Cost of running a house? Please help!!

rc12345

Hi, hoping someone can help me!!! Can anyone give me a rough idea of the monthly cost of running a four bedroom property? I know I can get a mortgage for it - just worried about what the monthly costs bill wise will be that I may end up just scraping by each month. TIA xx

Surrey_EA

There will be a number of variable factors that are likely to affect the monthly running costs of your home.

• Property age - a Victorian home with single glazed windows and poor insulation is going to cost more to heat than a more modern property.
• How often you spend at home. If you work from home it's likely the running costs are higher than if you spend 12 hours a day out at work somewhere.
• How many people will be living at the property. A family of five are going to use more water/electricity/heating than someone living alone.
• Exactly how big is your 4-bedroom property? Some are 1400sq ft, some are 4000sq ft. Knowing it has 4 bedrooms doesn't tell us how large it is.

Gilly91

realise you said 4 bed property however i'll chuck mine in there for my 2p worth! (3 bed semi, 1960s build with myself & OH, no kids). not all my packages are the basic packages, there are cheaper available;

Gas/Electric: £60p/m
Water: £10p/m (water meter fitted)
Council Tax: £130 p/m
Tv/internet/phone: £85 p/m
life insurance: £20 p/m (for both)
food: £200 p/m

total per month running costs (excluding travel costs / mortgage): £505

hope that helps

Fuzzyness

mine is a three bed semi, early 20th century construction for me and one little one and my monthly costs are:

Gas/Electric: £74p/m
Water: £43/m (non water meter)
Council Tax: £160 p/m (band D)
Tv/internet/phone: £27 p/m
life insurance: £20 p/m (for both)
buildings/contents insurance £30 p/m

total per month running costs: £354 - excluding travel costs / mortgage, food and consumables

chelseablue

Mine is a 3 bed semi, built in the 1960's


Gas/Electric £55 per month
Water: £23 pm (we are on a meter)
Council tax: £145 pm (over 12 months)
TV & Internet: £46 pm
Buildings & Contents: I pay it yearly and the last one was £160
Food: £180 pm (2 adults, 1 child)


Plus the mortgage, fuel and childcare (which is currently more than the mortgage payment :eek:)

lee111s

3 bed semi, new build (moving soon but costs for current house)

Gas/electric £70 ( I work from home)
Water £25 per month
Coucil tax £130 (ten monthly payments)
Phone line £18 (internet for free as employee)
Insurance £120 per year

p00hsticks

Fuzzyness wrote: »

mine is a three bed semi, early 20th century construction for me and one little one and my monthly costs are:

Gas/Electric: £74p/m
Water: £43/m (non water meter)
Council Tax: £160 p/m (band D)
Tv/internet/phone: £27 p/m
life insurance: £20 p/m (for both)
buildings/contents insurance £30 p/m

total per month running costs: £354 - excluding travel costs / mortgage, food and consumables

I'd add to this that you need to be putting something aside each month for maintenance, to cover those occasional costs like decorating, boiler servicing and replacement, roof repairs etc.....

Pixie5740

The council tax you can find out yourself: https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands

The EPC should give you a vague indication of how expensive the property will be to heat.

The buildings and insurance contents you can get quotes for yourself using a comparison site.

Smodlet

Surrey_EA wrote: »

There will be a number of variable factors that are likely to affect the monthly running costs of your home.

• Property age - a Victorian home with single glazed windows and poor insulation is going to cost more to heat than a more modern property.
• How often you spend at home. If you work from home it's likely the running costs are higher than if you spend 12 hours a day out at work somewhere.
• How many people will be living at the property. A family of five are going to use more water/electricity/heating than someone living alone.
• Exactly how big is your 4-bedroom property? Some are 1400sq ft, some are 4000sq ft. Knowing it has 4 bedrooms doesn't tell us how large it is.

Exactly as SurreyEA said. You might as well ask, "how long is a piece of string?" The only people at all placed to give you an idea of how much this house you are buying costs to run are your vendors and their fuel costs will depend on their provider(s), tariff(s) and lifestyle. You could ask them roughly how much they use but, if they are out all day and you work from home, your usage will probably be higher than theirs.

Check out the CEC and find the best deal for your new address, ditto with internet, TV, insurances, etc. Everything else will depend on your lifestyle. I doubt you will spend any more or less on groceries than you do now.

Good luck with your move and try to build up some kind of an emergency fund before you do. There is always something you need to fix.

Mossfarr

I have quite a large 4 bed semi, three adults - all retired (one of whom is disabled so extra heating & water useage). We get some allowances due to disabled resident so gas/elec would be at least £10 per month more.
Gas Elec £112
Water £66 (not metered)
TV/phone/internet £100
Council Tax £160
TV licence £12
Building & contents insurance £30
life insurances £45

Total £525

Fuzzyness

p00hsticks wrote: »

I'd add to this that you need to be putting something aside each month for maintenance, to cover those occasional costs like decorating, boiler servicing and replacement, roof repairs etc.....

very true. replaced boiler already, done gutters and now just need to repaint wood sash windows so yes a repairs budget is something we are constantly saving for. also forgot the TV license which is another 12 or so a month.