It seems that repeatedly we hear about just how unaffordable homeownership is, but new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that it is cheaper to do so than it has been for a very long time.
New data from the ONS has looked into the average percentage of outgoings allocated to a variety of expenses and found that the cost of owning a home appears to be the lowest it has been for over a decade.
Recent figures from the ONS have revealed that the percentage of total household expenditure going towards mortgage interest payments have fallen to 3.77%, which is quite the drop from the 7%+ peak seen in 2007/2008.
The cost of renting a home has also decreased to lows not seen since 2011, with only 8.52% of outgoings allocated to rental payments, a similar figure to the 8.44% seen 6 years prior.
According to the statistics, the cost of running a home has also decreased with the percentage of household outgoings allocated to water supply down to 1.61% a ten-year low, gas and other fuels falling to a nine-year low at 4.01%, although this is still considerably higher than most other outgoings.
Cost of Maintenance and Council Tax
The only expenses to see a rise over recent years was the cost of maintaining a home and council tax.
House maintenance is currently at the highest level since 2011, now standing at 1.55%, household goods and services sit at a 10 year high, taking up 7.09% of household expenditure and council tax now accounts for 4.04% of outgoings, the highest peak for 7 years.
Group Office Owner, Jim Parker at Fife Properties, spoke on the findings of this research, he said, “While they still account for the largest proportion of our household expenditure, the cost has actually reduced when compared to the bigger picture of our total household outgoings,”
Quirk added “While the proportion of spend in terms of getting a roof over our head may be reducing, the cost of maintaining that roof is highest it has been in a long time. For those looking to get onto or further climb the ladder, it shows the importance of managing costs when trying to save and demonstrates how reducing other weekly outgoings can make all the difference in improving your purchase power”
