New house too expensive

[Regretss]

I feel so stupid writing this but I think our new house is too expensive: we've upsized and I'm having massive regrets. How long until we can sell without losing too much ?

What element is too expensive? Mortgage? Bills? Maintenance?

The utilities and council tax are much higher than we expected. And the poor maintenance of the previous owners means we have to redecorate the whole house. Which we expected and thought we could save for but the other costs makes me feel it will take forever as we don't have much room for saving. This is really daft

Well you don't have to redecorate immediately, you can just do that as you can afford it.

Is there anything you can do to reduce the bills such as improve the insulation or get a water meter installed?

Surely selling up so quickly will just make the overall house cost more expensive? If it's only the expense you're bothered by concentrate on more ways to economise and accept what you have? Does the redecorating really have to be done all at once?

Can you rent it out and rent something smaller for now?

Did you expect it to be in a different band for council tax, if so is there scope to challenge the band?

Otherwise I think you have to leave redecorating for later and be frugal with energy (we are past the coldest darkest part now anyway) for a year or two otherwise you’ll lose loads. Plus do you actually have the money now for moving costs, legal etc?

We were in a similar boat. We’ve put off redoing the kitchen to minimise the loss

have you already bought the house and moved or are you still in the process?

Well you don’t need to redecorate straight away. Most people don’t redecorate straight away because there’s always unforeseen costs when moving and you end up covering those. If you think the utilities are too expensive though you aren’t going to be able to save for estate agent fees, conveyancing and removals. Be frugal where you can, save for the decorating.

I think it is normal to feel quite squeezed on moving house but it should pass in time.
Personally I wouldn't sell unless you have to- you have incurred costs in buying the house you are in and there will be more costs in selling.
Deep breath, it'll be ok.

How long have you been in? Obviously your usage will drop as it gets warmer and the cost of energy will come down a little in April. Is it that it's unaffordable or is it just a shock compared to your last home?

Hopefully your utilities will come down a bit - when we moved last year in December our new energy supplier wanted a horrific monthly DD to start off with - presumably so we could build up a buffer over the following summer and because they didn't know what our consumption would be. A year later and our DD has more than halved which reflects our actual consumption.

Can you pay the council tax over 12 months rather than 10 months? Yes, you will pay the same, but it will be easier for budgeting?

It may seem insurmountable now but it's early days.
What is crippling you this year may not in 2 years time.
Be patient take a deep breath and set yourself a time limit of one year and then re-evaluate.

@RidingMyBike checking the insulation is a great idea, will definitely look into that asap. It's a really good point about the redecorating , must stop putting so much pressure on myself.

@sbplanet no the redecorating isn't urgent at all and we've already done the bits we felt needed sorting out. The rest could wait.

@BobbyBookcase I'm not sure our lender would allow us to do that actually. Also I'd be worried we have to do up the house for tenants.

@Chipsweep we thought it would be less and hadn't expected it to be that high. Will definitely check if the band is correct.

@Newhousecrying we've already moved in , been here since end of January.

@WhereIsMyLight thank you for the reminder I keep thinking that it should all be done at once but that's an impossible task

@Itsachange thank you that is so reassuring . And breath ....

@Desecratedcoconut end of January, it's probably because it feels like a lot all at once

Thank you so much for this !! I have been beating myself up about this but it's really too early to tell and we do need time to settle in

One of the things about giving yourself time is it allows you to think about how to make alterations. You need to know how you want to live in a place before you go 'knocking down walls', or even just the colour of the walls. :)

Here's the link to check your council tax:

It's getting warmer now so you won't need the heating on as much so that might make you feel better about bills. My house is very poorly insulated but I try not to have the heating on too much, just use it first thing in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening and it's not too bad. We wear a lot of warm things indoors! Come spring though, we've forgotten all about it.

You bought the house so presumably you liked it and saw it's potential in the long term. There's no great hurry to get it all redecorated immediately, just know that it will get there in the end. Start with doing the bits that really matter to you - I always find painting the bathroom walls, regrouting and painting the bedroom walls makes me feel better about things after moving, and as long as that's done I can be more relaxed about the rest of the house for a while.

I'm a realist and a pessimist and say even though we're going into warmer weather now, don't leave sorting out insulation until it gets cold again. It's very easy to 'forget' about jobs like that when you're not affected by them in the day to day.

But yes, take a breath. Buying a house is horrifically stressful and it's completely normal to feel the way you do. All will be well.

Definitely give yourself time. It's a shock at first getting used to all the higher expenses and not having as much money left over. It's only been a couple of months. I'd reevaluate next year. If you can afford the mortgage and bills and you'll just have to save for the rest, that's do-able.

Id delay decorating and do what you can yourself. We did all the painting and got lots of bits off freecycle/ Facebook marketplace for free for the kitchen which made it much more useable.

theres a gov scheme for loft and cavity wall insulation but I’m not sure of the eligibility. We bought loft insulation and put it in ourselves because we didn’t plan ahead and it was winter. it was only a couple of hundred for the rolls so not bad. If you're eligible it might be an easy saving

We feel/felt the same @Regretss - we moved from a medium flat to a largeish house last summer.

Previously our mortgage was £1,900, council tax £120, utilities around £180 per month.

Now our mortgage is £3,300, council tax £300, and utilities £300 per month.

Our incomes have remained the same.
But all of our costs have increased.
And we no longer have a bulk of savings (as a large proportion was used on the down payment for this house).

But I echo what a previous poster says, about it feeling like a stretch at first, and then getting used to it.

I'm getting used to having carpet I hate on the stairs, and knowing we need to replace the boiler before we replace the carpet.

BUT I am so grateful, we have a proper garden, we have enough space (even enough to host guests), and having been cooped up in a flat for 12 years, this is the lap of luxury (not withstanding the family bathroom which is carpeted, as it has been since approx. 1989).

You might also find with utilities that your costs reduce a bit once you're used to the house - you'll get a feel for which rooms near up faster and retain heat better and where you spend the majority of the time. And how to tweak the temperatures and timings to maximise the heating.

Our house was pretty cold when we first moved in and having no curtains at the windows didn't help at all! But now we know what timings work best for us and all windows and doors have curtains.

I think since you've moved in so recently, part of how you feel is just the mental/emotional after effects of moving house. You've probably been running on adrenaline for ages dealing with the move. I think it's very common to come down to earth with a bit of a bump once you actually move in. I'm not saying that the costs aren't high and you've had loads of good advice above, but also just be kind to yourself. Try not to beat yourself up about the choice you made because it probably was the right choice and you will probably find the love for the house again before too long, you just need to give yourself a bit of time to heal from the stress of moving.

Hi OP, give yourself a little bit more time to settle in. Council tax can very so much from location to location, I too was shocked when I moved out of London. Much more expensive in the countryside! Same with electricity, people say London is expensive but there are so many people there that it makes council tax and utilities cheaper.

1. Your bills will be cheaper in the Summer
2. Look at the insulation situation, windows, doors, walls, ceiling. Check your new council rules, a lot of the time they support people with these checks. They might send round someone for free to evaluate the insulation or may loan you one of those heat cameras to see where heat is escaping
3. Your new house is bigger, is it all in use? Are there areas which you can keep closed and unheated?
4. Cheap thermal curtains and doorstoppers can make a massive difference
5. Write to the council and get them to confirm your band and ask if they have any discount available
6. Think of other areas you can economise. Do you now have more storage space, maybe you can stock up on bulk items?
7. Check your electricity supplier, did you inherit the supplier that was servicing your home? There may be cheaper suppliers. Check that you have access to the night time tariff and programme your machines to wash during the night
8. Check if you are on a water meter or not and calculate if it is worth to change to either one or the other

A bigger house does cost more to run, but a lot less so for energy when it comes to the summer, as a lot of the energy costs in a bigger house will be heating. Insulation is good, as long as it is suitable for the house's structure. As is wrapping up well. I find fleecy tights/leggings make a big difference. Even a woolly hat on really cold days. Take a tip from the Victorians, they used to wear little caps indoors, and in bed too. I'd far rather wear woolly hat and have enough space than be warmer and not have the room to swing even a mouse.

This house is bigger than our old one- and a lot older. I have gradually got used to living in a colder house, as no way can we afford to keep it at t-shirt levels all year. Surveyor said it's better to keep the house this age (100 years) at a stable, fairly cool temp anyway - he said 17 or 18- and just pop extra heating on in the room you're in if you're cold- though we almost never need to- we just have it a bit warmer for an hour or so in the evenings when we're sitting down. Obviously for someone elderly or unwell, they need to be warmer. We pop the heating up when Mum comes round. But I now find most people's houses far too hot for me - it's like being in a furnace, and my eyes dry out. You aclimatise.....

Yep- we pay more council tax for our house in a small and not at all posh industrial town in the NW of England than we would for place 3x the price of ours in Kensington in London. And in Kensington we'd have fantastic public transport, loads of hospitals, free national museums.....