True cost of owning a car

According to recent data analysis by Moneybarn, people living in East Anglia are feeling the biggest pinch when it comes to the cost of car ownership, spending 24% of their monthly salaries (£437) on their motors. The average monthly salary is £1,800, the lowest of all the UK regions analysed.

Interestingly, while people in East Anglia are paying more to own a car than in any other region, the government spend on road infrastructure in the region is £274 a year per car. This is much lower than in the North East (£408 per car) and London (£402 per car), which could be one of the factors influencing motoring costs in the area.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom as East Anglia residents enjoy cheaper parking, spending £80.72 on average for a monthly ticket. This is much cheaper when compared to London where the average monthly parking charge is £238.86. The least expensive region for parking is the North East, costing on average £74.65 a month.

Surprisingly, London tops the charts as the cheapest place to own a car when taking average salaries into account. Londoners spend 20.5% of their monthly earnings on their motors, which means from the average take-home pay of £2,908, they spend £595 on their car.

Other regions where car ownership is less costly include the North East (£431), South West (£470), West Midlands (£454) and Scotland (£453), where residents spend 21.5% of their monthly earnings on their cars.

The cost of car ownership may seem high in the UK, but when inflation is considered the cost has actually gone down over the past decade. It is now £23.60 cheaper on average per month to own a car compared with previous years.