How to Save for a Deposit While you are Renting: Part 3

Although mortgage availability has improved in recent years and deposit requirements aren’t as onerous as they were at the height of the ‘credit crunch’ one of the major challenges facing homebuyers is still saving the deposit that they need to get a mortgage.

In recent weeks we’ve taken a look at how you can reduce the amount you will need for a deposit, as well as more general money saving tips.

This week, in the final part of the series we take a look at how you can reduce what you’re spending on rent, leaving you with more money to put towards your deposit.

Reducing What you Spend on Rent While You are Saving

High rents are one of the major challenges facing first-time buyers. In Edinburgh the average monthly rent on one and two-bedroom flats stands at £705 and £928 respectively.

That’s a large sum that can make it incredibly challenging for people to save any money while covering their monthly bills. There are still some things that you can do to reduce your outgoings here though, even if they may not be desirable for everyone.

Moving Back Home

For many people the easiest way to reduce outgoings is to move back in with the parents for a period of time. Although not an ideal prospect for everyone, when you think about the potential savings it can be well worth considering. Based on the average rent for a one-bedroom flat in the capital, you’d be almost £8,500 per year in rent. Even saving a fraction of that amount could significantly decrease how long you need to save up a deposit.

Take a Spare Room in Another Property

Living alone can be especially expensive as you have to cover the rent and all of the bills by yourself. Even if you don’t have friends who have a spare room they would consider renting, there are a number of websites like Gumtree and spareroom.co.uk out there where you can find individual rooms to rent in a flat or house.

Alternatively, if the property that you are currently renting has a spare room that you could rent out, taking in a lodger can be a great way to reduce what you spend on rent as well as other bills like council tax, electricity, gas and broadband.

If you are thinking of buying a property and need advice on anything from market conditions to planning your budgets, feel free to get in touch today on 0131 667 0232 and one of Warners friendly, experienced staff will be happy to help.