluding council tax) for a three-bed (yes, really 2), refurbished, semi-detached house in Leicester . In our previous place (a flat), we were a single-income family and paid about 27% of my income. Now that we're dual income, it's under 20% (of net), which is a nice change, but then there are lots of expenses associated with moving into a new and bigger place.

RH

We're currently in a shared house (so our rent is pretty low), but we're looking to either move out into our own house or rent our current shared house by ourselves this summer...for a 2/3 bedroom (2 doubles, 1 single) terraced house in Sheffield, South Yorkshire we're looking at £500 per month, not including council tax.

Edited to add: That's about 17% of our estimated combined monthly after tax income once FH gets a job after he graduates, or 33% of my monthly take home pay alone.

At least I'm doing better than I was when I was living on my own in NYC. I was probably closer to 50% at that point,

I was close to 50% when I lived in Providence, too.

We currently pay about 25% of our income on rent, and it still feels expensive! Especially for what we get.

Thanks everyone.  I figured someone was just being slightly unreasonable.  I think the problem is that when he first moved to Cambridge he had a big house directly in town with cheap rent because someone in his church knew someone. 

Now all 2 or 3 bedrooms that are decent are about 850/mnth or so.  I found a 3 bed, all of which are pretty good sized for 780.00.  Way more than we want to pay, but realistically I don't think we will find some place cheaper.  Plus it has Central Heating!!!!!!!  Praise the Lord. 

We could go cheaper further out past the bus lines, but then we would have to buy a car, gas ect. ect.  I just don't know if that would be worth it, especially since Cambridge is due to have congestion charges. 

good luck with the move! I know it's not always easy convincing the other half that you have to sometimes pay a bit more for a better location or to get what you want.

As for us in the UK, we were paying just under £600 a month for a 2 bedroom flat just outisde leeds center, then we moved and bought a house and our mortgage was just over 1/3 of our single income (my income wasn't much to be counted). Here in the US, we are trying to get a rental that's around 1/4 of our income so we can save for a house.