How Much? – a rough guide to UK living costs

Posted on February 1, 2015

Aside from personal expenditure, utilities such as gas, electricity and water are additional costs which need to be taken into account before you can decide on how much you have to spend on your new home. To give you an idea of what you can expect these costs to be, here are some average monthly figures. Please note that these are monthly costs based on average properties – fuel bills can vary considerably based on the energy efficiency of the property and individual usage (2013).

Utilities:

1-2 bed flat3-4 bed flat4-5 bed house
Gas£45£70£80
Electricity£55£65£85
Water£35£40£45

Council Tax:

This covers the cost for local services such as rubbish collection, roads and street lighting, maintenance of parks and playgrounds, public leisure centres and contributes towards local police, fire and rescue services. It’s an annual charge levied on every property and the amount charged is dependent on the size and value of your property; you have the option to pay one single lump sum or ten payments throughout the year. We can arrange your account for you once a property has been decided on. To give you some idea of what your annual Council Tax bills might be (2011):

1-2 bed flat3-4 bed flat4-5 bed house
Council Taxbetween £1000 and £1700between £1300 and £2300between £1400 and £2650

TV License:

If you use a television, you must have a TV License. You are responsible for paying for and obtaining your TV License, which is currently £145.50 for one year. Failure to produce a TV licence when requested by the licensing authority could incur a fine of up to £1,000.

Parking and Travel:

If you live in an urban area, and want to park a car on the road near your property, you may need to purchase a ‘resident’s parking permit’.  This doesn’t mean you get a guaranteed parking  space, but it does enable you to park in ‘resident parking bays’ within a certain distance of your home.  The cost of these permits varies depending on the area but expect to pay around £150 per year.  If you don’t drive, you will need to take the cost of public transport into account.  You can find out how much a season ticket will cost here:

http://www.thetrainline.com

There are other costs involved in running a home – broadband, telephone, satellite TV for example, but these are all dependant on the type service you want, so impossible to include here.  This is designed to provide a rough guide so that you have some idea – it is by no means a full and comprehensive list of everything.

If you have any further questions, please contact us on email, or visit our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/executiverelocationplus and post it on our wall.  We can’t promise we’ll have all the answers but we’ll certainly try!

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