Mortgage payments for UK households are now more affordable.  According to lender Halifax, in the last five years the average annual mortgage payment amount has dropped by more than 20%.  Falling interest rates have aided in lower monthly payments, along with lenders offering attractive deals.  The average monthly mortgage payment now stands at just more than 3,500 pounds.  This is a 950 pound drop since 2008, according to Halifax.

Martin Ellis, economist with Halifax, commented on the makeup of household costs, saying: "The typical costs of owning and running a home have again increased slightly over the past year, although this rise was below the general increase in the cost of living. Overall, the cost of owning a home has increased by 2% over the past five years, representing a significant decline in real terms. Lower mortgage payments have largely offset increases in other items of housing-related expenditure, such as the substantial rises in electricity and gas bills."

Keith Osborne, editor of whathouse.co.uk, commented on the impact of the base rate set by the Central Bank at 0.5% has meant to house owners.  He says: "The Bank of England base rate has now been at its record low of 0.5% for over four years and millions of households whose mortgage is on a tracker or standard variable rate have benefitted from this.”

Osborne added: "In addition, strong competition among lenders has pushed down the cost of borrowing for new buyers and people looking to remortgage. With a recent Bank of England survey suggesting that lenders expect mortgage rates to fall further in 2013, I expect to see mortgage payments as a share of total housing expenditure continue to reduce."