When you own your own home, you are faced with financing maintenance costs as well as repaying the mortgage. Unlike in apartment blocks, where the individual owners pay into a renovation fund, you need to put aside some savings to cover the upkeep on a house. It is a good idea not only to budget for regular expenses at an early stage but also to plan in an amount to cover unexpected costs.

Upkeep costs averaging 1 - 1.5% of the building insurance value can be expected, if you want to retain the value of your property. This amount should be enough to finance smaller repairs as well as the occasional large-scale renovations that arise.