Central Dublin Rent - €1,200-1,400 1-bed apartment?

TheBandicoot

I've started a new job based just to the east of St Stephen's Green. Yearly salary is €36k gross, permanent fulltime. I'm single, 24, no dependents/partner, no debt, no car etc.

I would like to rent a nice apartment within 20 minutes walking distance. I am right in expecting to pay between €1200pm and €1400 a month for such a place?

Th kind of places I have in mind are this, this or this i.e. non-ground floor, 1 or 2bed apartments in southside, well maintained blocks in 'professional' areas.

Can I even afford these prices at my salary? Am I better off to remain with my parents, but for how long- rents only seem to be going up! I have been living with them for 3 years now while on a few yearly employment contracts, and always procrastinated on finding a nice place until it was too far into the contract to be able to commit to a year lease. I would much rather just my own place so I have much more space and freedom, and much less time commuting(1h10 each way).

Elvis_Presley

Holy sh*t!I knew Dublin was expensive but that's outrageous!I have a nicer flat in the centre of Paris for less than that.Only solution is to find a boy/girlfriend or a flatshare, on your salary living alone in Dublin is not possible.

seablue

Those apartments are not typical of Dublin generally. They are in the grand canal area, near big employers like Google.

Look in areas like kilmainham, inchicore, stoneybatter, phibsboro.

ted1

Save yourself money and get a flat share , also avoid Google docks.
rent 1300*12 =15600
elec and heating 100*12 =1200
Broadband 50*12 =600

Total = 17400

36000= approx 28k after tax -above=10600/52


you will have approx €200 euro a week, to feed yourself, travel, buy clothes, buy cleaning products, socialize. etc

so no you can't afford to pay 1300.

Sadderday

You could find cheaper areas to rent like poster above mentioned ... islandbridge even.... walkable if you wish or 15 mins on a bus, could safe yourself a couple hundred euro a month in rent.

IF your on your own majority of the time though you need to feel safe so try find a place that occupiers only have to access to.

Here is a ground floor apt in Dublin for nearly half of what you expect to pay... and its nice!

http://www.daft.ie/lettings/310b-north-circular-road-phibsborough-dublin/1464208/#

On the other hand, while it sounds great, living on your own might get a bit much, especially in winter. If you don't like the idea of living with strangers, could you possibly find a friend that is willing and able to pay rent, between two of you - you would find a fab place.

TheBandicoot

Ok, thank you all, it is all very clear to me now. I will just continue to live with my parents. Clearly I can't afford the type of place I'd want solo, and if I am going to share with someone may as well be my family whom I get on with and is cheaper.
I don't have any friends I know well enough to live with, and most of the candidates already have places and earn enough money for them, or rent with their GFs.

I'm not interested in living somewhere where I would have to still get a bus to work, to me that defeats the point of moving out. I would be better off taking the bus from here, further out, where I can get a seat comfortably rather than having to stand(as I did when I lived in Harolds' Cross in college). That house on the NCR is actually quite nice, I have to admit. Just too far away for me.

I'd rather just wait until I make enough money to live where I like(either I start earning more or rent goes down), so I'll do that for the time being. Many thanks.

Sadderday

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Ok, thank you all, it is all very clear to me now. I will just continue to live with my parents. Clearly I can't afford the type of place I'd want solo, and if I am going to share with someone may as well be my family whom I get on with and is cheaper.
I don't have any friends I know well enough to live with, and most of the candidates already have places and earn enough money for them, or rent with their GFs.

I'm not interested in living somewhere where I would have to still get a bus to work, to me that defeats the point of moving out. I would be better off taking the bus from here, further out, where I can get a seat comfortably rather than having to stand(as I did when I lived in Harolds' Cross in college). That house on the NCR is actually quite nice, I have to admit. Just too far away for me.

I'd rather just wait until I make enough money to live where I like(either I start earning more or rent goes down), so I'll do that for the time being. Many thanks.

was in the same boat pal.....

spend your money enjoying yourself - you might meet your other half and could end up living with someone sooner than you think!

KT10

Sadderday wrote: »

was in the same boat pal.....

spend your money enjoying yourself - you might meet your other half and could end up living with someone sooner than you think!

+1 you never know whats around the corner

But you should also consider living a little out of town, e.g. Ranelagh, 10/15 min walk to the Green and the Luas is also there which is a fantastic service.

dar100

Use your time living with parents to save deposit for mortgage

TheBandicoot

Sadderday wrote: »

was in the same boat pal.....

spend your money enjoying yourself - you might meet your other half and could end up living with someone sooner than you think!

Thanks. I will actually just save the money, I already have about €20k saved up for nothing in particular. Not actually interested in meeting another half, honestly don't see the point. Will enjoy my self though, in my own way- though it would be easier to do that(big TV, space for a nice desk to work at) if I wasn't in my parent's box room.

As for saving for a mortgage.. eh, I'll save the money, but don't want to get into the house buying world or have that much debt. I'd be happy to rent long term, but that is not possible at present in the areas I would want to do so.

Idbatterim

the cost of rent is INSANE in Dublin at the moment, I see absolutely no point in living far away from where you want to be and paying for transport at least twice per day and time. If sharing isnt of interest, I'd stay where you are, the cost of living on your own is mental. As has been mentioned, save all that you can, once you move out, the rate at which you will be able to save, if you can save at all will be at a glacial rate...

Kunkka

Rent anywhere in Dublin is a joke at the moment. It doesn't help that letting agents are auctioning up prices because of the demand. My girlfriend and I luckily got a 2 bed in the suburbs for 1200 which is still too high in my opinion. Then you look at Sandyford & Dundrum.... normal basic 2 bed apartments are going for 1500.... that is just insanity. There really needs to be better control of rent in this country.

Sadderday

Just to mention though.......

I am renting a four bedroom gaff with a dining table and 8 chairs, flat screen tv, office and back garden for 800 pm.

Now, I'm in Enfield. Which is a few mins from Maynooth. I understand you dont want to travel .... but it costs me 30 a week for a bus ticket and buses are every 15 mins at peak times.

If I get the 5.05pm bus, I'm home by 5.45pm.

Its not for everyone but I dont understand why people rule out that 35 min travel time, to me I get more value for my money out of Dublin !!!!

ToxicPaddy

I think you're crazy moving out of home and paying that sort of rent.

If you're disciplined enough you can save €1000+ a month, still have a good quality of life and end up with a fairly decent deposit in 2 years for a nice place of your own. However you may not want another 2-3 years living at home.

Other options:

• Live on the southside on the Luas green line in as it terminates on Stephens green, somewhere like Ranelagh would be decent enough and cheaper.
• Rent a room in shared house, a room in a decent house can be got for less than €600 a month, shared bills, own room and en-suite is possible.

ToxicPaddy

Sadderday wrote: »

Just to mention though.......

I am renting a four bedroom gaff with a dining table and 8 chairs, flat screen tv, office and back garden for 800 pm.

Now, I'm in Enfield. Which is a few mins from Maynooth. I understand you dont want to travel .... but it costs me 30 a week for a bus ticket and buses are every 15 mins at peak times.

If I get the 5.05pm bus, I'm home by 5.45pm.

Its not for everyone but I dont understand why people rule out that 35 min travel time, to me I get more value for my money out of Dublin !!!!

Is that 35 mins from city centre Dublin??

Sadderday

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

Is that 35 mins from city centre Dublin??

Yes,

I get the bus at the halfpenny bridge. Bus stops a hueston and liffey valley and goes straight into enfield town. then just a 5-7 min walk to the house. Full of dubs lots of new estates there. Supervalu being built, already has a centra and tesco, chippy, 2 chinese, 2 garages, 2 chemists, pubs, hardware etc etc, 7 min drive to maynooth.

Has a train also, thats really regular and bus eireann too but private bus cheaper.

KT10

Sadderday wrote: »

Now, I'm in Enfield. Which is a few mins from Maynooth. I understand you dont want to travel .... but it costs me 30 a week for a bus ticket and buses are every 15 mins at peak times.

If I get the 5.05pm bus, I'm home by 5.45pm.

I call shenanigans on this, especially if its from the City Centre. :pac:

Sadderday

KT10 wrote: »

I call shenanigans on this, especially if its from the City Centre. :pac:

Absolute truth !, the driver of the next bus takes his time a bit more so you could ten mins on if you get the 5.15pm bus given traffic build up too.

Seems to shock everyone!, I used to drive in each day but with the bus lane its much quicker.

I get to Enfield quicker than I would to Blanch (which I do after work once a week)

lee_baby_simms

Sadderday wrote: »

was in the same boat pal.....

spend your money enjoying yourself - you might meet your other half and could end up living with someone sooner than you think!

+1

dRNk SAnTA

Actually I've got different advice. Take 700 or 800 - get yourself a room in a houseshare with a few other young people in the city centre. It's going to be messier, louder, and you won't have as much space (and there's also at least 1 weirdo) but you'll have one hell of a good time being 24 years old, living in the city centre and having the disposable income.

Enjoy yo'self! :cool:

TheBandicoot

Lol, there is that option, but I am not that kind of person at all.

And to be honest I think 24 is too old to be leading that kind of lifestyle, I had something similar(to a much lesser extent) in college and had enough of it.

€800 is a lot to be spending on a doss house though :cool: In college 5 of us rented a house for €400 each, this was back in 2010/11 though.

TheBandicoot

Just to revisit this- on my salary of €36000 with no debt or dependents or other outgoings beyond basic bills, what do you think is a ballpark realistic monthly rent I can afford? Just so I know where I stand.

I also looked at the mortgage option - while I have no problem with a deposit, already have €20k saved and add €1000 a month(would do more but that is the max my account lets me deposit per month apparently), from what I can see I would need to earn more gross per anumm to qualify.

Zulu

One bed apartments are always more expensive.

Really you should be considering a two bed (for the same rent).

TheBandicoot

Zulu wrote: »

One bed apartments are always more expensive.

Really you should be considering a two bed (for the same rent).

Oh, I am, they're in my Daft email filter too. Doesn't really matter, I accept from this thread that I can't afford any of them at the current prices, so now I am only really looking at what pops up out of curiosity.

irishguy

Tbh you can't really afford to live in the type of property you want in the area you want. If I was you you should rent a room will cost you 500pm you will meet some nice people. Just move in with professionals in mid to late 20s. It won't be like college and your going to have a lot more money to enjoy yourself.

If you don't like it just move out.

Michael D Not Higgins

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Just to revisit this- on my salary of €36000 with no debt or dependents or other outgoings beyond basic bills, what do you think is a ballpark realistic monthly rent I can afford? Just so I know where I stand.

900 to a grand at a push. You should be aiming for less than that though.

marathonic

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Just to revisit this- on my salary of €36000 with no debt or dependents or other outgoings beyond basic bills, what do you think is a ballpark realistic monthly rent I can afford? Just so I know where I stand.

The figures I heard touted in the past was to spend no more than 30% of your income on rent which, for a single person after tax on a €36000 salary, is around €700 per month.

Unfortunately, this is impossible in Dublin and you'll find it very difficult to save for big purchases such as a car or deposit for a house if you go much beyond the 30%.

Sarn

I think it is recommended not to spend more than a third of your monthly income on accommodation, so about €750.

Edit: Marathonic beat me to it.

Michael D Not Higgins

marathonic wrote: »

The figures I heard touted in the past was to spend no more than 30% of your income on rent which, for a single person after tax on a €36000 salary, is around €700 per month.

Unfortunately, this is impossible in Dublin and you'll find it very difficult to save for big purchases such as a car or deposit for a house if you go much beyond the 30%.

The 30% rule of thumb is on gross salary, hence 900.

marathonic

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

The 30% rule of thumb is on gross salary, hence 900.

Oh right. So that works out about 40% of net salary gone before you consider bills and other expenditure :eek:

I'm glad I don't have the Dublin costs of accommodation to deal with.

Michael D Not Higgins

marathonic wrote: »

Oh right. So that works out about 40% of net salary gone before you consider bills and other expenditure :eek:

I'm glad I don't have the Dublin costs of accommodation to deal with.

It's an upper bound for affordability. I don't recommend aiming for it.

TheBandicoot

Yikes, to be honest I didn't think it was that low(€900 is nowhere near enough for anything nice), but as you lay it out, yeah, it could only really be that much. That's insane, and depressing. I went to college for 4 years and work in the much vaunted IT sector(and not in a call centre, I do actual software development), and I can't afford to live independently outside of my parent's box room like a teenager? I see why people emigrate.

Potatoeman

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Yikes, to be honest I didn't think it was that low(€900 is nowhere near enough for anything nice), but as you lay it out, yeah, it could only really be that much. That's insane, and depressing. I went to college for 4 years and work in the much vaunted IT sector(and not in a call centre, I do actual software development), and I can't afford to live independently outside of my parent's box room like a teenager? I see why people emigrate.

Its crazy now. I dont see it going on for too long. I keep hearing of more people leaving Dublin. Have a look on the luas line. Its pretty good.
I never understand why people rent one beds when you can rent a two bed for the same price.

MouseTail

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Yikes, to be honest I didn't think it was that low(€900 is nowhere near enough for anything nice), but as you lay it out, yeah, it could only really be that much. That's insane, and depressing. I went to college for 4 years and work in the much vaunted IT sector(and not in a call centre, I do actual software development), and I can't afford to live independently outside of my parent's box room like a teenager? I see why people emigrate.

You wont be able to afford to live alone in a 1 bed apartment in central London or any of the main cities. Your expectations as a recent graduate are too high. Young graduates starting out in their career house share.

TheBandicoot

MouseTail wrote: »

You wont be able to afford to live alone in a 1 bed apartment in central London or any of the main cities. Your expectations as a recent graduate are too high. Young graduates starting out in their career house share.

I accept that. It is ultimately my fault- I worked in a startup for the 4 years since college instead of working on my career properly, and took this job since it was easy(I didn't even need to write a CV or interview). I just don't like how the world is, where as you say graduates have to house share. I mean I accept that that is the case, I just hate it. I am lucky to be able to live with my parents as well, many don't have that option.

Bottom line is- on my wage, my options are live alone outside of Dublin, live with others inside Dublin, or live with parents and save. I choose the last option. My problem really is that while I was miserable in the startup, I told myself as soon as I get a real job I can move out, put my video game collection on display, get a nice TV, cook for myself, lots of cool stuff like I see some of my friends do, that I can't do in a box room. But the reality is I can't do that now at the age of 24, several years out of college(I started it at 17) and that pisses me off.

Thanks all for the advice and doing the maths for me

murphaph

Living at home at 24 is pretty common I would have thought. Certainly it would have been the norm until the tiger years.

Michael D Not Higgins

murphaph wrote: »

Living at home at 24 is pretty common I would have thought. Certainly it would have been the norm until the tiger years.

Very common. I moved out of home around that age but I couldn't afford to live on my own and rented with a friend.

MouseTail

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

Very common. I moved out of home around that age but I couldn't afford to live on my own and rented with a friend.

For us non city folk, moving out early was a necessity, but housesharing was the norm until you moved in with a partner. i don't think I knew anyone who had their own 1 bed in their 20s, a few in studios alright.

crisco10

Yup, as people say early career in Dublin it's almost a necessity to house share. I'm thinking through my social circles, and none of them lived alone while in "entry level" career jobs. It was either stay at home or move in with others.

I'm 28, 6 years into "professional" career and only now could I consider affording living on my own near town. Currently live in Ranelagh with a friend in 2 bed apartment. Rent is pretty high around there tho (~€1300/month for 2 bed apt).

TimeToShine

TheBandicoot wrote: »

I accept that. It is ultimately my fault- I worked in a startup for the 4 years since college instead of working on my career properly, and took this job since it was easy(I didn't even need to write a CV or interview). I just don't like how the world is, where as you say graduates have to house share. I mean I accept that that is the case, I just hate it. I am lucky to be able to live with my parents as well, many don't have that option.

Bottom line is- on my wage, my options are live alone outside of Dublin, live with others inside Dublin, or live with parents and save. I choose the last option. My problem really is that while I was miserable in the startup, I told myself as soon as I get a real job I can move out, put my video game collection on display, get a nice TV, cook for myself, lots of cool stuff like I see some of my friends do, that I can't do in a box room. But the reality is I can't do that now at the age of 24, several years out of college(I started it at 17) and that pisses me off.

Thanks all for the advice and doing the maths for me

I agree with you but hang on, you can't expect to have all that and be a 20 minute walk from work surely?

How far out do your parents live? I think you're right in that you're lucky you have the option of living with them. The alternative would have been taking a punt on a houseshare which, although does sometimes work brilliantly, can be an utter disaster in other cases.

TheBandicoot

Thanks- to be honest I didn't realise it was this bad ad sharing was and has been so common. Still not doing it though, don't have any friends to do it with.

TimeToShine

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Thanks- to be honest I didn't realise it was this bad ad sharing was and has been so common. Still not doing it though, don't have any friends to do it with.

You don't need friends to do it with, plenty of young professionals are looking for someone to fill a room. I realize you may not be inclined towards a house share but if you're miserable at home as you say (or was that just because of the job?) then it's definitely an option.

TheBandicoot

I'm fine now, it was the job(and lack of money)

Potatoeman

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Thanks- to be honest I didn't realise it was this bad ad sharing was and has been so common. Still not doing it though, don't have any friends to do it with.

I can see why. Anyone that has had a bad experience will agree. Even if its friends it can be bad, not to mention people moving and finding other tenants.

moxin

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Just to revisit this- on my salary of €36000 with no debt or dependents or other outgoings beyond basic bills, what do you think is a ballpark realistic monthly rent I can afford? Just so I know where I stand.

I also looked at the mortgage option - while I have no problem with a deposit, already have €20k saved and add €1000 a month(would do more but that is the max my account lets me deposit per month apparently), from what I can see I would need to earn more gross per anumm to qualify.

Save for at least 6 months(preferably a year), have a years job experience also with no debts. It looks to me you would qualify for about a 135k mortgage if not more depending on your age as your young.
Basically at 24, grin it out for a year and then qualify for a mortgage to get your own place.
Why a mortgage? Its a more secure way of accommodation in this country than renting for a single person. Either that or share rent for donkeys years and save a load of dosh when your ready to buy.

Dredd_J

I see you have 3 years experience at least? In software development?
If you are not a graduate this year and are only earning 36k in that line, then there should be another 10 - 15k a year available just by moving job to a company that pays you a proper software dev wage.

I would look at that first, and then see what you can afford after doing that.

There is something wrong with the amount you are on.
Any developer in any discipline in my company with 3 years experience would be getting minimum 50k plus a very nice benefts package, and thats after we bargained him down as best we could, sometimes we offer that and still lose them to other companies. Or if you were willing to go contracting in London you should be getting £500 a day minimum.

Your problem is not that you are not able to afford rent. It underselling yourself to your employers.

TheBandicoot

Again, I was very depressed after the statup where that three years experience came from collapsed(largely due to me having to be the technical lead and being in no way prepared or experienced enough for that) so I chose to walk into my current job without a CV or interview- my boss met me through the startup and from our first meeting clearly wanted someone of my ability on his team. It was not three years of experience working in a team or leading a team in any effective way, it was just flailing around having no idea what I was doing- if I would still be joining as a graduate if I applied somewhere normal because I don't have any experience in the widely used frameworks or deep understanding of anything- I just skimmed and learned just enough to get stuff done, bounced between Javascript and Java and C++(but I wouldn't describe myself as an expert in any of them, since I just scraped through and googled and hacked stuff until it worked, never read a book) and ended up with a massive codebase that barely worked and was a pain to maintain, and could never get anyone else sufficiently up to speed on all of it to actually effectively help.

I love where I work anyway, no stress, no pressure, no suits, no layers of management, just coding away on my own, boss occasionally pops down to discuss things a couple of times a day, a weekly status meeting with the rest of the team who are working from home across the globe, leave the office at 6pm every day and forget about work until 10 the next morning. I am not interested at the moment in going to a typical dev company where I would have to act a certain way, have everything structured and controlled and boring, having to talk to clients, jet around the world consulting, talk to coworkers, attend social events, do weeks of interviews, have crunch times and overtime... no, I will stay where I am for at least a year or two and save a massive chunk of money up.

Dredd_J

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Again, I was very depressed after the statup where that three years experience came from collapsed(largely due to me having to be the technical lead and being in no way prepared or experienced enough for that) so I chose to walk into my current job without a CV or interview- my boss met me through the startup and from our first meeting clearly wanted someone of my ability on his team. It was not three years of experience working in a team or leading a team in any effective way, it was just flailing around having no idea what I was doing- if I would still be joining as a graduate if I applied somewhere normal because I don't have any experience in the widely used frameworks or deep understanding of anything- I just skimmed and learned just enough to get stuff done, bounced between Javascript and Java and C++(but I wouldn't describe myself as an expert in any of them, since I just scraped through and googled and hacked stuff until it worked, never read a book) and ended up with a massive codebase that barely worked and was a pain to maintain, and could never get anyone else sufficiently up to speed on all of it to actually effectively help.

I love where I work anyway, no stress, no pressure, no suits, no layers of management, just coding away on my own, boss occasionally pops down to discuss things a couple of times a day, a weekly status meeting with the rest of the team who are working from home across the globe, leave the office at 6pm every day and forget about work until 10 the next morning. I am not interested at the moment in going to a typical dev company where I would have to act a certain way, have everything structured and controlled and boring, having to talk to clients, jet around the world consulting, talk to coworkers, attend social events, do weeks of interviews, have crunch times and overtime... no, I will stay where I am for at least a year or two and save a massive chunk of money up.

Talk to other people you know in different companies and find out what their jobs are like.
I think you'l find that all are different and very few are slave shops but all are paid better far than you.
Sounds to me like you undervalue yourself big time. but if thats what you want to do then thats up to you.

Tarzana

TheBandicoot wrote: »

well maintained blocks in 'professional' areas.

Why do people care about living in 'professional' areas? What even is a professional area?

Tarzana

Potatoeman wrote: »

I never understand why people rent one beds when you can rent a two bed for the same price.

You can't. Two beds are more expensive if just renting it on your own. Between two or more, they obviously work out cheaper than renting yourself a one-bed.

The_Morrigan

Tarzana wrote: »

Why do people care about living in 'professional' areas? What even is a professional area?

It's less likely to have student parties going till 5am on a weekday night for one.