Property running cost comparison

[widge]

May forum members have commented on the high cost of restaurants, drinks & supermarket shopping.

Out of idle curiosity I compared the running costs of our (similar size) house in UK & Portugal this year, I have rounded the figures to allow for the exchange rate difference, bear in mind that the UK is occupied 52weeks & Portugal 26!

PORTUGAL UK
Water & Sewerage 3000 1400
Electricity 2500 1000
Gas 2000 1229
House Insurance 700 680
Telephone & Broadband 480 700
Gardener 3500 2000
Council tax 1100 2500

The fixed costs like tax & insurance favour Portugal but the variable are cheaper in UK despite being occupied for half the time!

Anybody else made this sort of comparison?

[Lesley Jean]

eeekkkk I haven't dared to do that, I will then see just how much money these houses are costing me, I might never sleep again......

[mcmuller]

watching your cost comparison i wonder if:
you run pool and garden-irrigation pumps in UK? -> electricity
you need to water your garden in the UK with the same amount of water? ->water costs
is your UK house as poor isolated as a usual Portuguese one? -> gas

I think comparing house-costs in different climate areas is difficult if not impossible at all.

just my 2 cents...

[steve]

An interesting exercise. I have found water and electricity costs to be higher here but do you winter in the Algarve, in which case the heating and gas bills might not be truly comparable ie UK figures would be lower than those under full time residency. Also are you on a water meter in the UK? There used to be a system based on the rates which could produce savings but I don't know if this still exists because when I left there was pressure for people to move to meters.
Rates (IMI) have traditionally been much cheaper here but they are rising substantially under the new system of valuation. I used to pay 400 euros a year on my old house based but after I sold it the revaluation produced a new figure of 1650 euros.

[steve]

Sorry I have just reread the original post and see that the UK house is occupied 52 weeks a year!

[rodstocker]

I think that you need to be very careful about comparing running costs either between UK and Portugal or between owners here in Portugal. I live here all year and have a 4 bedroom villa (with private pool and garden) but pay no where near the quoted figures. Some of my neighbours who only spend periods here spend a lot more than I do. It all depends. Different gardens will consume different amounts of water. Different heating systems will consume different amounts of gas and elctricity.

What is intersting, in my opinion, is the dramatic increase in the cost of living here in Portugal in the past 10 years. Certainly the grocery and essential (clothes) shopping bills (based on my wife's expereince when she occassionally goes to the UK and does some "food" shopping or clothes shopping) is now much higher here than in the UK. Ten years ago it was much cheaper here than the UK.

However, I do not know where I can eat in the UK for €7 a head including half a bottle of wine!!!!

[Bruce Wallis]

If we had Escondiniho you could!

[BIFA 2]

May I just say its Escondidinho

If we had Escondiniho you could!

[Bruce Wallis]

May I just say its Escondidinho

If we had Escondiniho you could!

You may....I run out of consonants!!

If you are the old B2...welcome back. How is big sister??

[pato]

However, I do not know where I can eat in the UK for €7 a head including half a bottle of wine!!!!

I do! I do! any of the pubs in the wirral, two, two course meals for £8.99, not bad hey!

[steve]

I have to say that when I went back to the UK for a few days last month I was surprised how much cheaper ASDA was than Continente for many items. I went with my granddaughter to a Harvester pub and had an excellent meal at low cost. A good quality main course with unlimited trips to a well stocked salad bar for 4.99 GBP plus reasonably priced drinks. I can see why visitors find CVO expensive.