Monthly Living Expenses in Aberdeen As A Student With Spouse

Hi all,

I am planning to take up a postgraduate study in the Uni and this time I will be living and studying in Aberdeen, with my wife. I guess she'll enjoy her break from the usual day to day life in our home country while I study for a year there.

Before we get there, I want to find out more about living cost in Aberdeen. I am budgeting around 1000gbp per month to cover basically everything (accomodation, food, utilities, transportation etc.)

My basis will be renting a studio unit or 1 bedroom flat for both of us (not sharing with anyone for privacy) with walking distance to uni (20-30 minutes or so is fine), both of us will do loads of cooking and occasional dine out. We also plan to travel within Aberdeen and Scotland for 'detailed' sight seeing. (we used to cycle around streets and take photographs along the way).
Generally, both of us don't club. So night pubs will be a rare occasion.

So, can 1000gbp well cover for our lives in Aberdeen for 12 months? Hope that it is not too miserable with that sum...

Reply 1

DougallnDougall

Original post by EddyK87

How well you manage may be determined by rental costs. Housing in Aberdeen tend to be quite high though I did read somewhere that rental costs have dropped by about 20%.

University of Aberdeen

Reply 2

AislingMary

Make sure and negotiate hard with rent. There is a slump in the industry but some realtors are still advertising rental properties well above market rates. Look around and negotiate, be firm and basically do your homework. If a property has been on the market for a while you may get it for up to £200 less per month. It will be very tight on £1000 a month for you both tbh but it's workable. There is a monthly bus pass that works out very cheap, get that if you have to go further out than you would like to be. Id be looking at properties now if I was you and drawing up some comparisons for travel etc best of luck :smile:

Reply 3

EddyK87

I saw on advertisements, most of the studio or 1 bedroom flat starts from GBP450 with most in the range between GBP500-550. How much can this be negotiated down further normally?

If the property were to cost GBP 500 per month, that leaves us with another half for utilities, food, groceries and other miscellaneous purchases.

If a property can be rented at a lower fraction say GBP300, then it will so much better for two of us for that one year.

Reply 4

AislingMary

Its always worth it to ask. I'm not sure how 'flush' you are but if you can pay your rent in a lump sum for say 6 months or even the year up front, then that puts you in a great bargining position. So if its 450 you may get it for 375. You will just have to 'shop' around, i would bet there is definitely someone who would take 6 months up front at 375/380 etc. Best of luck!

Reply 5

EddyK87

Original post by AislingMary

Thank you for the tip/tactic. If it helps to save a little (or more) in rents I would go for it. 6 months sum of rent at a go is quite a lot but I think it is still doable.
In this case, will the term of 6 months upfront payment be listed in the rental agreement or term, to protect the tenant in case landlord decided to sell off his/her flat halfway though the tenancy?

Reply 6

AislingMary

When a property is up for rent, there is rental agreements. These can vary in lengths from 1 month to 3, 6 12 etc. If you are going to rent for 9/12 months then that is what you will sign up for, some may say available for 6 or 12 months, but you don't have to sign up for that, if you want an agreement for 8 months or 10 etc then tell the landlord/estate agent that is what you need. If a landlord was to sell his house mid way through the agreement then he would have to give you 4 weeks notice plus pay you back ALL overpayments. When you sign up you will both agree on a monthly rent and that has to be adhered to for the duration, unless of course you can agree 6 months at 390 then 6 months at 420 or something like that, basically the contract you sign with the landlord can say whatever you have both agreed upon. Just make sure you get a receipt for all money paid!! It is worth asking the landlord if they will accept a lesser amount even if you could only put up 3 months in advance (plus you deposit). Reality is this, if you don't ask, you won't get and the more you are able to pay the better bargaining position you will be in, (I am a home owner and I rent a property in England, I would certainly agree to taking a lesser amount if the person was going to put up 3 months plus a deposit). :smile:

Monthly Living Expenses in Aberdeen As A Student With Spouse

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