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New homeowner, how much to stash for maintenance etc

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daver9
daver9 Posts: 10 Forumite
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in House buying, renting & selling
I'm a long time renter about to move into my first home and I guess I need to start budgeting for all those things that used to be looked after by the landlord. General upkeep, repair work, maintenance of the building etc but not sure how much is sensible to put aside. Is there a ballpark figure for this kind of thing?
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  • Slinky
    Slinky Posts: 9,987 Forumite
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    I've seen a figure once to budget for 1% of house value per annum. Some years it could be much less, others more if you have expensive repairs.
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  • fromtheshires
    fromtheshires Posts: 310 Forumite
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    It all depends on how big and old the house is along with local conditions. A two bed mid terrace in a town will cost less to maintain than a two bed mid terrace on the coast.

    think of what can and most likely will go wrong. Off the top of my head, these have all happened in my houses. now they dont all happen in one go, but again if you buy everything at the same time, there is a higher chance of things breaking like dominos.

    Leaking pipework you cant see until its stained through the ceiling
    Boiler replacement and installation
    Replacement door lock as key snapped in barrel
    Replacement cooker
    Replacement washing machine
    Replacement fridge / fridge freezer
  • troffasky
    troffasky Posts: 398 Forumite
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    Start by looking at what your survey said about the condition of the house you've bought. Do a bit of googling on the various points it mentions and look at threads about those maintenance topics in the "In My Home" forum.
  • ThePants999
    ThePants999 Posts: 1,748 Forumite
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    I've never subscribed to the % of house value thing. Being in the North doesn't make a house cost significantly less to maintain, but it does make it worth significantly less ;-) And I'm pretty sure that 1% figure has been around for a long time - but house price inflation has far outpaced house maintenance cost inflation in recent years.

    FWIW, I budget £200/mth on a 4-bed detached house, and so far that's seemed vaguely appropriate.
  • ThePants999
    ThePants999 Posts: 1,748 Forumite
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    Indeed - or very new houses where some stuff will be covered by NHBC guarantee.
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
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    It depends what you include too ... new gas boiler every 10-12 years, or just getting the roof fixed.

    It wouldn't hurt to put aside, say, £100/month, if the house is over 70 years old ... just so you've got something if/when something big/major goes wrong.

    If the house is quite newish, then £250/year would cover it .... but if you're still there in 10-12 years' time and the boiler blows you'll just have enough ... if nothing else goes wrong the following month.

    So long as you save something, religiously, the actual amount is probably immaterial.... so try £60/month (£2/day) for modernish houses, £80/month for something 1920-1960 and £100/month for anything pre 1920.

    It really is luck, judgement, experience, location and the state of each relevant item as it stands today.
  • moneyistooshorttomention
    moneyistooshorttomention Posts: 17,940 Forumite
    edited 8 May 2018 at 7:40PM
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    I'd say it's basically down to what sort of condition the house is in.

    If it's either new (and not bodge built) or older (but has had all necessary work on it done) then I don't think it's necessary to put to one side monthly money for upkeep personally.

    If it's older and not properly maintained - then do so.

    But then my own personal philosophy boils down to:

    - Mine is a 1970s house and I've renovated it and a brick-built/slate-roofed house of that age wouldnt need anything at all spent on the structure of it for the rest of my lifetime (I'm in my 60s), as I've renovated it since getting it. So - I'd only think I might be due to replace boiler (again) the once during my lifetime and might have to replace cooker, fridge, freezer, washing machine (ditto - also pretty new). I'm bargaining on having the inside rooms redecorated, say, once every 10 years.

    So I keep a bit of savings to one side that's basically for me personally but, if I had to, then I could spend it on the house.

    I'm just hoping that the fact the house is actually different style to the brick-built/slate roof houses I'm used to (ie typical of West Wales - is rendered and has concrete tile roof - won't cost me any money at all ever for that fact) and it's down to whether I willingly choose to have it repainted outside ever again and hopefully the render and roof will be fine for the rest of my life. Basically - if I wouldnt have to spend it on style of house I'm used to - then I'm not going to spend it on my current house if I can help it unless I have money genuinely spare I have no use for for myself - but that's my take on things.

    But that's my personal take on things.
  • todayisagreatday
    todayisagreatday Posts: 260 Forumite
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    I think initially when you move in you need to allow for the unplanned.

    Despite us having a full building RIC survey there were some things that we noted need doing:

    - Chimney swept (was mentioned in survey but firebricks also needed replacing as hole in back)
    - Septic tank emptied (didn't know when it was last done)

    We replaced all locks as a security precautions. The alarm was working but we needed the code changing and it servicing as we found one of the sensors wasn't working and it kept going off (great way of introducing yourself to the neighbours!) Also things like TV aeriel - again we had one but it had aged that bad we couldn't get any TV signals.

    Things may also break or not work, especially if the property has been empty for a while.

    For example the shower worked in that water discharged but the element had gone so wasn't hot. New shower needed plus fitting. The boiler timer went kaput a week after moving so that needed replacing.

    If it's a new build then you may not have these issues but defin put a few hundred pound aside for the first month as 'extra'. We literally planned to do nothing as we are completely remodelling it so we moved in with mismatched furniture, odd bits of carpet etc people had given us all things temporary but some things we just had to get sorted, some expected, some not.

    Above all else, if you can find a local Facebook site of the area it's handy for using asking for recommendations for tradesmen.
  • tacpot12
    tacpot12 Posts: 7,972 Forumite
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    I live in a large Victorian house, and put aside £200 per month for "House" expenses. Coincidentally, this is 1% off the house's value pa. From this, we pay for replacing carpets, furniture, household appliances, the boiler, painting and decorating, repairs and renovations.
    The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.
  • LandyAndy
    LandyAndy Posts: 26,377 Forumite
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    edited 8 May 2018 at 8:07PM
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    Slinky wrote: »
    I've seen a figure once to budget for 1% of house value per annum. Some years it could be much less, others more if you have expensive repairs.

    This. 1-2 % per annum is a sensible provision.

    I've lived here 12 years and based on the purchase price that would be somewhere between 40 and 80 thousand. My spend in that time has been between those two figures.
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