Hi,

I was just wondering what the average percentage of income people spend on rent is in the UK/US?

A year ago I moved to a really expensive part of the UK to take up a programming position for a games company and I decided to share accomodation with other people to keep some of the costs down but recently I've been badly wanting to move into my own place.

I've calculated that I would be spending roughly 55-60% of my gross income on accomodation (including tax and bills etc.) Bearing in mind this is just a one bedroom flat.

I've looked online and some people say they wouldn't spend more than 40% of their income on rent which has got me a bit worried.

If this does seem like a ridiculous sum of money then what would you do in this situation? ask your boss for a payrise, move jobs etc.?

I'm not sure what to do :(

Thanks.

Hey, I'm in the 90% of the world that isn't a country that has a compound name beginning with the letter 'U'. I spend 0% of my income on rent, because I own my 50 ha farm outright (burned the mortgage a few months ago). Property tax is about 2% of my gross income and property insurance is about 3%.

That said, when I was just starting out as a young professional adult (in the 1980s) I was spending a good 60% of my net income on rent, a 1 bedroom apartment in the suburbs. I was glad for the upscaled accommodation after the sort of places I had lived while a starving student. You'll find either the proportion of your income you pay for housing decreases as your earning power goes up, or you just keep upsizing as your earning power goes up (after all, you'll need a place for the minivan and the kids' toys, or the special hidden room for your 'hobby', or whatever).

Regardless of where I live I tend to aim for 33% of my salary on rent.

L. Spiro

It depends on your job and city.

In my country (Argentina), the % may range anything from the better paid job's 25-30% to the worse paid job's 60-70% of your income; though the average looks like it's more around 40-50%

And of course there's a lot of people who lives with their families (not just parents) and the minority who own a house for their own.

From net income = 20%.

I live in the United States of America.

Some of my coworkers though, pay as much as 50%, and sometimes more. It depends on your personality. Some people consider lifestyle more important than saving money.

I pay the mortgage for me and my wife and it is exactly 25% of my gross salary (not including bonus ). I don't know how much my wife earns though so its probably a lot less combined.

There are some places in the UK that are just stupidly expensive though. Particularly in Guildford. I don't know why so many games companies open up there when it would take the average games programmer 14 years just to save up a deposit to buy a house there at current market prices.

I live in Finland, mortgage+property upkeep is around 60% of my salary for our 3 bedroom family home. But that should get easier after my wife can also work and we're able to double the income. I don't currently work in a game company

Together with my girlfriend's income we pay about 20% for our 3 room (1 bedroom) flat in Northern Germany, but I hear people in Munich or other major cities pay much more. When I was still a student I also paid about 50% of my income for a tiny 1 room apartment with the tiniest little kitchen right beside my bed :D

I pay around 20% of my income, but I would probably go as high as 35%. The apartment I have right now is a steal for a 2bdrm even though it's in an older building. Like others have said it really comes down to how focussed you are on lifestyle vs savings. Personally I've been trying to grow my investment portfolio, so I tend to focus more on lower cost adequate living than higher cost desirable living.