Average home costs £31 per day

Running a household now costs an average of nearly £11,500 per year, or £31 per day, according to new research from Sainsbury’s.

Homeowners spend an annual £11,455 on mortgage payments, council tax, energy bills, and property upkeep, the study found.

This is an increase of 2.6% in the past two years – a relatively low rise compared to Sainsbury’s previous research in 2007, when the cost of running a household had increased 12% in two years.

The increase in household costs was kept low mainly by a fall in mortgage payments, which have dropped 1.5% in the past two years, with the Bank of England’s base rate currently at an all-time low of 0.5%.

By contrast, council tax has increased 7%, gas bills have risen 27%, and electricity bills have gone up by 17%.

Mortgage payments are the most significant outgoing at £6,862 per year, 60% of all expenditure.

Council tax is the second highest outgoing, at an average of £1,414.

In addition, home owners spend an average of £418 per year on maintenance and repair, and £1,162 per year on alterations and improvements.

Sainsbury’s based its research on figures from the ONS, Ofwat, Ofgem, Halifax, and Communities and Local Government.

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