First time tenant guide
Budget for Your Tenancy
Budget for Your Tenancy
You will have a few significant outgoings when you first set up a new tenancy:
- Your refundable holding deposit of one weeks rent per tenancy.
- Your first month’s rent.
- Your security deposit which will be a total of five weeks rent per tenancy where the rent is under £50,000 per year, or six weeks rent per tenancy where the rent is £50,000 or over per year.
- Other initial outgoings might include the purchase of furniture if you rent an unfurnished or part furnished property
Once you have moved in, you will have ongoing costs:
- Your monthly rental payments.
- Your council tax payments. Sometimes these may be included in the rent.
- Your utilities including gas, electricity and water. Sometimes these may be included in the rent.
- Phone bills, broadband and line rental.
Make sure you take all of these costs into account when you’re thinking of renting a property. Remember too that it’s important to keep paying your rent, on time and in full, as this may affect your credit score.
Write down a projection of all your monthly outgoings (not forgetting money to spend on food, clothes and the leisure activities) so you can see how much money you have left for rent.