PG or flat share in NCR? A decision worksheet for new joiners

The costs that do not appear in the rent

When a PG owner or a flatmate quotes a monthly figure, ask what it includes. The quotes are not comparable until you have filled every row.

We do not give typical figures here, because rents and inclusions differ sharply between localities and change every few months. The only numbers that matter are the ones you were quoted this week.

Four questions that decide it before the money does

How early do you start and how late do you finish? A PG with fixed meal times can be a problem if your office days end at 9 pm. A flat share gives you a kitchen at any hour but also the job of cooking.

How many hours a week do you want to study? If you are doing a course alongside your job, you need a quiet place and a reliable internet connection for live sessions. A shared PG room makes a 7 pm live class hard. A flat share with your own room makes it easy, if the Wi-Fi is good.

How settled is your job? In the first three months, especially during a probation period, a PG's shorter notice period is useful. Once you know you are staying, a flat share's longer commitment matters less.

Who are the other people? A flat share with two quiet colleagues is a different life from one with four people who host friends every weekend. Meet them before deciding.

The weighted worksheet

Score each option out of 5 on each factor, where 5 is best for you. Then give each factor a weight that adds up to 100 across all factors. Multiply and add.

The weights above are an example for someone studying alongside a job. Change them. If you are not studying, "quiet study hours" might drop to 5 and "food fits your hours" rise to 20.

The same worksheet in Python

If you are comparing more than two places, or want to check how sensitive the answer is to your weights, the following script does the arithmetic. Every number below is a hypothetical quote for illustration; replace them with your own.

# Hypothetical quotes for illustration only. Replace with what you were told.
options = {
    "PG near office": {
        "rent": 14000, "deposit": 14000, "brokerage": 0, "food": 0,
        "electricity": 0, "wifi": 0, "setup": 0,
        "commute_min_each_way": 20, "quiet_hours_week": 4,
        "notice_days": 30,
    },
    "Flat share, one metro change": {
        "rent": 12000, "deposit": 24000, "brokerage": 6000, "food": 5000,
        "electricity": 1200, "wifi": 500, "setup": 8000,
        "commute_min_each_way": 45, "quiet_hours_week": 12,
        "notice_days": 60,
    },
}
OFFICE_DAYS = 4

def summarise(name, o):
    monthly = o["rent"] + o["food"] + o["electricity"] + o["wifi"]
    first_month = monthly + o["deposit"] + o["brokerage"] + o["setup"]
    commute_hours_week = o["commute_min_each_way"] * 2 * OFFICE_DAYS / 60
    return {
        "name": name,
        "monthly_all_in": monthly,
        "first_month_cash": first_month,
        "commute_h_week": round(commute_hours_week, 1),
        "quiet_h_week": o["quiet_hours_week"],
        "notice_days": o["notice_days"],
    }

rows = [summarise(n, o) for n, o in options.items()]
for r in rows:
    print(r)

# Twelve-month cash, counting the deposit as money you expect back.
for r in rows:
    o = options[r["name"]]
    spent = r["monthly_all_in"] * 12 + o["brokerage"] + o["setup"]
    print(f'{r["name"]}: 12-month spend excluding refundable deposit = Rs {spent:,}')

With these illustrative numbers, the flat share needs much more cash up front because of the deposit, brokerage and furniture, while its all-in monthly cost is higher than the PG's. The flat share also costs more hours in commuting each week, but gives three times the quiet hours. Which one wins depends on whether you value the quiet hours more than the commute hours they cost you. That is a judgement the script cannot make, but it puts both numbers side by side.

One note on Python output: the script formats with Western thousands separators. In your own sheet, write amounts with Indian grouping, for example ₹1,20,000.

Checks before you pay anything

• Visit at the hour you would come home from work.
• Read the agreement's deposit refund clause and notice period.
• Ask whether the owner will complete tenant police verification, and how. In Noida this runs through UP Police's Tenant/PG Verification service; in Delhi through Delhi Police's tenant registration. See our tenant verification guide.
• If you want the HRA exemption and are under the old tax regime, confirm you will get rent receipts, and the landlord's PAN if your rent crosses the threshold. See our HRA guide.
• Photograph the room on move-in day.

If you are studying alongside the job

The quiet-hours row is where a course succeeds or fails. That matters because the Data Analyst programme is taught in live online classes that are also recorded, over 3–4 months, with lab days in Noida only for those who choose them. A room where you can join a live session with your camera on, even two evenings a week, is worth weighting heavily in the worksheet.