FAMILIES in Northern Ireland have lower disposable incomes than anywhere else in the UK according to official figures.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found each person had around £14,645 available to spend in 2014.
The figure is what is left over after making property payments such as mortgages or rent, and paying insurance policies.
But the report places disposable income in the north well below the UK average of £17,965.
Unsurprisingly, London had the highest gross disposable household income at £23,607 per person.
Northern Ireland's figure was 0.3 per cent down on the previous year.
The ONS also released data at a more local level and found the west and south of Northern Ireland to be sixth worst off area with disposable income at £13,350.
However, a separate report, also published yesterday, found the cost of running a home in the north was among the lowest in the UK.
And insurance company insurance company More Th>n said owning and running a home is cheaper than renting for 83 per cent of residents in Northern Ireland.
The survey found that for one-third of properties, the total cost of bill exceed mortgage payment by 25 per cent.
Unlike other parts of the UK, mortgages in the north were cheaper than renting across apartments, bungalows and semi-detached dwellings.
The Cost of Running a Home report said for all property sizes in Northern Ireland, the cost of running the home is more than half of the average monthly pay for 3 per cent of families.
It said the cheapest options were for a three-bed semi in Omagh – rent and bills at £922.53 per month against £1,011.19 for the same mortgaged home.
Meanwhile, despite falling over the past quarter, mortgage lending has taken a huge upturn in the past year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
Home owners borrowed £340 million for house purchases over the first three months of the year - up 26 per cent on the same period in 2015.
First-time buyers borrowed £160m (up 14 per cent year on year) while home movers borrowed £180m (up 29 per cent).
Remortgage activity totalled £170m, which was up 6 per cent over the year.
CML Northern Ireland chairman Derek Wilson said it was "the best performing first quarter of the year in Northern Ireland for house purchase lending since 2007, and remortgage levels have also stayed at a consistent level the past few quarters.
"As with the rest of the UK, we are forecasting a gradual upward trend in lending in 2016 and 2017."
