# Cost of Living in Exeter



## rbafna (Mar 6, 2008)

Hi all,

I am planning to move to Exeter Devon.
Can anybody tell me the approximate cost of living in this area?
Considering a 1BHK and 2BHK apt for a single person and for a couple.

Thanks


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

rbafna said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I am planning to move to Exeter Devon.
> Can anybody tell me the approximate cost of living in this area?
> ...


I'm obviously going to sound like an idiot here, whats BHK?


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## rbafna (Mar 6, 2008)

sorry for that abbreviation. 
BHK - Bedroom, Hall(Living Room), Kitchen.

So i am looking for either 1 bedroom, living room and kitchen apartment/flat or 2 bedroom, living room and kitchen apartment/flat.

It would be great if anybody could give an approximate expenses amount.


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## MichelleAlison (Aug 25, 2007)

Thanks for explaining BHK, I wasn't sure either - I do know BLT, TLC and LOL though ...........

Back to the question of living expenses - go to Properties for sale, homes to rent, overseas property, retirement properties and new homes on rightmove.co.uk, click on rent icon at top and then type in Exeter - click the boxes on what you are looking for and then you should get an idea of prices. 

Don't forget you will also have to pay council tax and you can find this out at Exeter City Council - Bands & Charges.

Good luck

Michelle


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## rbafna (Mar 6, 2008)

Thanks for your reply. 
Now, I may sound idiot here. But can u tell me what does BLT, TLC, LOL mean ?

Also, even if you rent an apartment, you have to pay all those taxes? That looks like a lot of money !


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## MichelleAlison (Aug 25, 2007)

Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato (sandwich) - well known abbreviation in the UK - land of sandwiches, Tender Loving Care and Laugh Out Loud.

I am sorry to say, but council tax is normally paid by the person in resident and not the owner, unless it is a holiday let. This tax has to be paid, otherwise you can end up in prison (no joke).

The tax that you pay depends on the value of the property. Every area has different tax bands and the nearer to London you are, the more expensive they become. We lived in a suburb of London in a regular house and we were in Band D - about 1,500 pounds per year (two years ago).

Michelle

PS Where are you moving from?


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## rbafna (Mar 6, 2008)

Ohhhh ! I thought those abbreviations had something to do with apartment types like BHK ! 

Currently I am in the US and am thinking about moving to Exeter on a work permit. So, I was just trying to figure out what would be the expenses and then accordingly decide on what salary I should get based on the expenses and the savings that I want to make.

So far from what I have researched, 12000 pounds should be a good estimate for yearly expenses for 1 person. Please let me know what are your views on my estimate.

Thanks


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## MichelleAlison (Aug 25, 2007)

rbafna said:


> Ohhhh !
> 
> So far from what I have researched, 12000 pounds should be a good estimate for yearly expenses for 1 person. Please let me know what are your views on my estimate.
> 
> Thanks


When you say 12000 pounds, what does this include? 

Michelle


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## rbafna (Mar 6, 2008)

This includes apartment rent + taxes, food expenses, travel expenses and some entertainment. Is there anything else that I need to take into account?


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## MichelleAlison (Aug 25, 2007)

rbafna said:


> This includes apartment rent + taxes, food expenses, travel expenses and some entertainment. Is there anything else that I need to take into account?


Gas, electric, water, TV licence, cable TV, mobile phone contract, land phone, contents insurance, newspapers and magazines, hair and beauty, clothing etc. What about medical - will you have to get a private scheme? If so, BUPA and PPP are the two most popular, with BUPA being very expensive. There are more companies, but I don't know their names as I only used the NHS. Private dentists and opticians are not cheap. 

Sorry for the doom and gloom, but you did ask "anything else".

Regards

Michelle


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## rbafna (Mar 6, 2008)

Yes,, I did, and I am glad that I did ask you "anythiing else" 

U said TV License ! Thats interesting.. I have never heard of that before.
About insurance, aren't the employers supposed to take care of your medical, dental and vision insurance? And whats content insurance?
Also, gas, electric and water is not included in the rent ? Can you tell me a rough estimate of these charges for a single person?


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## MichelleAlison (Aug 25, 2007)

rbafna said:


> Yes,, I did, and I am glad that I did ask you "anythiing else"
> 
> U said TV License ! Thats interesting.. I have never heard of that before.
> About insurance, aren't the employers supposed to take care of your medical, dental and vision insurance? And whats content insurance?
> Also, gas, electric and water is not included in the rent ? Can you tell me a rough estimate of these charges for a single person?


Every single household in the UK that has a TV has to have a TV licence even if you only watch cable TV, everyone has to pay for the BBC. It is 135.50 pounds per year and can be paid monthly quarterly or yearly. You have no choice but to pay, because everything is computerised. This is the website you need TVL - Welcome to TV Licensing

Some employers have private medical schemes set-up, where they pay the fees as part of your work package. Unfortunately this is not so common now. If you pay taxes and National Insurance contributions directly from your salary, then you will be eligible to use the NHS, but this does not cover the cost of dentists, opticians and medicines. 

More and more dentists have gone private and those that still cover the NHS have long waiting lists and you still have make a payment towards your treatment. The same can be said for opticians, although I think more of them cover NHS patients than not. every prescription item has a fee of about 6 pounds (approx) and can be very expensive if you need many medicines. A solution to this is to buy a yearly pre-paid prescription, which is about 100 pounds and with this you can get as many prescription medicines as you need.

With regard to gas and electric this is not normally included in rent. The best solution for this is to have pre-paid meters installed. Although this is slightly more expensive, it is more cost effective in that you will remember to turn everything off all the time and don't leave lights on unecessarily. It is very difficult to say what it will cost, but I would say allow 10 pounds per week for gas and the same for electric. Many areas are installing water meters into homes and all new properties automatically have meters installed. We used to pay about 300 pounds per year for water (unmetered) - look at this website for water in Exeter South West Water - Our charges

Contents insurance is a neessity in case of burglary. Just pop into any bank and they will be able to give you details or look online i.e. Lloyds TSB, HSBC, Barclays, Nat West, Abbey, Halifax, Nationwide etc.

I hope this helps more.

Regards

Michelle


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## rbafna (Mar 6, 2008)

Hey Michelle,

Thank you very much for all the information. I really appreciate it !
I think all your posts makes it clear as to what all things I need to consider in estimating my expenses !
Once again Michelle, thanks a lot !


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## MichelleAlison (Aug 25, 2007)

Good luck with your plans and please feel free to ask any more questions.

Regards

Michelle


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