Moving out for the first time (tips please!)

I'm 18 and I just started uni (at Kingston), but I'm still living at home in London. Frankly, I'm getting bored of staying at home now, and my mum is annoying. So I've decided that I want to move out next year with a friend I've known for over a decade. But I'm not entirely sure on where to start.

I've started saving money towards a deposit, and I plan on getting help with my CV to get a job. If I don't get a job soon, I can just use my student finance money when I next get paid (and even an overdraft when I open a student bank account, but this will be if I'm in a really desperate situation!).

Is it worth the money and effort to move out, or is it too soon? I feel like I'll need to move out for my second year anyway, so I might as well do it now. I don't plan on coming back home either. This is a permanent decision, and I am very serious about this. Some helpful tips would be nice :P

There are some issues here and things you really need to think about.

Is your friend also a student? If so, you would only really be able to rent a student house. This is because when going privately you must earn a certain amount of money (of which student finance is not counted), and you get credit checked, and the landlord will get references from employers and previous landlord (if any). Also, as you're a student, some landlords will require a guarantor - IE homeowner.

If your friend is not a student, he/she would have to pay council tax for the place where you live. You, as a full time student, would not have to pay this, nor would you be liable. Only your friend will.

A deposit is usually a months rent, sometimes a month and a half's rent. You also then need to have a months rent in advance as you pay rent a month in advance. So, if you rent somewhere that is £500pm, you're looking at needing £1000 - £1500 before even moving in.

You then need to figure out money for furnishings if the place is unfurnished.

Don't forget about all the bills to. You would have electricity, gas, water, TV licence, internet, possibly council tax, rent, and contents insurance. In my flat, we pay just over £1200 for rent & all bills, this is for a one bed flat and is split in two, so we each pay £600pm. This includes council tax, and is without gas.

It would be much easier (for you) to move out in to a shared house / student house on your own, as that way the cost would be lower. The deposit would only be the cost of your room (depending where you are in the country could be as low as £200).

Me and my friend are both first year students. He goes to Goldsmiths, so ideally we'll be trying to find somewhere in between (which works out to be in the Tooting/Wandsworth area, so it should be cheap in comparison to anywhere further north).

I've been looking at some offerings on Gumtree and Zoopla just as a guide to see what we'll be getting. I was hoping to move by January/February, but considering the things you said, it might take a lot longer than that. I'll probably need to work and get an income for a few months to get good credit.

I was actually hoping to move out permanently. I know that some student houses have contracts for a specific time (e.g. 40 weeks or 56 weeks). I have thought about sharing with two other people rather than one, but in order to do that we'd have to find a bigger flat, and that would increase the cost.

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