Families’ bills pressure

The cost of running our homes rises to €16k, despite inflation at just 0.3%

THE cost of paying our ordinary household bills comes to almost half the average wage – and rising, new figures reveal.

It now costs €16,158 a year to own and run a family home, up more than €1,000 on 2015, despite the fact that inflation is almost at a standstill.

And while the largest increase was in home heating costs, the biggest payouts by far are in mortgage payments, which are €9,866 a year on average.

Homeowner will spend €707.75 heating their home this year, an increase of 2.3%, according to figures being released today by AA Home Insurance.

And families will have to fork out an extra €85 on electricity this year, bringing the average to as high as €942.58.

Maintenance, repair and contingency funds also make up an expensive bill for Irish householders, although this has only increased marginally, by 0.5% in the past year. The AA estimates that the average homeowner is likely to set aside €1,246.83 a year to keep up with wear-and-tear on their house.

The cost of household appliances has now reached an annual average of €573.82, an increase of 6.57% on last year.

Among the variables that remained the same as, or close to, last year were television licence costs at €160, and property tax at €405.

But there was some good news, telephone and broadband costs dropped by 9%, coming in at an average of €468.66 for a family. This compares to €515 last year.

The total cost of owning and running your own home comes to €16,158, on average, which is 43% of the national average wage of €37,577.80. Meanwhile, the inflation rate this year has been just 0.29%, according to the consumer price index.

Meanwhile, the average property asking price has risen by almost €13,000 over the past 12 months – from €215,000 last year to €228,000 this year, putting young families under huge pressure. And those who took out a 90% mortgage this year are likely to pay €9,866.02 per year, an increase of 4.48% on last year.

Conor Faughnan, AA Director of Consumer Affairs, said: ‘Across all the factors that the AA measured, home heating costs saw the largest jump – an unfortunate piece of news for homeowners as we move into the winter season.

‘However, when you weigh up every cost a homeowner faces, there has only been a relatively modest increase this year – but unfortunately this largely applied to the post-purchasing costs.

‘Getting a foot in the front door remains a challenge for many as a result of continued increases in house prices.

‘The big story for 2017 has been rising house prices and increased difficulty for those trying to get on the property ladder this year,’ Mr Faughnan said.

‘For new buyers, the concern is that house prices are going up, especially in Dublin.’

And homeowners who bought at the height of the Celtic Tiger are grappling with their own set of challenges. The AA calculates that those who bought their house in 2007 – when the average price of a house was €344,000 – still have to hand over €5,172.74 more a year on their mortgage repayments than their counterparts who purchased their homes in the second quarter of this year.

Mr Faughnan encouraged consumers to shop around, in order to get the lowest prices for household costs.

‘One thing this piece of research does demonstrate is the effectiveness of shopping around,’ he said.

‘Across all the bills, we factor into this study you’ll see considerable variations between competitors. Spend a little time on the research and it can certainly save you money.’

The AA carries out a detailed calculation each year which looks at the total cost of owning and running a house in Ireland.

Mortgage and property tax are calculated based on the current average property price, while all other expenditure is researched and calculated according to prices as of October 2017.

Getting in the door is huge challenge