9 March 2006
The cost of owning and running a house rose by 7% in the financial year 2004/05, according to a collation of figures studied by the Halifax bank.
The Halifax studied figures from the Office of National Statistics and said that over the past three years, the total costs of housing have increased by 14%, far outpacing the 4.6% rise in inflation over the period.
Council tax and utility bills combined are estimated to represent the single biggest component of total costs in 2005/06. They should therefore account for a higher proportion of the overall costs than mortgage payments.
It added that both council tax and utility bills are expected to rise by well above inflation in 2006. For example, the UK's biggest energy supplier, British Gas, increased gas and electricity tariffs by 22% on March 1st 2006.
Both water supply and electricity, gas and other fuels expenditure increased by 6% in 2004/05 and accounted for 15% of the 7% increase in total housing costs for the year.
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