UK households collectively spent a record £217 billion on housing costs in 2024, according to estimates by a property services firm, with London’s share making up a quarter (£54 million) of the total national spend.
Of all the UK regions, London saw the biggest increase (27 per cent since 2022) in housing costs, followed by East Midlands and West Midlands (25 per cent each).
Savills analysed private and social rents plus owner-occupier mortgage costs for the data published today.
The research indicated that housing costs were £8.6 billion higher than a previous peak in 2016, when adjusted for inflation.
Total housing costs have risen by a total of £41.2 billion in the past two years alone, it found — accounting for more than half (60 per cent) of the increase seen over the past decade.
The Bank of England base rate was held at 4.5 per cent last week, but further cuts in the coming months have been predicted, potentially easing some mortgage costs.
About 1.8 million fixed-rate mortgage deals are due to end or have already ended in 2025, according to figures from UK Finance.
Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said: “While mortgage rates are projected to fall further this year, there are still a significant number of households that are due to come to the end of five-year fixed-rate deals later this year and will be facing an increase in their household bill.”
The bill for mortgaged owner-occupiers reached nearly £110 billion in 2024, with the average homeowner with a mortgage paying £12,754 per year – £2,829 more than in 2022, according to Savills.
Renters’ costs in the private sector totalled nearly £81 billion in 2024, with the annual bill for the average household renting reaching £14,458, after increasing by £2,195 over the past two years.
Social renters paid £5,478 on average last year, marking a £560 average increase compared with 2022, researchers found. The total bill for social renters was about £27 billion in 2024.
Mr Cook added: “While rental growth slowed in 2024, a significant uptick in the total rental bill reflects the time for historical growth to feed into the amount people pay.”
With high house prices and rents, households in London accounted for a quarter (25 per cent) of housing costs last year, according to the analysis, which involved using Bank of England and Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
Table: percentage of total housing costs making up the UK total in 2024
Region |
Housing costs (2024) |
% of UK housing costs |
London |
£54.4 million |
25% |
South East |
£37.7 million |
17% |
East of England |
£23.6 million |
11% |
South West |
£16.5 million |
8% |
East Midlands |
£12.4 million |
6% |
West Midlands |
£14.5 million |
7% |
North West |
£17.6 million |
8% |
Yorkshire and the Humber |
£11.6 million |
5% |
North East |
£5.4 million |
2% |
Wales |
£6.3 million |
3% |
Scotland |
£13.3 million |
6% |
Northern Ireland |
£4.2 million |
2% |
Source: Savills research
