Yahoo Finance Gas bills make owning a home more expensive than ever
Cheaper mortgages have been outweighed by soaring gas, electricity and water bills to see the cost of running a home rise.
The cost of owning and running a home is £179 higher than last year, according to a new study.
It now costs £9,590 a year to pay mortgages and bills for an average house, Halifax found, 1.9% more than last year.
Water bills lead the increase in percentage terms, rising by an average 5.6% (£27) over the past year, followed by electricity and gas bills at 4.2% (£70). Telephone bills have increased by an average 3.3% on last year.
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The average total annual cost of owning and running a home is highest in London at £12,094, 26% or £2,504 above the UK average and 52% or £4,124 higher than in Northern Ireland, which has the lowest cost of £7,970.
It’s the third annual rise in a row in the cost of owning a home, following falls between 2008 and 2010 driven by lower mortgage rates.
That means overall the average annual cost of owning and running a home is just £184 – or 2% - higher than five years ago, far lower than the 18% increase in overall consumer prices since 2008.
The average annual mortgage payment has fallen by £950 (21%) over the past five years from £4,521 in 2008 to £3,571 in 2013, Halifax said.
But the cost of each of the other 10 housing expenditure categories has risen since 2008, topped by electricity and gas bills at 57% or £626 a year followed by home and garden tools (25%) and water supply and miscellaneous dwelling services (22%).
As a result, mortgage payments have dropped significantly as a share of total housing costs from 48% in 2008 to 37% in 2013, compared with electricity and gas bills that have risen in terms of share from 12% to 18%.
[Related link: Compare mortgage deals to find the cheapest one for you]
Cost of Owning and Running a House by category, Jan 2008- Jan 2013
Category | Jan 2008 | Jan 2012 | Jan 2013 | 1 year change | 5 year change |
Maintenance and repair of dwelling | £599 | £719 | £716 | -0.4% | 19% |
Water supply and dwelling services | £413 | £479 | £506 | 5.6% | 22% |
Electricity, gas and other fuels | £1,101 | £1,657 | £1,727 | 4.2% | 57% |
Household appliances | £196 | £220 | £218 | -0.6% | 11% |
Tools and equipment for house and garden | £169 | £216 | £211 | -2.2% | 25% |
Goods and services for home maintenance | £327 | £385 | £388 | 1.0% | 19% |
Telephone account | £310 | £343 | £354 | 3.3% | 14% |
Toiletries, cleaning products, etc | £148 | £163 | £163 | 0.0% | 10% |
Household insurances | £350 | £359 | £352 | -2.0% | 1% |
Mortgage payments (capital + interest) | £4,521 | £3,493 | £3,571 | 2.2% | -21% |
Council tax | £1,271 | £1,378 | £1,384 | 0.4% | 9% |
Total | £9,406 | £9,411 | £9,590 | 1.9% | 2.0% |
