[cch253]

When we were living in NYC the rule of thumb for maximum rent one should spent was 30% of pretax income.. Just curious how much one normally spends on rent in HK?

We are all up for living below our means and saving money for children's education but I sometimes wonder whether we're more on an extreme budget? For a 2.3M HK annual salary - how much should our cap be for rent?

[PDLM]

As a single person my rent has ranged between 20% and 35% of gross income in the time I've been here. But that has been a somewhat smaller total gross income than yours (you do realise that your annula package is 10 times the average annual household income in Hong Kong?). I would probably be spending around 35% now if I needed a place big enough for 3-4 people (couple + kids).

I know people on lower incomes who spent up to 50% of their gross salary on a small apartment, and you could easily spend that much of yours on a flashy place up on the hill or the soth side if you wanted to...

[cch253]

wow.. i did not realize people do spend that much on rent here at well. Well we are spending 1/34 of the maximum you suggested. we've gotta upgrade when kids are older for school. i have to say though for what we get in Olympic (2 stops north of Central on Tung Chung) it's well worth the money, my only two complaints are 1. awful neighbor upstairs (toddler from hell) 2. awful grocery store

[NEERAJ]

Couple Of Months Back I Saw A Survey Conductd By The Goverment And It Said That On An Average Ppl Shell About 40% From Their Income For Salaries.
But I Guess If You Are Employed As N Expat You Would Have A Housing Allowance.

[cch253]

i think it's getting harder and harder to get a housing allowance. we get a lump sum so we have the incentive to save. a friend of mine gets an allocated amount each month so she "needs" to spend it all or else she loses it

[NEERAJ]

Originally Posted by NEERAJ

Couple Of Months Back I Saw A Survey Conductd By The Goverment And It Said That On An Average Ppl Shell About 40% From Their Income For Salaries.
But I Guess If You Are Employed As N Expat You Would Have A Housing Allowance.

SORRY I MEANT 40% FOR RENT

[Mat]

I spend around 1/5 of my salary as a single person.

[freeier]

cch > nothing against what u say, but your numbers are getting abit flawed. 8-)

u shldn't use 1/34 of 50% (max as PDLM suggested) of 2.3M, that would only give u around 33k which is good for 1 month rent. remember your package is an annual package, so the rental shld be 33k * 12 or effective 1/3 of what PDLM suggested as the max the HK ppl use.

just for accuracy. i spent around that number as well, ~17% of my monthly pay on rental.

[cch253]

thanks for pointing that out. wasn't thinking straight! yes you're right.

[coolgirl]

Originally Posted by NEERAJ

Couple Of Months Back I Saw A Survey Conductd By The Goverment And It Said That On An Average Ppl Shell About 40% From Their Income For Salaries.
But I Guess If You Are Employed As N Expat You Would Have A Housing Allowance.

That's a lot... 40%... then another 15% on taxes, and then expenses...

I spend less % than most stated here. I think it's really a matter of how much you're willing to spend...