Mortgage payments, energy costs, council tax, home insurance, water charges… it can seem like the list of bills for your property is never-ending.
Here’s our rundown of all the costs you need to consider, and some ideas on how to reduce them.
Water bills
According to Water UK, the national average water and sewage bill for 2025/26 is forecast to be £603. That's a rise of £123, or 26%.
Unlike utility suppliers for gas and electricity, your water supplier is fixed for your location and can’t be changed.
Your water bill will be worked out in one of three ways:
Metered. You’ll receive a bill based on how much water, and waste water, you use.
Assessed. If you don’t have a water meter, your usage could be assessed based on the size of your home and the people living in it.
Unmetered. Some people may be billed based only on the size of the property.
Depending on how much water you use, switching to a meter could save you money. Check out the Consumer Council for Water’s water meter calculator to see if you could benefit from switching.
Mortgage costs
Your mortgage is likely to be your biggest monthly outgoing. If you haven’t reviewed yours for several years and you’re currently on your lender’s standard variable rate, you might want to see if you could cut costs by remortgaging. For example, based on a typical £150,000 25-year repayment mortgage, monthly payments would cost you £1,013 on the average standard variable rate of 6.50%.
If you remortgaged to a fixed rate deal over two or five years, you could save money by moving to a lower interest rate.
Council tax bills
From April 2026, most councils in England will increase council tax by up to 5% in line with government rules. For a typical Band D property, 5% roughly equates to £20 a year.
However, a small number of councils that are facing severe financial pressures have been granted permission to raise bills further, which could put even more pressure on household bills.
Final figures for the 2026/27 tax year will be published in March, but similar increases to last year are expected.
Students and those living alone may be eligible for a discount, and it’s possible your home may be in the wrong council tax band. Check the gov.uk website to find out how much you should be paying.
Insurance premiums
Buildings and contents insurance is essential if you want financial protection should anything happen to your property or possessions.
You can usually reduce costs by paying up-front, if you can afford to, rather than monthly. You may also want to think about increasing your excess – the portion of any insurance claim you must pay yourself. This will lower the cost of your insurance, but remember that the cost to you will be higher if you make a claim.
You should also shop around and get quotes from several insurance providers at renewal, so you can be sure your cover is still competitive.
Energy bills
The best energy tariff for you will depend on where you live and how much energy you use, so it’s worth regularly checking you’re on the best possible deal.
Ofgem sets the maximum price that energy suppliers are allowed to charge households in England, Scotland and Wales. If it reduces the energy price cap again for 2026, the average annual bill should fall by £117 this year (to £1,641) for a typical household.
You can also reduce your bills by making sure you're as energy efficient as you can be. For example, according to the Energy Saving Trust, if you take shorter showers, you could save yourself some money. If you limit your daily shower to four minutes, it can save your household £60 a year.
You can save roughly another £45 a year just by remembering to turn your appliances off standby mode, and around £7 a year by turning off lights when not using them.
Other household costs to consider
We can’t always do much to reduce the amount we spend on utility bills, but there are many other household costs to consider if you’re looking to cut spending. Here are some of the biggest culprits – could switching supplier or cutting back on the following help your bank balance?
TV licence
A colour TV licence costs £174.50 per year. It’s often seen as an essential bill, but if you don’t watch much telly these days, do you still need one?
Broadband and mobile
Are you still getting a good deal on your broadband or mobile phone contract? If you’ve taken your eye off the ball and drifted onto a standard tariff, it might be worth shopping around for a better deal.
Food and essentials
The weekly shop is one of our biggest outgoings. But how much food goes off before you get a chance to eat it? Meal planning ahead of the grocery shop is a great way to stick to your budget and avoid waste.
Home maintenance
Homeowners typically spend around 1% of their property’s value per year on maintenance and repairs. Starting a home maintenance savings account might seem unnecessary now, but putting a little away every month could save you having to fork out for unexpected maintenance bills further down the line.
Check out our tips on how to use simple fixes around your home to save even more on your household bills.
