House maintenance budget?

[kisaki333]

We are in the happy position to be soon purchasing a 3 bed house. This is our first time living in a house we own. So far, all my life it's been rented apartments.

How much (approx) should i set aside each month for house maintenance expenses? ( from roof fixes or changing the boiler to smaller fix jobs). It's a 70's semi detached, if that helps.

Treble whatever you think

Agreed. Whatever you're estimating now, double or treble it. There's always unexpected things that need fixing that pop up.

Sooo much. We're six months in, and money seems to be flying out of every orifice.
Bloody nightmare.

It really depends on the state of the house. What did the survey say?

Some big but one-off expenses are only required every 10-20 years. Others are more ongoing expenses but if you don't keep on top of them, will end up being more expensive.

We're just having our wooden soffits repaired/replaced/repainted (the wooden overhang which the gutters are in). It's a big Victorian house (dh calls it a horizontal semi - we're in the upper half). It's costing £5,600 - but that will be split 50:50 with our downstairs' neighbours and will hopefully last over 10 years with only cheaper repainting in between times. This is on top of the £800 a few months ago sorting the roof (again, shared 50:50). You do want to keep an eye on the roof: small, regular on going maintenance costs a lot less than having to replace the whole roof.

We get the gutters cleared every year which costs £150 (again, split).

Some of these are things that you could go yourself - but our house is too tall (with some bits sticking out which makes it even more awkward) to want to go up really tall ladders.

Other maintenance you need to consider is annual servicing costs if you have gas central heating (especially if you have an unvented boiler), budgeting for repainting/pointing costs (depending on the exterior walls), maintenance of windows (we have wooden sash windows )....it adds up.

The annual service for our central heating (which includes the extra cost to check the unvented expansion tank don't know if that's the right terminology ) was £140 - but having put in a new boiler, new, better radiators and a properly insulated hot water tank (we decided against a combi boiler), our heating costs are lower than the were before we put it in just as well, given the increasing energy costs!

I was told 1% of the house price, per year. That may be quite outdated though and obviously depends massively on the age and construction of the property.

Maintenance of outdoor space can often be overlooked, but regularly treating wooden fences, repainting wooden windows and doors saves money due to the additional life you give them. Similarly re-pointing old garden walls and outbuildings etc.

Agree with PP about getting the roof checked and gutters cleaned annually.

Also it's worth regularly maintaining trees and hedges as it gets more costly the longer you leave it.

Our house is Victorian and made of sandstone and I estimate that we are spending at least 1-2% of house value each year on maintenance and essential repairs.

Thank you all! The survey is pending but the property seems to be in a good state of repair. Obviously, that could be just appearances, we'll wait and see. Garden is luckily low maintenance but I will keep an eye on it and definitely the roof.