Which housing offer works for your stay?

1. What do I spend over this stay?

Non-refundable cost = setup spending + payable months × (monthly rent + monthly bills)

A refundable deposit is excluded because it remains a potential asset. The result does not promise its return. If a deduction is confirmed, add it as non-refundable spending. A holding fee credited against rent or the deposit must not also appear as a separate setup charge.

2. What cash do I need by move-in?

Arrival cash = setup spending + deposit + housing payments due by move-in

The default is one month's rent and bills. Use the custom total when the quote requires several months in advance, the first utility payment differs, or nothing is payable yet. A rent prepayment changes arrival cash without creating another rent cost: those months are already in the term calculation. If an offer requires more months than the stay you wanted, enter the full payable commitment or compare the actual early-exit terms outside this model.

3. Does my earmarked cash cover those payments?

Extra arrival cash needed = max(0, arrival cash − available arrival housing cash)

The tool assumes the cash entered is already available before all those payments. It does not model a later payday funding an earlier deposit. Use the dated cash-flow planner for actual payment dates, other household bills, overlapping tenancies and confirmed refunds.

4. Could a different bill or stay change the answer?

For fixed monthly figures, the calculator solves the difference in setup spending divided by the opposite monthly cost difference. It reports a positive crossover only when one offer starts cheaper and the other becomes cheaper over time. It does not divide a deposit difference by a rent saving or assume you can extend a contract.

With one uncertain bill range, it also solves the bill amount at which that offer would match the other's total cost. If both offers have ranges, it compares their full cost intervals and avoids inventing a single break-even month. The ranges are your scenarios, not a probability forecast or a prediction that actual bills will stay inside them.

Every amount here is fictional, in EUR, for a six-month stay. A has 1,000 rent, 150 bills, 600 setup and a 2,000 deposit. B has 1,100 rent, 100 bills, 150 setup and a 600 deposit. Both require the first full housing month by move-in. Available arrival housing cash is 2,500.

• A's monthly housing is 1,150. Its six-month cost is 600 + 6 × 1,150 = 7,500. Its arrival requirement is 600 + 2,000 + 1,150 = 3,750, leaving a 1,250 gap.
• B's monthly housing is 1,200. Its six-month cost is 150 + 6 × 1,200 = 7,350. Its arrival requirement is 150 + 600 + 1,200 = 1,950, leaving 550 from the earmarked housing cash.
• B has the higher advertised rent but costs 150 less for the stay and requires 1,800 less through move-in. A recovers its extra 450 setup spending after nine unchanged months: 450 ÷ 50 = 9. Both would cost 10,950 at that point, beyond the six months compared.

Now change B's move-in payment model to a custom total of 3,600, representing three months of 1,200. Its arrival requirement becomes 150 + 600 + 3,600 = 4,350 and its gap becomes 1,850. Its six-month cost stays 7,350: the advance payment has not created three extra months of rent. This one contract term reverses which offer needs less arrival cash.

For an unknown-bill exercise, compare a fixed offer of 1,100 rent, 100 bills and 150 setup with an offer of 950 rent, 100–300 bill scenarios and the same 150 setup. The second offer's six-month cost ranges from 6,450 to 7,650, crossing the fixed offer's 7,350. The changing bill is 250 per month. Ask for that bill's terms instead of choosing from headline rent.

These results are arithmetic checks, not housing recommendations. The full housing evidence guide adds a dated payment case and a quote-record worksheet.

• Comparable commitment: same dates, household, usable space and included services. Check minimum payments, extension terms and cancellation costs. Keep the written quote and its expiry.
• Bill definition: list what is included, usage caps, seasonal charges, connection fees and the actual first bill. A constant monthly range is a sensitivity test; it does not replace a seasonal payment calendar.
• Deposit record: amount, due date, who holds it, permitted deductions, protection where required, and the procedure and timing for its return. An expected old deposit refund is not available cash until its timing is dependable.
• Independent checks: landlord or agent identity, authority to let, contract, lawful occupancy and the tenancy rules for the actual jurisdiction. This calculator does not perform those checks.

For England, GOV.UK's private-renting guidance explains that tenancy type changes the applicable rules. Its deposit-protection guidance is an official starting point for the arrangements it covers. These sources are jurisdiction-specific and are not applied as worldwide legal rules by the calculator. Official entry points checked 7 October 2026; use current local guidance for your property.

Add the selected offer's recurring housing to your whole monthly budget, its setup and deposit to your moving budget, and its actual payment dates to your cash-flow calendar. If currency conversion is needed, compare actual transfer quotes separately. No exchange rate, financing cost, opportunity cost, tax relief, rent increase or deposit refund is assumed here.

Published by Nicolas Griss-Trempe. Report a reproducible calculation error using example numbers without personal documents. ExpatTools does not offer individual legal, tenancy, tax or financial advice.