Other cost when renting

So I am getting ready to move over to the UK and was wondering what other costs there will be when I rent a place. What utilities will I need to sign up for? I am thinking of renting a 2 bedroom flat in the city centre of a moderate sized city.

In the states I have cable/internet, electrcity, gas, cell phone, renters insurance. I also had to pay a letting application fee when I moved in. My water and sewage is covered in my rent. I do not have a home phone.

I was hoping the collective wisdom of UKY could provide some answers...

I have heard of council tax. What is it? How much is it?
How do utilities like water, gas, sewage, electricty work? What do they run?
What about estate agent fees?
What do people do about renters insurance?
TV stamp tax?
Are there any other taxes?

I really only want internet at home. I can do without tv and a home phone. It sounds like cable comes through BT and you endup with a phone (like you end up with cable in the States). How does internet work?

sorry for the laundry list of questions

I think I had the following:

Rent
Council Tax
TV license
Gas
Electricity
Vonage (phone)
Virgin media (cable and broadband)
Vodafone (mobile telephone)
Water

I'm not sure I understand about the "how do utilities work" question. Just like they do in the US? Meters which get read (or sometimes estimated with infrequent actual meter readings). For gas/electric I paid a set fee a month and as meters got read that fee adjusted up or down. In the end (end of contract, whatever) you pay or get refunded the difference.

You buy contents insurance (what renters insurance is called in the UK). You purchase that on your own like you do in the US.

Your landlord would pay the estate agents fees other than what you need to pay at the beginning which can vary wildly -- i'd suggest contacting a few. They can also help you figure out council tax. It depends on what you're looking for and where you're looking for it.

Thanks for your list. In regards to how utilities work. Are there multiple providers of water, sewage, electrcity, and gas? In the States I did not have choices on those things and did not have to shop around for them. If there are multiple providers, how does one go about shopping for the best deal. Can you switch providers if you screw up?

council tax is the closest thing the UK has to property taxes, but the onus is on the occupier, not the owner to pay it.  How much it is depends on the value of the house as it was on a particular date (in 1991 or therabouts, I think)- the rates do vary from area to area, but just to give you a data point, I live in a Band A house (the lowest band) in a fairly low cost of living area in England and pay roughly £85/month for council tax.

There are multiple providers of gas and electricity to choose from- we went with the existing providers in our house when we moved in and didn't shop around, but you can if you like.  Water is different, you won't have a choice on that company.  I live in a 2 bedroom house and every month I pay £20 for electricity, £25 for gas, and £20 for water.

Can't help you with estate agent fees as we rent privately, but there's a recent topic on that on the board so have a look.

Our lease required us to get renter's insurance- we got a quote from Endsleigh and got something like £10K contents cover and accidental damage cover for £160/year.

TV license- only payable if you receive broadcast TV signals either through a TV or computer..it's something like £130/year.  We're billed quarterly.

Internet- you can have cable broadband or DSL broadband.  Cable broadband is through Virgin Media and does not require a phone line!  We have Virgin broadband and are pretty happy with them- we do also have a landline through them (and cable TV) but it's optional.  However, not everywhere is able to get cable.  Most other broadband providers do require you to have a BT phone line, though.

Just an extra note about council tax - if you live alone, you get a substantial discount.

Just an extra note about council tax - if you live alone, you get a substantial discount.

25% to be precise.

The best way to figure out your council tax is log onto the local authority's website (use direct.gov to find this) where you will be living - or estimate and look at a few in the areas you're thinking about.  Check their rates - a 1 bedroom place should be Band B.  A small 2 bed will like be Band C.  Look at the rates for the year & to figure out what you pay monthly, take 10% of that (for some reason, councils like you to pay over 10 months & then you have 2 months where you get a break).  For instance, I live in south London & we pay £96/month for our Band B 1 bedroom flat.  However, the range in London alone can be anywhere from £110/month to as little as £60, depending on your council!!

To get internet, like springhaze said, you either have Virgin Media cable or any other provider which is 'broadband'.  Any non-cable service requires a BT phone line, which is £11/month (there's no choice here - if you don't have Virgin, you HAVE to have a phone line and pay line rental).  Some broadband providers offer a package service that will give you phone + internet (including a line rental) for slightly cheaper so you can avoid that £11.

Utilities: the council pays for sewer, so count that as a service included in your council tax bill.

Water is charged separately & isn't something where you can choose your provider.  Obviously rates vary across the country, but we pay £20/month flat.  A lot of places in cities (like ours) don't have meters, so they just estimate your usage based on # of people/size of place.

Electricity and gas can be bundled into 1 provider or paid for separately by different providers.  A lot of providers provide discounts if you take both services with them.  Try http://www.moneysupermarket.com which offers a comparison service of all fuel providers.  What's great is you have TONS of choice and can really research to find the cheapest provider in your area.  It's really easy to switch your fuel provider, so even if you move into your flat with 1 provider, you can then research, find the cheapest and then switch.  Just to give you a rough idea, we're 2 people who work full-time living in a 1-bedroom flat and our electricity + gas bill is £40/month (however this fluxtuates depending on the season - obviously is higher in winter!).  The type of heating in your property will obviously influence the bill (gas central heating is more efficient than forced air, etc.)

TV license is currently running at £11.95/month and is mandatory.

Renter's insurance...shamefully not something I have :sheepish:.

Estate agent's fees: roughly 1.5 months' deposit, which is held in a secure bank account.  1 months' rent in advance to secure the property.  Then an estate agent will usually charge referencing fees (roughly £35-50pp) and an admin fee (huge range - anywhere from zilch to hundreds of pounds!) to move in.  Keep in mind that unless you move to the UK with a job already secured, you will 'fail' the referencing check and be required to supply either a guarantor or a huge deposit (something 6 months' rent in advance) before a landlord will rent to you.

Anything else? 

Just to give you one more set of estimates...

Council tax, figure on £75-100 per month, depending on how nice your place is. You get a 25% discount (at least in my council area) for living alone. In my area this includes water and garbage collection.

Electricity & gas-- at least £50/mo if you are really frugal, up to £100/mo or more if you're not or have a big place. Bring a hot water bottle.

Phone -- landline, £10-£15/mo.
             mobile, another £15 or 20/mo.

Transportation -- £80/mo, whether you have your own car or take the bus/train. Buses & trains are expensive. If you have a car, remember there's an annual MOT that will cost around £50, plus any work that needs to be done. Standard for an MOT & service (like a tune-up, I think) is £100.

Renters insurance -- never had it, probably should have. Doesn't seem to be common.

Misc -- £10/mo.  The place I'm in now, we chip in a few pounds a month for repairs on pathways, the driveway, and plants in communal areas. Where I lived before, the window washers came once or twice a month and wanted £3 per visit.

Just to give you one more set of estimates...

Council tax, figure on £75-100 per month, depending on how nice your place is. You get a 25% discount (at least in my council area) for living alone. In my area this includes water and garbage collection.

karma karma, you're in Scotland, right?  I seem to recall that water charges are included in council tax in Scotland.  That's not the case in England though (and probably Wales and NI, but not sure.)

Hiya,

If you don't need TV or landline at home, depending on where you live, you may be able to get mobile broadband. I have the T-Mobile version in London and it works pretty well, it's just a little USB stick you plug into your computer that gives you wireless access anywhere. Depending on the plan it's 15-30 pounds a month I think. There are other companies that offer it, I'm just not sure how many cities have it so far. But if you can get it, it's cheaper and less hassle than getting a phone line and TV you don't really need.

I can't say much about estate agents because I've usually rented privately. I think if you can avoid having to use an agent, you might be better off -- renting privately, you usually just have one month's deposit, no admin fees, and less hassle about references and guarantors and all that. (I've never had a private landlord ask for bank statements or references or anything, but maybe I've just been lucky?)

Also, depending on why you're moving over here, it might take a while to get a UK bank account set up, so you need some other way of paying rent/utilities etc at first. My electricity company, for example, you can only pay by direct debit from a UK account. Just something to check when you're signing up for things (other companies, you can pay in cash at the bank for example).

Good luck!

So much to do with expenses is dependent on where you live!!! We live in the London 'burbs and it's stupid expensive.

Rent - we pay around £950 for a two up two down. We're getting massively ripped off and hopefully will move in a couple months. I expect to pay no more than £800 TOPS when we move.
Council Tax - ours is £170 a month over 10 months. Again, a lot because of the post code.
TV license - dh deals with this but I think he pays it quarterly rather than monthly.
Gas & Electricity - again, dh pays this one, sorry - not sure how much it is.
Water - about £100 a quarter
TalkTalk - broadband and phone
TMobile - £35 a month includes unlimited texts and unlimited internet

You absolutely should get renter's insurance. Our landlord actually requires it. It's not much but I personally don't see it as a luxury.

We have a car. I probably spend roughly £30 - £40 p/w on petrol. Tax is about £95 a quarter. First MOT due next month so not sure what that will end up running.

Only other thing I can think of is food which is going to be really variable depending on your circumstances. I've stopped cooking meat of any sort and we don't have kids so I've got my weekly shop down to around £30 - £50 depending on what sort of extras I need like household bits and pieces....

We have a car. I probably spend roughly £30 - £40 p/w on petrol. Tax is about £95 a quarter. First MOT due next month so not sure what that will end up running.

That sounds a lot for car tax - what type of vehicle are you running? My parents and brother pay around £120 per year for each of their cars.

All cars registered before March 2001 and with engines less than 1549cc are £120 per year and cars with engines greater than 1549cc are £185 per year. The only way you would be paying as much as £95 per quarter is if your car was registered after 23rd March 2006 and its CO2 emissions were over 225 g/km (which is the highest CO2 emission band - the cost for these cars is £400 per year for petrol/diesel cars).

An MOT should cost £53.10 for a car (it's a set, standard cost for your type of vehicle), unless you have to pay extra for repairs and things (i.e. new tyres etc.).

That sounds a lot for car tax - what type of vehicle are you running? My parents and brother pay around £120 per year for each of their cars.

My mistake - that's every 6 mos, not every quarter!! It's only a Kia but it was brand new when we got it - it's not even paid off yet....

karma karma, you're in Scotland, right?  I seem to recall that water charges are included in council tax in Scotland.  That's not the case in England though (and probably Wales and NI, but not sure.)

Mine's included with my council tax... 

Again, thank you everyone for the information. I can live without internet and cable for a while, but gas, water, and electric I feel like I want the day I move in. It seems like water would just be there, but that I would need to contact the electric and gas companies. Once I chose a provider, how long does it take to get service started?

In terms of contents/renters insurance, I never had it until I was forced to by a landlord. Now that I have had it (and I have moved a couple of times since), I cannot understand why people live without it.

Again, thank you everyone for the information. I can live without internet and cable for a while, but gas, water, and electric I feel like I want the day I move in. It seems like water would just be there, but that I would need to contact the electric and gas companies. Once I chose a provider, how long does it take to get service started?

Our experience was that electric and gas was "just there" as well.  We moved in the day after the previous tenants moved out- one of the previous tenants took a meter reading right before he left the house and it was no problem using that to set up an account with our electric and gas company a few days later.  I think it helped that we stayed with the same provider, as they were already providing service to the house they didn't have to change anything on their end except the account number.