Cost of Running UK Property Drops
The current low interest rates that homeowners have on their mortgages have meant that outgoings for running a household have fallen by 6 per cent since 2008, or 9 per cent if inflation is taken into account.
Research by Halifax has found that the average cost of living in your own home has fallen to £9,020 per year from £9,564 – a saving of £544 per year compared with two years ago. In addition, the proportion of income allocated to house payments has fallen to 27 per cent of gross average full-time earnings from 30 per cent in 2008.
Halifax has attributed the savings to the significant reduction in mortgage repayments, which have seen an average drop of 2.13 per cent for existing mortgage holders, down to 3.67 per cent.
Mortgages are still the biggest outgoings for homeowners, despite dropping to 41 per cent of total outgoings from 48 per cent in 2008. Electricity and gas counts for 15 per cent, and 14 per cent is allocated to council tax.
Running a home in Northern Ireland costs 60 per cent less than owning a home in London, with the average cost of £7,331 per year compared with £11,762 in the capital.
Suren Thiru, housing economist at Halifax, told the ShareCast website: "Over the last two years, the cost associated with owning and running a home in the UK has fallen, entirely as a consequence of reduced mortgage payments. The drop in housing costs has helped to ease the strain on households' finances, providing some relief to homeowners during the economic downturn."
Mortgages news posted by Garry on 29 June 2010
