What does £450 a month get you up north?
Quite a bit more than you’d manage in London, as you might imagine.
In this week’s What I Rent, we’re up in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, with Louisa, a 23-year-old auxiliary nurse for the NHS, and her partner Ebs, a chef.
They moved to the area two years ago from Wakefield, and now share a two-bedroom house – along with their cats.
We chatted with Louisa about what the couple rent.
Hey, Louisa! How much do you and Ebs pay to live here?
We pay £450 a month between two of us, so £225 each. We usually pay around £250 a month in bills.
And what do you get for what you pay?
Our home comprises of one living space, the kitchen, one bathroom, a utility space and two bedrooms. We also have a decent little garden.
Do you feel like you have a good deal?
We think we have a great deal! We’ve put a lot of work into this house to make it our own however and we’ve actually put quite a lot of money into renovations, for example the new kitchen floor.
Whereabouts is your home based? What do you think of the area?
Our home is in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
We love the area, it’s super friendly and has a great homely feel to it.
It seems to be quite an up and coming area too, they have recently renovated the town centre and built a huge shopping and leisure complex.
How did you find this property?
We came across it on Facebook Marketplace!
How have you made it feel like home?
Lots of art, lots of neon, lots of bold prints and wallpaper. Our landlord has been really great about letting us decorate however we want, and she was really clear when we moved in that even though she owns the house, it’s very much our home.
It’s not been difficult to decorate at all. We are really lucky to have free rein with our rented space.
In our old place we got charged for putting a pin in the wall.
Do you feel like you have enough space?
For our family the size it is right now, yes. We will be looking into having children eventually, and when we do we will need to upsize.
Are there any problems with the home you have to deal with?
We’ve had trouble with damp in the bedrooms and also plastering issues. Our landlord has been really efficient in getting them sorted though.
Do you have plans to move again any time soon?
We are planning on moving in the future. We love this house and it will be really hard to leave, but we can’t stay here forever as it doesn’t have the space we will need for starting a family.
And what about buying a place?
When we next move we hope we can buy a house. Renting is great and often a really flexible option but we do sometimes wish we had the stability of being home owners.
We’d also like to have the option of spending larger amounts of money on renovations that we haven’t wanted to spend here as the house doesn’t belong to us.
Very fair. Shall we take a look around?
What I Rent is a weekly series that’s out every Tuesday at 10am.
Check back next week to have another nose around a rented property.
How to get involved in What I Rent
What I Rent is Metro.co.uk’s weekly series that takes you inside the places people are renting, to give us all a better sense of what’s normal and how much we should be paying.
If you fancy taking part, please email whatirent@metro.co.uk. You’ll need to take pictures of your kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom, plus a few photos of you in your bedroom or living area.
Make sure you get permission from your housemates! You’ll also need to be okay with sharing how much you’re paying for rent, as that’s pretty important.
We're not just after the prettiest places out there, by the way. We want the reality of renting, so if you're currently renting a place you hate, we'd love to see that too (and sympathise greatly!).
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source https://metro.co.uk/2021/11/02/what-i-rent-louisa-and-ebs-450-a-month-for-a-house-in-barnsley-15512996/
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