What I Rent

The Metro do a regular series looking at what people rent. It started with London and now they bounce around the country. I did it a few weeks ago and it’s just gone online so I thought I’d share.

I really love my flat and think I pay a good price, and from the comments I’ve already seen on this and previous articles in the series, I fully expect people in London to think the price is good and people outside of it to think it’s insane, but that’s how it goes :joy:

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Well it is outside of London. I pay less than half of that for a two bedroom Victorian house. But if you’re happy where you are, you can afford it, and it’s good for your mental health, that’s cool. I couldn’t afford what you’re paying on my own, but I guess wage differences across the country is also the reason why.

Interesting article, thanks for sharing.

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Yeah totally, I know it is high if it was outside of London, but it’s not, that’s the point. Rent in London is absolutely bonkers. If you have a look through other entries in the series you’ll see some people paying around the same as me for a cupboard. Fortunately wages are higher, and travel is very affordable (I’d never be able to afford a car in London, so its fortunate I dont need one).

Yes exactly. I wouldn’t be able to afford to live in London, at all, unless I got a job there before I moved.

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I don’t think I’d be able to move here now from elsewhere the way I did in 2002, without a job or any leads. Stayed in a friends spare room for basically no rent, got a job in cafe, and managed to stick it out until I found a career.

Nothing quite made the point of what value for money was till I moved from the South(Oxford) to the North(Newcastle). When I was an undergrad I could only get a room with a shared kitchen in student halls in Oxford(I went to Brookes).For the exact same price, I have q studio apartment in Newcastle for the same price as a room in London. Its just mind blowing(and I’m on a stipend) something that I would struggle to live on in London

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Man, that’s an absolute steal. I’m paying £850 (inc bills) for an ensuite room in a shared house in Brixton, as a new graduate.

Thankfully the London salary makes up for it.

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4 years ago, I was paying £800 / month for a tiny basement flat in Oxford.

Someone on Facebook reminded me that 12 years ago in 2007 I lived on my own in London zone 2, paying £950 a month for a 2 bedroom place, my big room was en-suite and I had a decently sized outdoor patio space. At the time it felt expensive :joy: I moved out of there because I thought it’d be nice to live with friends, but I’ve never regretted anything so much.

I’m moving into a 3 bed house in Winchester with two other graduates (all starting at the same place in September) and the rent is £1200 a month for the whole house, which isn’t bad for Winch.

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