Are people who own their own homes or have a mortgage worried about bills?

[gotelltheoldmandowntheroad]

If you have a mortgage or own a house outright, does it usually come along with being okay financially?

Do you all have thousands in the bank? I assume you do because things come up like repairs and services that can be expensive.

So with the energy hikes and other cost of living issues, what happens? Do you know you will have enough to cover the bills? Or are you high earners along with owning?

If you couldn't pay your utility bills would that mean your house would be under threat?

I know nothing about it all as no one in my family has ever had a mortgage.

Well home owners come in a variety of financial situations from in massive debt to millions in the bank. Like renters.

your house is under threat if you don’t keep up your repayments. But you’ll be told that …

Yes, so what happens when faced with a gas bill you can't pay? Do you pay it or pay your mortgage?

Mortgage first. Always.

We own our house outright. And yes we are worried about the increase in bills.

Do you pay your gas bill or your rent op?

And ultimately if you rack up debts for the utilities when and how does that begin to threaten your home security?

I don't think I'd want to get a mortgage right now, I'd want to see where things go.

My dad owns his house outright and has savings, but they could just get eaten up by the bills now.

Yes, so what happens when faced with a gas bill you can't pay? Do you pay it or pay your mortgage?

The mortgage is always the first bill to pay even if you can't afford other bills it's common sense to prioritise the one that keeps a roof over you head, the same with rent.

Also you're incredibly niave if you think everyone with a mortgage has a few thousand in savings.

Not all homeowners have thousands in the bank!! Plenty will be living Month to month like many renters. Some (most?) mortgages are not a set payment but go up if interest rates go up, so these people may actually be in a worse position than renters (where the amount is fixed monthly). Our mortgage is fixed for 5 years which mean we pay a little more each month but I like the peace of mind that it’s a set amount which won’t change.

we are relatively comfortable- not thousands in savings but will manage increased electricity costs without starving. Plenty of others may end up relying on food banks or not heating their houses id imagine.

A mortgage is usually cheaper than rent, so there can be less worry than if you are renting and the rent is a lot more than allowed for housing benefit. People get on the housing ladder in all sorts of situations, so there's no one answer. A lot of my friends are becoming mortgage free because we are all hitting 55+ and bought when you didn't need a deposit etc. No-one is well off, employment options are starting to get less and less. I'm mortgage free because I inherited. I live on disability benefits. I should imagine that repossessions will go up.

Majority of home people with mortgages are not going to have thousands in the bank!

With the mortgage paid off it is possible that you are more financially secure but it could also work out to be when you are approaching retirement which means income may be reduced but yes, generally if you have no mortgage then you should be in a better position to ride out the coming storm.
We paid off our mortgage years ago but there are always other things to spend on (higher pension contributions for one) but by the time the mortgage was approaching the end, payments were not a significant sum anyway.

People with a mortgage are not always well off with thousands in the bank, many will have stretched themselves (and it could also coincide with starting a family) so are unlikely to be in a good position to cope with higher bills, repairs etc. It is generally when you have had a mortgage for a few years that the financial pressure eases a bit.

Why would having a mortgage mean you are any more likely to have thousands in the bank compared to someone renting? You realise a mortgage is just debt and in no way comparable to owning a house outright?

We have a mortgage and have zero savings. We have very little spare money after all the bills are paid. I work for Royal Mail and if their changes go ahead I will lose 33% of my pay. We are very worried about the future.

Ive had a mortgage since I was 21(days of 100% mortgages, was never gifted money), I’ve never rented. I’ve often wondered myself if people who rent aren’t in constant fear of being turned out and what they’d do as they approach old age and can’t work to pay the rent anymore?

I like the security of ‘owning’ my own home, but big bills can be tricky. It’s worth it for a secure future for me.

You would always pay mortgage or rent first. It's your number one priority bill unless you own outright. Our gas and electric bills haven't gone up yet so I'm not worried yet. If they go up to 500 a month as is predicted then I'll be really glad I kept our outgoings low by staying in our house instead of buying somewhere more expensive as we'll still be able to afford it. Although I will choke on paying that much.

My mortgage is about 1/3 of the average rent in my area.

Many years ago we couldn't pay all our bills and unlike everybody here the mortgage was the last thing we paid. We went months into arrears then put the arrears on the balance of the mortgage when we were back on our feet. It's all off our credit record now.

My sister owns her own home as the in-laws bought them one when they married.

Her OH is often out of work so they resort to credit cards for bills.

As said, you have a hierarchy of bills. Your home is the first. Utility companies are allowing a greater amount of debt to be built up. If you owe someone who can take you to court, under the law, you can't be left with nothing. So the debt is sold to a debt collection agency who will go down to £10 a month, even on £thousands owed. A lot of LLs are selling up, so renting can be very precarious.

People with mortgages to pay are exactly like people with rent to pay. They just have an added bill of house repairs/maintenance too.

That’s why when people say ‘it’s so much cheaper to pay a mortgage than rent’ they’re not really comparing the true costs.
And interest rates have gone up now too so mortgages are costing more.

I think a lot depends on when you bought your house. The mortgage on the 3 bed house my parents bought for 80k in 2000 is very different to the mortgage on my 3 bed house bought for 240k in 2017 (with DH as a second time buyer) and that's still different to the mortgage my colleague has on her very first house bought for a similar price in 2018.

Well considering a mortgage is itself a massive bill this is an odd question

But no I have a mortgage and don't worry about bills but then again I didn't stretch my affordability when getting the house

Many people do, for a variety of reasons so they might be worried with inflation etc.

Yes 100%. It's a liability until you own it.

Mortgage here and yes very worried about bills. We are a family that sit just above the allowance for any benefit help, both working with childcare bills etc. My mortgage is a bill just like any other. Doesn't look like we will get any help from any current or future plans from the government which is targeted to those on benefits. We will be significantly, significantly, worse off in the next few months so all treats are stopped, food shopping is beyond basic and heating will be absent or set to the very bare minimum just to not get into increasing debt. It's miserable.

Mortgage, zero savings and yes deeply worried about the increase and what we will do, short of planting a money tree.

No idea, it’s never happened. We bought a house that allowed us plenty of space for rising bills, and have savings too.