# Cost of living in Reading



## Mefiras (Feb 18, 2011)

Hello,

I was wondering if you can give me some information on prices in Reading. My employer wants me to move to UK where the main office is.
So I've found one topic here about Reading, but it was quite old so I was thinking if I can get some more fresh info.

So far I've checked some real estate agency and found that you can get a one bedroom flat for ~700 a month. But I guess this doesn't include utilities and also something called "Council tax". 
So my first question is what's the council tax and how much is it? Would be also nice to know roughly what numbers are we talking about when it comes to utilities for one person?

I am also interested in prices for food/entertainment in Reading. How much would you spend weekly in Tesco? How expensive are lunches in the center (the office is close to the Oracle)? And what's an average price for a dinner in a normal restaurant?

Thank you for your help!


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## twlamcdermott (Feb 16, 2011)

Mefiras said:


> Hello,
> 
> I was wondering if you can give me some information on prices in Reading. My employer wants me to move to UK where the main office is.
> So I've found one topic here about Reading, but it was quite old so I was thinking if I can get some more fresh info.
> ...


 I do not have specific prices but we are moving to Newbury in May and after looking at all of the costs and VAT (taxes) in-order to keep up my same standard of living I needed a 40% pay raise. Of course you can cut down on what you are doing and maybe a 35% might work t=but that is pushing it. 
The average salary in UK is around £60K-80K.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Council Tax depends on the property and where it is, but typically around £1000 to £1500 a year. If you are a single household (no partner/spouse), you get 25% off. Utilities like gas, electricity and water come to around £1200 a year, plus telephone, broadband and cable/satellite TV around £500 to £1000 a year, depending on which package deal you take (sports and movies, unlimited, fast broadband cost more). House contents insurance around £200 to £300 a year.
For food shopping for one person, around £100 a week (esp if you like alcohol, which is highly taxed here). You can get a cheap lunch (sandwiches etc) from around £2-£3, and hot dish from £5. Dinner is sky the limit, but in a modest family restaurant (Pizza Hut, Nando etc) and ethnic places (Indian, Chinese etc) you can eat from £10 to £15 (plus drinks), and £30 to £50 in a more upmarket place.


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## bunty16 (Sep 26, 2009)

twlamcdermott said:


> I do not have specific prices but we are moving to Newbury in May and after looking at all of the costs and VAT (taxes) in-order to keep up my same standard of living I needed a 40% pay raise. Of course you can cut down on what you are doing and maybe a 35% might work t=but that is pushing it.
> The average salary in UK is around £60K-80K.


An average salary is set around £30-35.000, majority of people do not earn that type of salary, Of course if you have 2 wage earners that is about right. Actually a lot of people earn no more than £20.000, and the situation is getting much worse, there are a lot of jobs to be had, but part-time and poorly paid, around the minimum wage, so I am sure you do not have to worry too much, others manage and survive, just wanted to put record straight, did not want you to get wrong idea, sometimes when people say you need this that or the other, actually waste a lot of money. There will always be some on high salaries, but most of us earn less than the quote given, and live quite well. A modest, middle of the road property will cost average council tax. £100 quite a lot to pay per person a weekyou can do this much cheaper and eat well


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## Joanne_Manchester (Feb 18, 2011)

twlamcdermott said:


> The average salary in UK is around £60K-80K.


Hello,

Well first of all, I don't know where your heard that £60K-80K is the average salary?? (Maybe for a professional couple with joint incomes??) That is a really big salary if it is for one person !!
The average salary in the UK is actually £25K/year.
You can find more info in this here:
w w w.thisismoney.co.uk/best-paid-jobs

Now I am in the North-West so can't help with the cost of renting in Reading but the council tax is basically to pay for the services offered by the council (such as bin collection, street cleaning,etc..). It works by band, the higher the band , the more the council tax will be. w w w.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/YourlocalcouncilandCouncilTax/CouncilTax/DG_10037383

I pay around £60/month for broadband, Cable TV and landline phone (with Virgin Media)
Around £120/month for gas & electrics (for a semi-detached house)
Bus pass £11 /week
£27/month for water
£35/month house insurance
Tesco for 2 person between £300-£350/month

For lunch I would spend around £3-4 pound for sandwich/drink/snack

Joanne


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## Jemima80 (Feb 13, 2011)

I would budget about £1000 per month for all of your bills. If the flat cost £700 per month I would say council tax is probably about £100 per month then you have electric & gas at about £50, TV licence £10, water £25 & home content insurance £25 so that is £910 but just a guess.
Food shopping for 1, I am married with 2 children and live in the suburbs of West London so not that far from Reading. We spent about £100 per week on food shopping so I would suggest you could easily do it for half.
The nightlife in the centre of Reading is fantastic & the shops are great too. Average price for say a glass of wine or a vodka & Tonic or a lager in a bar is £3
Main course for dinner at a resturant about £10, lunch at least half of that.


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## Merapi (Nov 24, 2010)

Hi All, I am new in this Britain Expat forum. 

Mefiras, I am sorry to hijack your thread but I do also need some info about working and living in Reading.

We, a family with 3 and 7 y/o kids, are considering a move from UAE to Reading. Expat package is on offer. The company is UK based with global operations and financially very sound. We will be provided with accommodation (not sure about utilities and furnishing yet), insurance, car and other benefits (not sure what at the moment). The offer is GPB 75k per annum and targetted bonus of 20% (not sure if this is 20% of annual income or other). We do not go out a lot for entertainment. I know that we can live well there but would like to know how much we will potentially save with this package. Appreciate if anyone can also share their experience on the following costs for living in Reading:
1. Annual school fees (if I have to send my kids to private school)
2. Monthly grocery for a family of 4
3. Gas price per litre
4. Utilities (water, electricity and gas) for a 3 or 4 BR house
5. Monthly telephone/internet subscription fee
6. Council tax in Reading
7. Cost per visit for dentist
8. Monthly cost for TV
9. Any other deduction (other than income tax)?

Merapi


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## Jemima80 (Feb 13, 2011)

Hi Merapi,
I would consider living in one of the villages slightly out of Reading if you are able to drive as they are lovely for families. Warfield & Binfield are nice ones.
Will try and answers you questions, can't help on the school fees as my children aren't in private ed.
We spend roughly £100 per week on groceries (also a family of 4)
Gas price is ridiculously high at the moment, looking at around £1.35 a litre
I don't live in Reading, I'm not too far in west London and our bills including everything are around £2000 a month, that includes mortgage, electric & gas (£50 per month) sky tv & broadband (£40 per month) car finance (£300 p/m) water (£25 pm) council tax (£150 per month, prob not so much on reading) car insurance on 2 cars (£100 pm)
Home contents insurance (£35 pm) BT line rental (£10 pm) TV license (£10 pm)
Can't think of any other essentials but also things like gym membership (£50 pm)
My husbands company cover our dental but it is about £30 for a 6 month check up, £50 for a basic filling up to £400 for say a crown. Your children should get it free on the nhs ..
Depending on the school fees there should def be money left over, my husbands on a similar salary and I would say we have a lovely lifestyle here.
Hope that helps a bit


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## Merapi (Nov 24, 2010)

Jemima80 said:


> Hi Merapi,
> I would consider living in one of the villages slightly out of Reading if you are able to drive as they are lovely for families. Warfield & Binfield are nice ones.
> Will try and answers you questions, can't help on the school fees as my children aren't in private ed.
> We spend roughly £100 per week on groceries (also a family of 4)
> ...


Thanks Jemima80 ... that helps me a lot.


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## bolts221 (May 20, 2011)

Thanks for the excellent information everyone, its very helpful! My wife and I are also considering a relocation to Reading sometime this summer. I have a couple questions:

- What is home contents insurance? Is it necessary/recommended if you plan to rent a flat?
- How much will national insurance contributions cost if my employer provides supplemental health insurance?

I'm trying to figure out what my take home pay will be after taxes and NIC to determine if the salary will be sufficient for our monthly expenses.

Thanks!


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## Joanne_Manchester (Feb 18, 2011)

- What is home contents insurance? Is it necessary/recommended if you plan to rent a flat?
It is to insure you belongings again things like fire, burglary etc.. 
So yes you need it !

- How much will national insurance contributions cost if my employer provides supplemental health insurance?
Are you talking about a private health insurance? you still pay the normal rate, private insurance is only to make is quicker if you need , for example , a surgery and the waiting list is long.

Here is a very accurate tax/national insurance calculator : http://listentotaxman.com/index.php


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## bolts221 (May 20, 2011)

Thanks Joanne! Yes, I'm referring to private health insurance.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Joanne_Manchester said:


> - How much will national insurance contributions cost if my employer provides supplemental health insurance?
> 
> Are you talking about a private health insurance? you still pay the normal rate, private insurance is only to make is quicker if you need , for example , a surgery and the waiting list is long.


Plus you will be taxed on what it costs your employer to provide private health insurance. If it's, say, £500 a year, you will pay £100 in extra tax.


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## Joanne_Manchester (Feb 18, 2011)

Joanne_Manchester said:


> - What is home contents insurance? Is it necessary/recommended if you plan to rent a flat?
> It is to insure you belongings again things like fire, burglary etc..
> So yes you need it !
> 
> ...


I just noticed all the spelling mistakes I have made on the previous post...well it's Friday and I'm tired so that's my excuse (and the fact that English is not my first language !)...


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## bolts221 (May 20, 2011)

*Estimated monthly expenses (Reading)*

Based on what we've read in this thread and other resources online, here are the monthly expenses we estimate for my wife and I to live in Reading. If anyone can give me feedback on whether these estimates are reasonable/accurate, that'd be great. Also, if I've missed anything, please let me know...

Rent (2 bedroom flat): *£1200*
House contents insurance: *£50*
Council tax: *£100*
Car lease (1 car): *£300*
Petrol: *£150*
Car insurance: *£100* _(not sure about this one, is this about right?)_
Mobile phone (for 2): *£100*
Food	: *£400*
Gas/electricity/water: *£150*
Broadband Internet: *£50*
Misc expenses (toiletries/household supplies/etc): *£100*
Free spending cash	: *£100*

Total monthly expenses: *£2800*


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## Joanne_Manchester (Feb 18, 2011)

Rent (2 bedroom flat): *£1200* I cannot comment on this as I live in the North-West
House contents insurance: *£50* Yes and could be less (we pay £30 for house and contents insurance) 
Council tax: *£100* Yep 
Car lease (1 car): *£300* 
If you and your wife have never lived in the UK, the problem is that you will not have any credit score when you arrive in the UK, you will need to build this and it can take a few years before you are able to lease a car, apply for a loan/mortgage, etc...See here : Credit Score Needed to Lease a Car | eHow.co.uk 
Petrol: *£150* Petrol is very expensive so it really will depend how often and how far you go with your car, we spend around £80/month but my husband and i use public transport to go to work. We use the car mainly to go to the shops, my husband use it maybe once a week to go to work and we use it to go visit places a couple of times a month.
Car insurance: *£100* _(not sure about this one, is this about right?)_
This is very difficult to say as it depends on a lot of different things such as : the car, if the area you live is in a "good" area, where the car is parked (garage, road,etc). Might be more expensive too because you are knew to the UK.
Mobile phone (for 2): *£100* That is quite a lot, depends how often you use your mobile phone , there are contracts available from £15-£40 a month. Again you might have some problem to get a mobile on contract because you do not have any credit score, they might ask you to put a large deposit.
Food	: *£400* Yep
Gas/electricity/water: *£150* Yep
Broadband Internet: *£50* Yep, with cable TV and phone line
Misc expenses (toiletries/household supplies/etc): *£100* Yep
Free spending cash	: *£100* A bit low..does that include lunches, haircuts, going out, clothes, etc..? 

Total monthly expenses: *£2800*

I just found this : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...ice-helps-expats-with-low-credit-ratings.html


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## bolts221 (May 20, 2011)

Thanks Joanne, this is very helpful.

Regarding the car: 
We may consider buying a used car instead, if leasing is difficult. Would £150/month be a safer estimate?

Regarding mobile phone: 
I am thinking the pay as you go phones with data service might work better. Do you think £100/month for 2 lines is still too high? I'm assuming previous credit is not required for these, right?

Regarding free spending cash: 
This is roughly an average cost for entertainment/going out, clothes, misc "toys/gadgets", etc. What do you think is more realistic for 2 people?


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## Jrge (Mar 22, 2011)

bolts221 said:


> Regarding mobile phone:
> I am thinking the pay as you go phones with data service might work better. Do you think £100/month for 2 lines is still too high? I'm assuming previous credit is not required for these, right?


I've found that for £15 you get 300 minutes and 3000 texts
and all-you-can-eat data. *source* : Three - Pay As You Go - Pay As You Go On Three

A friend of mine is in London (I'm in the US), she has a PAYG Android with "three", we talk quite often thru skype mobile and the quality of the calls are impressive.


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