Halifax reports falling housing costs for mortgage holders

Date:Monday 28th June 2010
Author: Max Freedman

The average cost of owning and running a home in the UK has fallen in the last two years, according to the latest report from Halifax.

Based upon figures from the Office for National Statistics and taking into account the cost of mortgage payments, household bills and other housing related costs, Halifax claims that housing costs have fallen by six per cent since April 2008.

The drop in annual housing costs is believed to be the result of a lower mortgage rate for many homeowners.

Between April 2008 and April 2010, mortgage rates dropped by 2.13 percentage points from 5.8 per cent to 3.67 per cent.

The drop means many homeowners have seen a 19 per cent decline in mortgage payments.

Most homeowners are paying out an average 27 per cent of their full time gross earnings, instead of the 30 per cent it stood at in 2008.

Next week, the Bank of England will review the base rate which could see the current 0.5 per cent rate change and subsequently impact upon mortgage rates.