Hmmm... just a bump... still looking for figures for transport and utilities...

I think is the local bus service:

http://www.stagecoachbus.com/teesside/
http://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables/TeessideBusGuide2008.pdf

And finally the Stockton council page: http://www.stockton.gov.uk/


Cheers
Øystein

Not sure what you have been given by your employers...

In a rented place you will need to cover

Water - usually billed from a meter reading - three or four of you so about £50 - £100 each per year. Bills vary depending on where in the UK you live.

Gas / Electricity - also billed by meter reading - probably about £200 per quarter. If the meter reader can't get a reading (because you are at work) you will get an estimated bill. Make sure you provide them with the correct reading by phone since the estimates can be very inaccurate and a shock once the total is corrected.

Telephone - IIRC it's about £50 for quarterly rent plus call charges on top. You may choose a mobile instead!

Television - UK govt license £142.50 per year. Also you will need a digital set top box soon but there's plenty of free channels to watch. You can pay for more if you wish.

Council Tax - Local govt tax which varies depending on your property value (even if you do not own it). Should be in the region of £1000. Not sure if you will be exempt from this. Don't think so.

You can insure your property too, but the landlord will insure the building.

There are people out there ready to scam you - if unsure about callers, ask for their ID. Genuine people will not mind giving it.

At least food is pretty cheap if you are careful, and walking is still free.

Cheers!

Thanks for the links, MadDog. Unfortunately, they haven't narrowed down our settlement location yet so I'm still woozy looking at UK maps for too long. It'll be a while before I get my bearings on that one.

Vitesse, thanks for your estimates. Lemme do a little math...
Water - even with an upper limit of £100 per year (that is correct, right? YEAR?), that's £25 for each person per year (assuming I'm with 4 other nurses), that's only £2.1 per month. Is this correct? That seems way too... cheap! Even I pay more for water here!

Gas/Electricity - at £200 per quarter (3 months), that's £66.67 per month, or £16.67 per person per month.

Telephone - since we're gonna be having mobiles, and no real reason to be calling anyone in local UK, can we have the phone disconnected if the flat comes with one? Still, a £50 per quarter rent is £16.67 per month, or £4.17 per person per month.

TV - £142.50 for one year is £11.88 per month, or £2.97 per person per month. This is just for 1 TV? Or do we pay the same amount regardless of the number of TVs in the house? Also, are channels like Discovery, National Geographic, HBO, Cinemax, AXN on the free channel list? If not, how much to get them?

Council Tax - this is the first time I've heard this. We'll just be renting a flat/house, will we be paying for this? £1000 per year sounds steep, that's £83.33 per month, or £20.83 per person per month.

Monthly Total - £2.1 water, £16.67 gas/elec, £4.17 phone, £2.97 TV, £20.83 council tax. Total = £46.74 per person per month. Wow! That's only HALF of the £20 per week per person (£80 per month) estimate they've given us!

I notice this is lacking internet, how much is that? And what speeds?

Buff mentioned garbage collection & sewage, do we actually pay for this?


What scams are you talking about, Vitesse? Are these phone-scams or do they actually knock on your door?

Hi Ice - I need to clarify a couple of the figures.

The water bill for my address is around £600 plus a year - it's metered so I pay for what I use. With a family of four I obviously use more water. It's cheaper where you are going (my water company is the most expensive in the country). Someone nearer would know better. The bill covers the address, not individuals.

The following is from the TV licensing website -

If you have a separate tenancy agreement for your room Each tenant needs their own TV Licence if they watch or record TV. This licence will also cover the communal areas.

If you have a joint tenancy agreement, One TV Licence may cover the whole house.

However, there may be other reasons why you need your own separate licence, such as whether or not you have exclusive access to a toilet or washing facilities. If you are unsure whether this applies to your particular circumstances please contact us to find out more information.


Do find out about council tax (it funds local services like rubbish collection). It is £1000 plus for each person but there may be discounts for you, or you may not have to pay at all.

Internet access requires a phone line - so you pay the quarterly charge plus a broadband fee, of which there are many types available. Mine is £20 per month and includes free UK phone calls. BTW, If you do not connect the phone, there is no fee.

Don't think you've got your housing rent in that figure you've worked out, mind.

There are some scams about, but usually it's elderly people who are caught (such as tradesmen offering to unblock gutters and then charging loads). I've heard of stories where people ask to use your phone and then call a really high cost number (which they own) and you get the bill...

As long as you apply common sense you'll be all right.

Ah, thanks for the clarification.

Water - Even at £600 per year for 4 persons, that's £50 per month, or £4.17 per person per month. That sounds a bit more reasonable, but is still cheap! I do understand that bills for water/electricity/gas does cover the address, no matter the number of people actually residing therein.

What is "separate tenancy" vs "joint tenancy"? Any ideas? If "separate tenancy" means I rent the place and then sub-let the rooms, then I don't think that's us. Maybe if "joint tenancy" means a bunch of us groups together to rent a place, then yes, that'll be what we'll be having.

If Council Tax is per person, then that's steep at £83.33 per person per month! However, I sure hope we're exempt from this especially since they haven't mentioned this in the two orientation seminars I've attended.

you won't be - some way, some how you will be due to pay albeit there may well be some discounts/grants available. This funds libraries, parks, schools, social services, rubbish collection, local police/fire services etc. etc.
It's also quite usual (at least in Scotland) for water/sewerage charges to be collected as part of this albeit it then gets paid onwards to the water company by the council.

Council tax is normally based on the property value (on a certain date) - if you think that's bad I pay £1100 council tax per year after a 25% single person household discount ...
water/sewerage is £350 per annum for me (again after discount).

Phone - if you opt for the cheapest line rental (payment by direct debit etc.) it's usually ~£11/12 per month before 'phone calls.
Internet - speeds/pricing will vary according to which local ISPs are available. You may have a choice of ADSL or cable & a few of the suppliers can do discount package deals across mobile/internet/TV. I would suggest that you buy based on local service though rather than purely on price.

Council tax sounds a bit variable for you guys. I can't say about rented accommodation, but down in London, it's charged per household; our home is Band D, which I think was 1 to 1.5k a year. For us, there is no additional sewerage or garbage since, for us, that's handled by the council (and is probably coming out of the flat council tax bill anyway).

Last time I heard, refuse collection is still handled essentially "for free" in England, as in you don't have to pay any additional costs, but I heard that this might change. Any of you have any experiences of that?

you are paying for it as part of your council tax.

Yep - Lumped in with the council tax.

Because it's the UK, though, they are talking about charging extra for people with heavy bins. Only talking at the moment though!


Ice - Council Tax is payable on the address (mine is £1.5K) I have been thinking and I'm not entirely sure how it works in a rental situation, but...

If you are the lead tenant (it's your name on the rental agreement) then you are liable for all the tax. If you then sublet, you could maybe pass the cost on between your tenants (if your rental agreement allows subletting - check!)

On the other hand, if you rent a single room, I'm not sure exactly what your obligations are - the landlord may pass a proportion of the charge on to you as above or the council may already have a scheme.

Time to ask a few questions. Council tax is not easily avoided if you want to remain within the system. You could evade it, but you'd have to be sort of invisible (no fixed address, that sort of thing).

Did that make sense?

Cheers!