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.

We bought a newish house 7 years ago in our early 20s but purposely didn't stretch ourselves as we wanted 2DC with a small age gap. We borrowed less than half what the bank was willing to lend us and put 15% down. Income has increased lots since we bought so we were going to move to somewhere bigger, we are in a 3 bed but would like a 4 bed, but we are staying put for now. We have 2 years worth of outgoings in savings. Youngest is now 3 so childcare bill is way down too. We are fortunate that we can afford the increases although our 2 year energy fix finishes August 23 so we haven't seen any price rises yet. I am worried about the wider economy however and more vulnerable family members. We already financially support our PILs each month and they will probably need extra help from us if prices rise further. Really hope the Government does something to help the most vulnerable and squeezed middle.

Same. The feed in tariff from our solar panels will offset some of them (we are with a supplier where the FIT covers gas as well as electricity), but yes, it is still a concern. Our towels are crispy because I am line drying them, and I will be using the dehumidifier more this winter than the tumble dryer.

People pay less for a morgage than rent (as rent has to cover someone elses morgage, insurance, repairs etc...) so I dont see how they would have it any harder.

You can also do what you want with your own house (wack up solar panels, add a log burner, reinsulate etc...) which are one time costs to bring bill prices down which renters cant do that + if you dont and it gets damp/damaged no one is coming after you.

Of course it's still a worry. We paid our mortgage off last month, and we're no better off thanks to the rise in everything else. We're worse off in fact.

Price increases have a greater effect on people with fixed incomes.

We’re taking a gamble on DH taking early retirement and living off our savings until his pension matured. In December it looked like a good prospect but now with 8+% inflation we can see that a fixed income (savings divided by months to live on) won’t take us so far or so comfortably.

We’ve been mortgage free for 6 years.

We’re concerned about the energy price increases but we’re not worried we can’t pay them, or that it’ll be a choice between heating or eating. Just that it’ll eat into discretionary spending.

Too wide ranging a question. It's like asking renters the same question. So many people in so many different financial situations.

We have a small mortgage, both work full time, not massively high earners but way over the average for joint income. We have had a very careful few years with savings and confident we have enough behind us to weather the storm ahead.

But then the couple next door could have the same mortgage and be scrimping and saving just to pay it and then relying on food banks.

What are you really trying to ask?

As a cushion I’m upping my business commitment, and I’m happy to do so!
DH can take his turn at keeping the home fires burning.
We’ll survive and our quality of life will change, more frugal but time rich.

Home ownership comes in a variety of guises dependent on individual finances.

Personally if I was still renting I would be concerned because my rent could be increased at the end of a 6-12 month contract at the will of a landlord. My mortgage is thankfully fixed for the next four years and I'm hoping things may be less turbulent buy then. I was lucky enough to be with an energy provider that offered a 18month fix that will be 30% below the October cap for existing customers. I jumped on it so whilst I'm currently paying slightly over the odds it will save me money long term.

If I had to choose, I would pay mortgage. I recently had my gas fire ripped out so I can gather free firewood in winter and not put the heating on. I can sit in the dark with a fireplace. Having been street homeless in my early 20s, I'm not willing to return to that.

Of course it's a worry! Even more so.

I am a lone parent with a large mortgage and huge childcare costs. Yes, it is extremely worrying,

Re working from home and heating, I’ve never heated the flat during the day, in winter I just wrap up warm, and the flat doesn’t get as a cold as a house would because of other flats above and below. I can see for some it would make a difference but I think I still save money by not commuting.

The OP is very lucky to be in social housing with such low rent. I am in the south and a house with garden in my area would be over 2k per month to rent so unaffordable on an average or low salary. It's also incredibly difficult to get social housing. This is why people do all they can to get a mortgage and buy.

Definitely. We were very 'fortunate' that we lost a close family member a couple of years ago and used the resulting inheritance to extend our previously very small (but much loved) house and buy a business that has kept us afloat since. We live comfortably, not especially frugally but not extravagantly either.

I should add that the extension was bate bones only, we still have our 'temporary' pieced together kitchen 2 yrs on, a couple of empty plastered but not floored rooms etc. We will do those ourselves as we have the time and funds.

We own our house outright but are still worried about the increase in bills. We are average earners, both full time and have around £60K savings but they are supposed to be mainly for our retirement. 2 children, one in Secondary and the other last year of Primary so have them to consider too. We are more fortunate than many.

In my experience mortgage payments are usually way less than rent so we're better off than renters but yeah, I'd be lying if I said I'm not worried about bills

I’m trying not to worry but recently remortgaged as our deal ran out….£200 increase a month & then throw in utilities and food increases …it’s a lot to find especially with no pay rises. & due to our income we have to plug the gap with uni maintenance. She goes into shared housing and whilst she does work, the utilities increased for them as well :/

Savings dwindling and we just had two big bills for September:(

Have you looked into buying your council house?You say you have debt that is your first concern,do all you can to clear it as fast as you can,then build up your credit score and savings on a regular month on month agreement In a few years you will be in a different position.Having savings and no debt will make a huge difference but it will be hard with the rise in cost of living at present.Good luck.

Tbh comparing a bargain, secure social property with any other form of renting is complete apples and pears. Yes with a mortgage you have a debt, you have repairs etc but you have control over doing them and getting them done. You don't have to move on the whim of someone else. The money you are paying is paying off an asset.

If course your situation is comfy OP, but that doesn't mean that standard renting is preferable or more secure than owning.

Got a mortgage based on 5% deposit 6 months ago.
The mortgage repayment is a little more our rent was but rent in our area has gone up ( house we left had a 50% increase in rent for the new Tennant and nothing in our area now for less then our mortgage).

I have a few hundred in saving but not thousands. I am worried about money but follow the 10 a day thread on here to keep our heads above water and afford little treats including things like swim lessons for the kids. Luckily we're in a fixed rate for 5 years so our mortgage won't increase till then and by then our kids will be out of nursery but it's still pretty tight. I think this is the bonus over renting as the rent in my area is climbing at a scary rate

I have a mortgage and we just bought our first home last year and we’re in our 40s. The move, the deposit and repairs have practically wiped out our savings. I’ve just overpaid the 10% on the mortgage which was another big hit to our savings but as others have said my priority is the mortgage.

I’m extremely worried about bills, especially if interest rates go up. We’re fixed for 5 years at 1.5% but know that interest rates will be substantially higher when we remortgage. I’ve never be so worried about the state of the country and the economy.

Homeowners with a mortgage aren’t any different from renters in terms of paying bills. They may have even less money in the bank than renters if they ploughed all their savings into a deposit. Many people opt for the biggest mortgage they can get based on their earnings and outgoings leaving themselves unable to save because of hefty mortgage payments, but that’s no different to renters with expensive rentals compared to their salaries.
I own my home outright so no mortgage or rent to pay, but I work part-time as I’m a single parent, and so have a fairly low income. I have managed to save a bit over the past couple of years so that we can move to a bigger property (current house is TINY) at some point, but my savings are starting to be eaten up by bills.

I no longer have a mortgage but I don’t have savings either. It’s a long story but suffice to say a relationship messed my life up enough that I had to start again. I am on a very tight budget but just about manage. I would be a lot more solvent if I’d just stayed single (which I will be forever now, by choice). I haven’t the energy to worry about it.

Always pay the mortgage first. Yes we’re worried about increasing bills but we’ll be okay as we have a generous disposable income. Saying that, we only have about £200 savings which is foolish and something we’re now trying to resolve to prepare for a difficult winter.

We're not worried in the slightest and haven't had to reduce spending or anything like that, but it does depend on more than just being a homeowner, as others have said.

My mortgage is significantly cheaper than renting a similar house. We earn a decent amount between us but don’t really have savings- use Credit cards for holidays/emergencies. Have secure jobs plus good pensions with lump sums so although cash flow is crap and paying for two children at Uni not overly anxious.