Should I use gross or take-home pay?

Take-home. Applying a share to gross income produces a rent you cannot actually afford, because a substantial part of gross never reaches your account.

Is the thirty percent rule reliable?

It is a convention, not a rule. Thirty percent of a low income can leave nothing workable, and in expensive markets exceeding it is a fact about the market. Read the remaining figure instead.

What if my income varies?

Use a conservative floor — roughly your lowest normal month. Rent is the least flexible cost you have, and sizing it to a good month is how lean months become crises.

Free tool · Budget

Rent affordability calculator

Monthly take-home and a target share → suggested rent and what remains.

Runs in your browser · no account required · amounts use any currency unit

Monthly take-home pay

What actually reaches your account

Target share of income (%)

Commonly around 30 — a convention, not a rule

Rent you are considering

Results

Suggested rent1,050

Your rent as a share31.4%

Left after rent2,400

Read the remaining figure rather than the percentage — it has to cover utilities, transport, food, and any saving.

In short

What is this?

Rent affordability is usually expressed as a share of take-home pay, commonly around thirty percent. That is a convention rather than a rule — in expensive housing markets exceeding it says as much about the market as about you, and the more useful number is what remains afterwards.

Use take-home, not gross

Enter what actually reaches your account. Applying a share to gross income produces a figure you cannot afford, because a substantial part of gross never arrives.

For irregular income, use a conservative floor — roughly your lowest normal month — rather than an average. Rent is the least flexible cost you have, and sizing it to a good month is how lean months become crises.

What remains matters more than the share

Thirty percent is a heuristic, and it means very different things at different incomes. Thirty percent of a low income can leave nothing workable; forty percent of a high one can be entirely comfortable.

So read the remaining figure rather than the percentage. Then subtract your other fixed costs — utilities, transport, insurance, minimum debt payments — and ask whether what is left covers food and any saving at all.

Costs that come with the rent

Utilities, if not included — and check what the previous tenant actually paid rather than an estimate.
Council tax, service charges, or equivalent local charges.
Contents insurance.
Commuting cost and time, which a cheaper place further out converts into.
Deposit and upfront fees, which are a separate cash requirement.

A cheaper rent with a longer commute is frequently not cheaper once transport is included, and it is always more expensive in time.

FAQ

Should I use gross or take-home pay?: Take-home. Applying a share to gross income produces a rent you cannot actually afford, because a substantial part of gross never reaches your account.
Is the thirty percent rule reliable?: It is a convention, not a rule. Thirty percent of a low income can leave nothing workable, and in expensive markets exceeding it is a fact about the market. Read the remaining figure instead.
What if my income varies?: Use a conservative floor — roughly your lowest normal month. Rent is the least flexible cost you have, and sizing it to a good month is how lean months become crises.

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