This week, I thought I’d start with a snapshot of the local rental market and then compare Eastbourne to other parts of the UK in terms of affordability. I couldn’t have imagined what I discovered during my research.
The average monthly rent in Eastbourne is £885.00 per calendar month before household bills. This would afford you a three bedroom house in one of the affordable suburbs of the town or a two bedroom flat close to Meads.
What would a monthly budget of £885.00 afford you in other parts of the country? I had a look....
Where to begin, I considered it would be good to start in all four corners of the country. I found a two bedroom apartment overlooking Sutton Harbour in Plymouth, a three bedroom terraced house in Norwich and a two bedroom penthouse in Liverpool. Now that's quite a variety but I needed to find a greater range of properties available for the price of our Eastbourne ‘average’ rental.
We know that Central London has always been expensive however, in certain post codes these days £885.00 will only rent you a parking space! This might seem reasonable to some - I personally would rather get more for my money. I started to consider where in the UK I’d like to live, a bit like a virtual house hunt. I wanted a stark contrast to the super-wealthy borough of Kensington and Chelsea and I looked to Scotland, where I know the Pound has a little more stretch.
By this stage I was on a mission to find the cheapest rental the UK had to offer, I had an image of stone turrets, set in acres on rolling countryside.
I couldn’t believe it when out from my computer jumped ‘The Old Manse’, Keith. This was my Grandfather’s childhood home, which I’d visualised so often during his [many] tales of growing up amongst the heather. He had described the stone structure to me along with a nearby stone bridge from which he would fish. I remember Keith from childhood holidays, I ran in the Keith show and won 30p; amazing what sticks in the mind. Well, it’s available to rent for £875 per month. Not quite Balmoral but really quite a stunning find, especially for a McGregor!