“Lay out 500 euros a month”: residents of Europe showed utility bills

Of course, the payment systems for housing and communal services in different European countries differ from each other, as well as from Russia. Because even in our country, the amount of payments may differ significantly, depending on the place of residence (city or countryside), type of housing (elite class or economy), additional services, etc.

But in the main, all utility payment systems are similar. Owners of European housing, as well as Russian ones, pay for heating, electricity and water supply, and additional payments may be garbage collection, cleaning the entrance. In some states, citizens pay for TV (separate payment), not counting payments for the Internet or landline phone.

Somewhere the payment terms differ – you can pay bills within a month after the reporting one, and somewhere in Europe it is customary to pay in advance for the quarter immediately. In addition, everywhere there are categories of beneficiaries who either receive subsidies from the state to pay for housing and communal services, or they have lower tariffs.

It is very difficult to compare in absolute terms (in terms of expenses, in rubles or in dollars and euros), because the level of salaries in countries is different, says Ivan Samoylenko, managing partner of the B&C Agency communications agency. It makes sense to estimate the share of expenditures on housing and communal services in different states (taking into account the average income level of the population). And these will only be calculations for the summer of 2022, since, as you know, electricity tariffs in Europe have recently increased significantly (as, indeed, in Russia, where tariffs have been indexed by 9% since December 2022).

According to Samoylenko, the “cheapest” countries in Europe in terms of paying for housing and communal services are Finland, Norway and Ireland, where the share of expenses on housing and communal services bills from the average income of a citizen is 3.1-4.4%.

Followed by: Spain (6.1%), UK (6.6%), Hungary (10.2%), Czech Republic (11.7%), Bulgaria (12.5%), Poland (13.7%) , Estonia (15.2%).

In the leading economies of Europe (Germany, France, Italy), people on average spend about 10-12% of their income on utility bills.

In Russia, in 2022, with an average salary (according to Rosstat) of 57,244 rubles, citizens on average spend 14% of their income on utility bills.

“Of course, everything is different, depending on the region – in the largest cities, where there are many wealthy residents, people can spend 5% of their income on a “communal apartment”, and in rural areas, where salaries are often at the level of the minimum wage (15-16 thousand rubles per month) – it will be up to half of the income, ”says the expert.

Vienna: utilities pay as much as rent

In Austria, the apartment bill consists of the apartment fee and the cost of operating expenses (maintenance) of the apartment or house. These same operating expenses include: elevator fees, garbage collection, water fees, chimney cleaning, etc.

The tenant directly contracts with the energy company and the Internet provider, the cost of their services depends on the area. Including the condition of the house. For example, in a new building, energy-saving technologies are used and the payment for heat is the lowest (heating, as a rule, is produced by underfloor heating), says Evgeny Valishin, a resident of Vienna.

According to him, most Austrians save money by constantly changing providers (service providers), as well as changing gas and electricity tariffs.

In 2022, there were a number of changes for the worse and the heating bill increased sharply. “The problem is that the cost of electricity has skyrocketed. If earlier for 1 kWh the payment in Vienna, for example, was 15 euro cents, now it has increased to 24. Consider that we now pay 70 percent more on this article, ”our interlocutor emphasizes.

According to him, there is a real monopoly on energy resources in the city, from which even the presence of more than 100 providers does not save. In fact, the main and only supplier of resources is Wiener Energi, an energy company associated with the municipality. And all other “alternative” suppliers offer “green energy” services, which is extremely expensive and unreliable.

“Wiener Energi annually recalculates our payments, and if earlier, in good times, residents often received a refund, this fall, most of them received additional bills for more than 400 euros,” says Evgeny.

At our request, he made a calculation of the monthly costs of housing and communal services in Vienna for an apartment in a new building with an area of ​​52 square meters. So: rent – 500 euros; maintenance fee – 90 euros; electricity fee – 80 euros; gas price – 90 euros; heating cost – 200 euros (when heating with energy-saving floors and electricity, bills for old houses can be one and a half to two times higher); the cost of water – 43 euros (1.2 euros per cubic meter, 12 “cubes” per person per month, an average of 3 people in a household); garbage collection – 5 euros.

Total (without renting an apartment) – about 508 euros is the average monthly payment for housing and communal services in Vienna. And this despite the fact that this calculation does not include checking the gas boiler and home insurance.

“There is reason to believe that the cost of housing and communal services will continue to grow in 2023. True, the authorities practice social payments to people in order to mitigate the sharp increase in housing and communal services tariffs for them. So, in September, the so-called “Climate and Energy Bonus” (received by everyone who lives in Austria for at least 183 days a year) in the amount of 500 euros was paid and 200 euros are currently being paid to support households affected by the rise in prices electricity,” says Valishin.

Estonia: paying for “communal” – a separate puzzle

Basically, all the houses in the capital of Estonia have been switched to self-service for 20 years now, and there is no single system for paying housing and communal services, says Irina Grudkina, a resident of Tallinn.

Each house – and sometimes two or even three houses are agreed upon – organizes an apartment association, since all apartments have owners (not counting the relatively small number of houses that are municipal). There is a board elected at the general meeting, a charter, and each partnership concludes agreements on garbage collection, as well as with heating systems and water supply. Each partnership decides for itself how to manage its economy. There are those who have entered into a separate contract for electricity, so the payment for electricity is not included in the payment sheet.

“In our partnership, we pay for everything except electricity (for which the fee is individual for each owner), says Irina. — It turns out that last month we paid 164 euros plus 20 for electricity. Electricity is a separate puzzle, especially in 2022: the price soared from 40 to 65 euros, then returned to normal 20-23 euros per month.”

If we talk specifically about electricity, each owner can conclude a direct contract with a supplier company. “In our case, this is Eesti energia. Our house does not need to check the readings itself. They charge us an average amount, and at the end of each year there is a recalculation (that is, the company looks at consumption for the past year, calculates the indicator and says who owes whom and how much),” says a resident of Tallinn.

Water consumption is different for everyone, depending on the number of people in the family. There are only two of us and a dog. On average, it takes four cubes of water (cold and hot together).

“Heating is the most expensive. And it does not depend on the geopolitical situation. It has always increased,” says a resident of Tallinn. – As a result, for example, my daughter’s family (3 people, including a 9-month-old baby) pays 260 euros for an apartment along with electricity. In the summer they get 100-120 euros less. I have 80-100 euros less in the summer (four-room apartment, 75 square meters)”.

Irina could not tell about some tricky ways to save money, since she never used them. According to her, the only thing you can save on is water, since you can wash at work. You won’t be able to save money on other expenses. All calculations are made based on square meters, but you can’t reduce them.

If we talk about the private sector in Estonia, then each house is heated differently there: someone on wood, someone through earth heating, someone on electricity, so everyone has different costs.

“The most budgetary services in the rent are the general light and the general water, which is spent on cleaning the entrances. If you look at the costs of the payment from top to bottom, then the third “cheapest” position is an elevator, the fourth is garbage disposal, the penultimate one is a common corridor access light, ”Irina told MK.

Cyprus: electricity has risen in price by 40%

Andrey, a resident of Cyprus, rents a house in Limassol. According to him, the final bill for housing and communal services in Cyprus consists of the same items as in other countries.

“You, as a representative of the household, have separate contracts with utilities, in my case these are: water, electricity, garbage disposal, housekeeping – maintenance of common equipment in the house (elevator, light bulbs, light in the front door),” says Andrey.

According to him, the tenant pays for water (once every 4 months), electricity (once every 2 months), Internet (every month) and garbage (once a year). The rest is mainly taken over by the landlord (landlord), who includes the corresponding costs in my rent.

“It is difficult to say exactly how the cost of different services has changed. I don’t follow. But electricity has grown in price by 40% over the year – the most significant rise in price, he continues. — Electricity is the most expensive service. At the moment, 1 kWh costs 0.37 euros, including all additional payments. The cheapest consumable is water. I spend about 30 euros a month on it.”

According to Andrei, a family of 3 people (2 adults and 1 child) spends an average of about 250 euros per month on housing and communal services, while not denying themselves water and electricity.

“Consume less water and electricity – you will pay less (through optimization of house systems or reduction in consumption), Andrey shares his savings experience. “This year, against the backdrop of a general increase in tariffs, some social discounts from the city were applied, which can reduce the price of a communal apartment by about 30%.”

Russian Savings Recipes for Europe

With all the difference in income and the cost of utilities (in Europe, tariffs in monetary terms are higher than in Russia), almost everyone is concerned about ways to save on these mandatory payments. And options for how to save on housing and communal services are also similar in all countries.

It is practically impossible to save on gas – this raw material not only gives heat in the house, but also provides hot water (in rooms with installed gas water heaters). You can save money if you turn off the column at night so that the wick does not even burn, which, as a rule, no one needs at night. In private houses where there is gas heating, the installation of a modern boiler with a pump will help to save a lot of money, which ensures more uniform heating of the batteries (which means that you won’t need to turn on the boiler more strongly in cold weather). To reduce heat loss, you can insulate windows, install plastic ones, and eliminate heat loss through doors (additional insulation). In Europe, people who have a fireplace in the house are now in an advantageous position, and in Russia wood-burning stoves are still often used.

Saving on water in apartments is the installation of a dishwasher, faucets with normalized consumption (they are designed to ensure that water flows for a certain time, and then turns off automatically). These devices have been popular in Europe for a long time, but now they are also used in Russia. In villages in our country, they save on water by using natural opportunities in the summer: collecting rainwater for watering plants, for example. Because in rural areas people pay for water at an increased rate in the summer (the price includes the so-called “irrigation” – the calculation of water consumption for irrigating a land plot).

You can save on electricity in a more diverse way: use energy-saving light bulbs, spotlights instead of the usual chandeliers, etc. You can turn off energy-intensive appliances and use cheaper alternatives (instead of an electric kettle – a regular one on the stove, instead of a coffee maker – a Turk, etc.).

Our communication with residents of European cities showed that against the backdrop of a sharp increase in housing and communal services, they are increasingly using cost-saving methods that were previously practiced, it would seem, only in the Russian outback. For example, switching to wood-burning stoves or harvesting rainwater to water plants. According to our interlocutors, you can save up to 20% per month on costs in this way.