Bills rocket twice as fast as wages over past decade

Basic household bills have increased by an average of 43 per cent in the last decade '“ more than double the rate of wage growth, a report has claimed.

Bills are going up far faster than wages or inflation

Bills for council tax, TV, phone, broadband, gas, water and electricity have increased by an average of 10 percentage points more than inflation over the past 10 years, according to figures analysed by Santander.

The report found that gas and electricity are the biggest drivers of price increases, rising 73 per cent and 72 per cent respectively in the last decade, while water bills have increased by 41 per cent – all significantly higher than inflation at 32 per cent. Council Tax has risen by 27 per cent and TV, phone and broadband prices have all risen by 24 per cent, albeit slower than inflation but still faster than wage growth of 19 per cent.

In Scotland, bills account for 12.9 per cent of household income, just slightly below the UK average of 13.3 per cent. Scots spend an average of £504,796 on bills over a lifetime.

UK-wide, over the course of their lives, people will fork out an average £524,464 on bills, with those in London set to spend the most at £601,638, closely followed by people in the South East, where residents have to pay around £580,566.

Matt Hall, head of banking and unsecured credit at Santander, said: “Households have been hit hard as the cost of bills and other goods continue to rise. With increased prices across a variety of key household items, families will be looking for ways to make their money go further.”

He added: “There are a number of things people can do to reduce the cost of their household bills. From installing home energy monitors to analysing their energy usage or changing their electricity supplier or mobile provider, people can save a small fortune.”

Norman Kerr, director of Energy Action Scotland, said people worried about their energy bills should switch supplier.

He said: “Ten years ago energy prices were at a low and now they are outstripping inflation. Gas and electricity are regulated fuels and it is important that regulation works to protect consumers.

"The current level of energy prices underlines the need for the Scottish Government to redouble its efforts to make homes more energy efficient and to support people who live on very low incomes.”