Home.co.uk
Home.co.uk

News: Retired homeowners make do with £188 per week

Retired homeowners have to get by on around £9,789 each year, or £188 per week, after paying for home maintenance and repairs, according to new research. The findings from Economic Lifestyle, the retirement housing and finance specialist, reveal that retired homeowners spend around £819 every year on windows, heating, plumbing and general decorating.

On a regional basis, retired London homeowners have £2,288 more annual disposable income compared to retired homeowners from the West Midlands who have around £9,061 to survive per year.

By region, average annual disposable incomes after home maintenance costs are: Greater London £11,349; South East £10,829; South West £9,373; East Anglia £9,789; West Midlands £9,061; East Midlands £9,269; Wales £9,113; North West £9,217; North East £8,905; Yorkshire & Humberside £9,373 and Scotland £9,685.

According to Economic Lifestyle, retired homeowners spend around £5 billion a year on home improvements and property repairs and around one in ten spends over 20% of their annual income maintaining their properties. A further 22% felt they should be spending this amount or more in order to keep their property in good condition.

Repairing and replacing windows is the single most expensive cost that retired homeowners have to face (35%), followed by heating and plumbing costs 23%; general painting and decorating 19%; roof repairs 11%; carpets 7%; electrics 3% and insulation 2%.

Back to: News Index