Moving out of parents to gain independence vs Staying at home to save for a deposit?

[Androcles]

I thought council tax was worked out entirely on what the house was worth in whatever year they priced things up - at least in England that's how they do it I think, not sure in Scotland. Single person discount is 25% in England.

It's a combination of value and location.

 

[steaky360]

I think the Scottish council tax bandings are still based on house prices, or at least you can gauge how much council tax you will be paying by the value of your property. But as Scottish Council tax includes water rates (which are separate in England) that does affect the price you pay if you have private water.

 

[Androcles]

Blimey, I have to admit that £180pm for gas+elec shocked me a tad! Is that just because Scotsland is always chilly?

Good to see generally what sort of costs I can be expecting though. The best scenario would be going back to Uni and living away from home I guess but I still haven't decided what I'd like to do and I don't really want to pack work up just to bunk off for 3 years! x)

Good shout on the tv on demand though Smoke, am I right in thinking you still need a tv license to stream tv online? But that it's fine if you're just watching On Demand stuff? I could always go back to my rents for when the footie's on as well! And when I'm craving spongebob..

Technically you even have to have a TV license if you have a PC and don't stream online etc. The requirements for a TV license in the UK are you have to have one if you have any item that could possibly receive or display television or radio programmes.

 

[kruppsy]

Yeah, my Gas + Elec is about £180 p/m. 30s, 3 bed, Semi. Midlands. Maybe Im being diddled?! I thought that was about average?

 

[steaky360]

Technically you even have to have a TV license if you have a PC and don't stream online etc. The requirements for a TV license in the UK are you have to have one if you have any item that could possibly receive or display television or radio programmes.

Its live TV I think, so monitors don't count unless they have a TV receiver (or your PC does). You don't need a TV licence to watch BBC iPlayer / Stream radio I believe.

Also, I'm not sure about the whole radio thing because you don't need a TV licence for your car.

Yeah, my Gas + Elec is about £180 p/m. 30s, 3 bed, Semi. Midlands. Maybe Im being diddled?! I thought that was about average?

My electricity bill is going to be about £100 per month (don't have gas) and that should even itself out over the course of the year.

 

[Androcles]

Its live TV I think, so monitors don't count unless they have a TV receiver (or your PC does). You don't need a TV licence to watch BBC iPlayer / Stream radio I believe.

Also, I'm not sure about the whole radio thing because you don't need a TV licence for your car.

Yes you have to have a TV license for a PC with monitors, because the PC can connect to the interent or a television card and receive television or radio programmes. I know this because about 4yrs ago we got the knock on the door and were fined for no TV license for that exact reason.

You are right that it is supposed to be only live broadcasts on those devices, however they can still issue you with a fine and it is down to you to prove that you weren't.

As far as i know radios are covered under the television license (at least they used to be years ago), but only houses radios inside a house.

EDIT: ignore what i just typed, you were right, they've changed the regulations since the last time i checked (about 4yrs back), their list of rules now states:

Exception: If you only watch catch-up services online, then you don’t need a licence. For example, you don’t need one to use BBC iPlayer, or ITV player, to catch up on programmes after they have been shown on TV.

 

[Grimezy]

Yes you have to have a TV license for a PC with monitors, because the PC can connect to the interent or a television card and receive television or radio programmes. I know this because about 4yrs ago we got the knock on the door and were fined for no TV license for that exact reason.

As far as i know radios are covered under the television license (at least they used to be years ago), but only houses radios inside a house.

I thought this was the case as when the Euro's were on we would all watch it in work and then we were actually warned that as the business didn't have a TV license we weren't allowed to stream the live games on BBC website. I assumed things like Netflix and watching On Demand shows on iplayer was fine without a license though..

And so basically if I budget £100 p/m for Utilities I should be in the right region depending on the kind of house? I assume new builds will cost less on bills..

 

[SmokeDarKnight]

Yeah its live TV only, if you watch anything as its being broadcast then you need a TV license, same goes for recording.

I have a TV, Laptop and recently spoke to the TV Licensing folk and they said it was fine, just to tape up any TV connections and if a TV inspector should call round it would be fine.

This is also conveyed on their website

A reminder of the law
The law states that you need to be covered by a TV Licence if you watch or record television programmes, on any device, as they're being shown on TV. This includes TVs, computers, mobile phones, games consoles, digital boxes and Blu-ray/DVD/VHS recorders.
You don't need a licence if you don't use any of these devices to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV - for example, if you use your TV only to watch DVDs or play video games, or you only watch ‘catch up’ services like BBC iPlayer or 4oD.

 

[steaky360]

You are right that it is supposed to be only live broadcasts on those devices, however they can still issue you with a fine and it is down to you to prove that you weren't.

You need to be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record TV as it's being broadcast. This includes the use of devices such as a computer, laptop, mobile phone or DVD/video recorder.
It costs £145.50 for colour and £49.00 for a black and white TV Licence.

Watching TV on the internet
You need to be covered by a licence if you watch TV online at the same time as it's being broadcast on conventional TV in the UK or the Channel Islands.
Video recorders and digital recorders like Sky+
You need a licence if you record TV as it's broadcast, whether that's on a conventional video recorder or digital box.
Mobile phones
A licence covers you to watch TV as it's broadcast on a mobile phone, whether you're at home or out and about.

Maybe they can, but if you have no TV card in your PC (or no Aerial for example) then thats simple proof you could not have been watching/recording live TV.

But this is all besides the point, I'd suggest most people will have an actual TV hooked up to an aerial and as such should probably pay the TV licence

 

[tom_gr7]

I'd stay put for the moment mate, save and save and save! its not ideal, but if it gives you that deposit and eventually leads to you owning your own house its win win really. In the long term. Me n my missus live with her dad whilst we are at uni and we are also saving our loans for a deposit. its not ideal, but we couldn't afford to rent under any circumstance. Say if you could save £800 of your £1200 a month. £800x12months=£9600 per year, x two years = £19200 which is a well on the way towards a good sized deposit.

I'm sure it would be nice to rent and gain some independence, but you may find you are stuck in that cycle and simply cant afford to save for a deposit. Which is a situation my niece+fella are stuck in and they are actually paying more for rent than what they would pay for a mortgage! Stupid system in my opinion.

 

[Androcles]

Yeah its live TV only, if you watch anything as its being broadcast then you need a TV license, same goes for recording.

I have a TV, Laptop and recently spoke to the TV Licensing folk and they said it was fine, just to tape up any TV connections and if a TV inspector should call round it would be fine.

This is also conveyed on their website

Maybe they can, but if you have no TV card in your PC (or no Aerial for example) then thats simple proof you could not have been watching/recording live TV.

But this is all besides the point, I'd suggest most people will have an actual TV hooked up to an aerial and as such should probably pay the TV licence

Yeah read my edit, it looks like they have changed their regulations in the last few years, because back then it was literally if you owned anything that could possibly display a television picture in any way then you got fined, i rmeember way before even then my parents frantically hiding the television set when the van came around lol. Now it seems they take into account other equipment and only fine for viewing live broadcasts.

 

[Grimezy]

And to end this thrilling debate I probably would end up getting a TV license anyway xD

We all learnt something new today though...

 

[steaky360]

And so basically if I budget £100 p/m for Utilities I should be in the right region depending on the kind of house? I assume new builds will cost less on bills..

Well I'd say you might be cutting it fine with £100 for all your bills, but it depends on whether you're going to flatshare or not and whether you'd include things like council tax etc. in that (obviously not an issue if you're a student, but it will be once you're not)

As I said, my heating alone is £100 per month.

 

[Androcles]

Well I'd say you might be cutting it fine with £100 for all your bills, but it depends on whether you're going to flatshare or not and whether you'd include things like council tax etc. in that (obviously not an issue if you're a student, but it will be once you're not)

As I said, my heating alone is £100 per month.

Yeah about the same here, depending ont he time of year.

I pay roughly per month two of us sharing a three bedroom house -

Gas/Electric: £100 to £120 (summer) £160 to £200 winter
Council Tax: £64
TV License: £6
Cable/Internet: £35

plus water rates (£32 a month between us i think, cant remember because the other guy just gives me a total and i pay him) basically we're paying rent plus roughly £220 per month on bills and "household" shopping each.

We're actually saving at the moment for a deposit on a two bedroom place because the three bedroom house is too much for us to look after and it's getting expensive. There were three of us but one person did a runner on us and we've been covering her part ever since.