Mortgage repayments drive the TUC's £13,961 household bills figure
TUC analysis of official figures says UK households have paid an extra £13,961 on bills since 2021, or £2,792 a year. Almost two-thirds of it is mortgage cost, so the figure measures borrowers more closely than it measures households in general.
The Board Room · Leadership desk
Key figures from TUC analysis: households with mortgages paid on average £9,034 extra in repayments since 2021; households paid £2,644 extra on electricity and gas; households with loans paid £1,911 extra.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extra repayments, households with mortgages | £9,034 since 2021 | 3 | |
| Extra electricity and gas | £2,644 since 2021 | 5 | |
| Loan holders, extra paid | £1,911 since 2021 | 4 |
What happened
- In the breakdown, mortgage holders paid £9,034 extra, loan holders £1,911, and households £2,644 more on electricity and gas and £372 more on water.
- Chancellor John Healey pledged to give households "breathing space" in his 28 October budget, and warned that the government has limited resources.
- Business lobby the CBI asked for a cut in employer national insurance contributions, lower business electricity costs and changes to business rates.
- On the TUC's own list are a social energy tariff, help for poorer households and young people, and higher taxes on banks and capital gains.
Why it matters
- constraint The IPPR estimates fiscal headroom has shrunk by £7bn to £15bn since spring, so household relief and the CBI's business asks would draw on a smaller pot.
- exposure Renters sit outside the TUC's £13,961 total, yet the Guardian reports rents rising faster than mortgages, which suggests mortgage costs are passing through to them.
- decision A business setting first-quarter volume or price assumptions has to commit before it knows whether the 28 October budget contains any energy-bill support.
The £13,961 is a sum of four lines, and the lines are uneven. The components the Guardian reports add to exactly the headline figure [15]. Mortgage repayments are 64.7% of it, and electricity and gas are 18.9% [16][17].
Two of those lines are averages for a subset of households. The mortgage figure covers households with a mortgage, and the loan figure covers households with loans, according to the TUC analysis as the Guardian described it [3][4]. The total therefore describes a household that holds both a mortgage and a loan. Electricity, gas and water together come to £3,016 over the period [18]. The mortgage and loan lines are what lift the total far above that.
The spending claim belongs to the TUC, and so does the explanation for it. Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, said: "Eye-watering bill rises have hammered household budgets, squeezing consumer spending." [10] The Guardian adds that spending is still behind pre-pandemic levels, after a period of broadly flat growth in household disposable incomes since the 2008 financial crisis [13]. That pressure is older than the 2021 bill rises. The Guardian's account did not include the growth rates behind the G7 ranking.
The budget has little room to respond. The Guardian reported that the Treasury is preparing a "tightly focused" budget to limit the potential for a market backlash from large tax and spending measures [8]. This week the IMF urged Chancellor John Healey to "stay the course" on cutting the deficit as borrowing costs rise in global financial markets [9]. In our view, help large enough to lift household spending is the kind of large measure the Treasury is trying to avoid.
We'd expect narrow help at most. The first-quarter cost step arrives whichever way the budget lands: the Guardian cites predictions, without naming their source, that typical consumer energy bills could reach £2,000 a year from January [19].
What to watch
- Whether the 28 October budget contains any energy-bill measure, such as the social tariff the TUC wants or the £2,000 cap the IPPR proposes, ahead of the January bills.
- Whether Healey takes up any of the CBI's business asks, such as the employer national insurance cut, given the narrower headroom the IPPR describes.
- The growth rates behind the TUC's G7 consumer spending ranking, which would show how far the claim holds.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives75
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
According to TUC analysis of official figures, UK households have paid an additional £13,961 on bills on average since 2021, an extra £2,792 a year.
- [2]
The TUC said the UK had recorded the weakest growth in consumer spending in the G7 since before the pandemic.
- [3]
Households with mortgages had spent on average £9,034 extra on repayments since 2021 (£1,806 extra a year).
- [4]
Households with loans had paid £1,911 extra in total since 2021 (£382 extra a year).
- [5]
Households had spent on average £2,644 extra on electricity and gas bills since 2021 (£529 extra a year).
- [6]
Households had spent on average £372 extra on water bills since 2021 (£74 extra a year).
- [7]
In his speech at Labour's conference, Healey pledged to use his 28 October budget to give households 'breathing space', but warned that the government had limited resources to soften the global economic shock hitting Britain.
- [8]
The Treasury has been preparing for a 'tightly focused' budget to limit the potential for a market backlash provoked by large tax and spending measures.
- [9]
The International Monetary Fund this week urged Healey to 'stay the course' to cut the budget deficit amid rising borrowing costs in global financial markets.
- [10]
Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, said: "Eye-watering bill rises have hammered household budgets, squeezing consumer spending."
- [11]
The IPPR said headroom against the chancellor's fiscal rule was likely to have shrunk by between £7bn and £15bn since the spring amid the impact of the Middle East war on government finances.
- [12]
The Confederation of British Industry said Healey should listen to calls for a cut in employer national insurance contributions, and also called for cuts to business electricity costs and changes to business rates.
- [13]
Growth figures show consumer spending remains behind pre-pandemic levels, after a period of broadly flatlining growth in household disposable incomes since the 2008 financial crisis.
- [14]
The TUC said Healey should launch a social energy tariff and help poorer households and young people with rising living costs, and called for a rise in capital gains tax and higher taxes on banks.
- [15]
The four reported components add to the headline figure: 9,034 + 1,911 + 2,644 + 372 = 13,961.
- [16]
Mortgage repayments are about 64.7% of the £13,961 headline figure.
- [17]
Electricity and gas are about 18.9% of the £13,961 headline figure.
- [18]
Electricity, gas and water together come to £3,016 over the period.
- [19]
The chancellor is under growing pressure to act before winter amid predictions that consumer energy bills could reach £2,000 a year from January for the typical household.
- [20]
Average rental costs have risen at a higher rate than mortgages, suggesting mortgage costs are being passed on to renters.
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Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- theguardian.comUK households have paid extra £13,961 on bills since 2021 amid soaring inflation, TUC says
1 article · October 14, 2026
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