Households spent about £600 a month on costs associated with their property in 2006, £50 more than in 2005.

Mortgage costs, maintenance and repairs, insurance, moving costs, council tax and DIY all cost the average household £143 a week in 2006, figures released this morning by the Office for National Statistics show. In 2005, the weekly total was £127.

The ONS says the average mortgage cost was £52 a week, while council tax, water charges and other local taxes cost £24 and housing alterations and improvements cost £23. The average weekly rental bill was £17, after rebates and benefits were deducted.

Housing costs now account for the biggest expediture in each household, eating up 19 per cent of the average household income. In 1957, when the ONS's Family Spending survey began, just 9 per cent of household income was spent on housing costs.

Despite the spiralling cost of fuel, each household spends only 3 per cent of their income on energy costs, down from 6 per cent in 1957, when coal was the biggest single fuel item bought.

A decline in the number of smokers also prompted the average weekly spend on tobacco to fall from 6 per cent in 1957 to just 1 per cent in 2006, but the proportion of weekly income spent on alcohol has remained unchanged compared to 50 years ago. The average household spends 3 per cent of income on alcohol.

But the increase in the number of gas-guzzling cars and the rising popularity of foreign holidays means that the average houshold now spends double the amoung on motorinng and travel costs at 16 per cent.