Finance Choices
Home bills to cost more than mortgages
Home owners will spend more money on council tax and utility bills than they will on mortgage interest payments for the first time this year, experts said yesterday.
Recent increases in the cost of electricity and council tax have forced the change. The Halifax bank said the cost of owning a home rose by more than three times the rate of inflation last year.
The figures, which run to March, do not include recent gas and electricity price rises.
According to Halifax, total housing costs for the average home owner increased by £418 from £5,948 in 2003-04 to £6,366 in 2004-05.
In London the cost of owning a home is 28 per cent above the national average, while the North East is the cheapest region in which to run a house at £4,990 a year.
Of that figure, mortgage interest payments account for 34 per cent of the cost, the same percentage as council tax and utility bills in 2004-05. For home owners with small mortgages, the percentage spent on council tax and power bills is expected to outstrip the cost of mortgage payments in the next year.
"Further above inflation rises in fuel and council tax bills are expected to drive up further the costs of owning and running a home this year. Council tax and utility bills will overtake mortgage payments as the largest cost for homeowners this year," explained Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis.
However, the cost of mortgages is still the biggest single cost at £2,146 in 2004/5, some 20 per cent more than in 2003/4.
To find a cheap mortgage visit the Finance Choices Mortgage Guide
Recent increases in the cost of electricity and council tax have forced the change. The Halifax bank said the cost of owning a home rose by more than three times the rate of inflation last year.
The figures, which run to March, do not include recent gas and electricity price rises.
According to Halifax, total housing costs for the average home owner increased by £418 from £5,948 in 2003-04 to £6,366 in 2004-05.
In London the cost of owning a home is 28 per cent above the national average, while the North East is the cheapest region in which to run a house at £4,990 a year.
Of that figure, mortgage interest payments account for 34 per cent of the cost, the same percentage as council tax and utility bills in 2004-05. For home owners with small mortgages, the percentage spent on council tax and power bills is expected to outstrip the cost of mortgage payments in the next year.
"Further above inflation rises in fuel and council tax bills are expected to drive up further the costs of owning and running a home this year. Council tax and utility bills will overtake mortgage payments as the largest cost for homeowners this year," explained Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis.
However, the cost of mortgages is still the biggest single cost at £2,146 in 2004/5, some 20 per cent more than in 2003/4.
To find a cheap mortgage visit the Finance Choices Mortgage Guide
posted by Bruce Wayne at 8:32 AM
Home bills to cost more than mortgages
1 Comments:
My take on the economy and house prices at the moment is that, spending will continue to fall in the retail leading to continued steady increase in unemployment but nothing majorly destablising. UK still in bad habits though and will continue spending more than it earns, loans and credit cards etc pay for those must have luxurys such as holidays (we have been so good not spunking money on clothes lets reward ourselves!) and covering ever increasing bills. Bank continue chasing profits credit remains cheap for another 2 years (5% max) at which point, interest rates are going to have to go up as BOJ, FDR and ECB all raise rates during this period and global money supply tightens
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