Household Costs Mr. Laws To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the proportion of annual household costs accounted for by (a) housing costs, (b) utility costs and (c) food costs for households in each income decile. John Healey The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply. Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 12 December 2006: As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the latest estimate is of the proportion of household costs accounted for by (a) housing costs, (b) utility costs and (c) food costs for households in each income decile for the latest year for which information is available. (104945) Estimates of expenditure on housing, utilities and food, are based on the Expenditure and Food Survey (EPS), an annual survey of approximately 7,000 households in the UK. Further information on the EPS is available in the annual publication ‘Family Spending’ which can be found on the National Statistics website http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=361&Pos=1&ColRank=1&Rank=272. The table below shows average expenditure on housing, utilities and food expressed as a percentage of total expenditure, for households in each gross income decile for 2004-05. These figures have been taken from Table A8 of Family Spending. The main components of expenditure on housing are rent (less housing benefit), mortgage interest payments and council tax. Some types of housing costs are excluded from the definition of total household expenditure. House purchases, including through mortgage capital repayments, and expenditure on major house alterations and improvements are both excluded. These are generally irregular, involve large sums of money, and the purchase of assets which are not consumed, and for these reasons they are not regarded as current expenditure. Chapter 2 of ‘Family Spending’ focuses in particular on housing expenditure and provides fuller information on all housing costs, irrespective of whether they are regarded as current or capital expenditure. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |Percentage | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |decile group| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Lowest 10 per cent.|Second |Third|Fourth|Fifth|Sixth|Seventh|Eighth|Ninth| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Lower boundary of group (£ per week) |— |132 |205|281|375|472|579|709|885| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Food and non-alcoholic drinks |16 |16 |14|12|12|11|10|10|9| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Housing costs |15 |16 |16|19|18|18|18|18|18| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Rent2 |5 |5 |6|6|4|4|3|2|2| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Maintenance and repair of dwelling |2 |2 |1|2|2|2|2|2|2| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Household insurance3 |1 |1 |1|1|1|1|1|1|1| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Moving house |0 |1 |0|1|0|1|1|1|1| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Mortgage interest, Council Tax |6 |7 |8|9|10|11|12|12|12| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Utility costs |9 |8 |6|5|5|4|4|4|3| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Water supply and other services |3 |3 |2|2|1|1|1|1|1| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Electricity, gas and other fuels |5 |5 |4|4|3|3|3|3|2| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total expenditure, £ per week (= 100 per cent.)|147 |178 |249|313|373|436|490|568|665| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Highest 10 per cent.|All households| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Lower boundary of group (£ per week) |1,184 |— | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Food and non-alcoholic drinks |7 |10 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Housing costs |18 |18 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Rent2 |2 |3 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Maintenance and repair of dwelling |2 |2 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Household insurance3 |1 |1 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Moving house |1 |1 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Mortgage interest, Council Tax |12 |11 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Utility costs |3 |4 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Water supply and other services |1 |1 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Electricity, gas and other fuels |2 |3 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total expenditure, £ per week (= 100 per cent.) |926 |434 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1 Where components do not sum to totals, this is due to rounding.2 Rent paid on first and second dwellings and after housing benefits and rebates.3 Includes both structural and contents insurance.Source:Family Spending 2004-05, ONS| | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------