Government expected to scale back energy bills help

[IconicKitty]

Statement expected from Jeremy Hunt shortly..:.

The energy price guarantee expected to end in 6 months in April rather than in 2 years

Is it over for Liz Truss?

I’m not a Tory - he’s announced that support is only guaranteed till April then there will be a review. This actually seems quite sensible to me

It should never have been two years as it just encourages excessive consumption. Hopefully he will announce investment in green options like solar and ground source heat pumps.
We invested in solar and even today in the overcast north our bill is currently 14p and the battery is charging.

I thought they plan to offer it till april for everyone then review it. I dont think 2 years was realistic.

Good . It wasn't sustainable.

It's to be reviewed on 6 months, not necessarily ended. A review in 6 months is a good thing tbh, get people through the worst of the weather and then see the state of play.

Tg for all the reversals

That’s not an option for millions. I agree it needs to happen. But even with grants, my landlords not going to out anything in that costs them but saves me.
it should be mandatory on all new builds and anything that needs planning.

the 2 years gave people a little bit of peace of mind. You’re still paying for usage (despite liz truss’s best efforts at confusing people), so over consumption should still be in check for the majority. Bills are still higher than last year. Combined with higher mortgages, rent, food. People weren’t going to be frivolous with the heating.

Hopefully they will use the six months to develop a mechanism to support the most vulnerable with energy costs. I certainly don't think the most comfortable people in society should be shielded from energy prices and disincentivised from making energy efficiencies in their own homes.

I think it's a good move. I wonder when Hunt will peel off his skin and Rishi will step out?

We've had a letter today raising our DD to £700 per month. This is apparently based on actual usage. We can afford it but if this goes up in 6 months we literally won't be able to heat our house over the winter. I am scared.

For many of us, any benefits of energy price guarantee and tax cuts were dwarfed by potential increases in mortgage costs so I welcome this today. As always it feels like it's pretty much swings and roundabouts doesn't it.

Right? I can turn the heating down, wear a jumper and limit the amount of electricity down more effectively than I can get Bailey cool his boots with base rate inflation next year.

How on earth can it be £700? Do you live in a mansion?

Frankly, the only reason I can have a hot bath this winter is down to the government £400 help this winter. I use 8kw a day on average of electricity and I am electricity only. And no central heating has gone on at all yet - not so much as 10 minutes. Nor will it. So if the rate goes up again in April - I guess I won’t be able to afford hot water.

I know it’ll be summer but winter will follow! I also know it’s not the job of the govt to fix all our problems but I don’t want to have to flog my soft furnishings to pay bills with no end in sight.

6 months is the right timescale. Urgent action is needed in the short term to stop massive problems this winter. But throwing taxpayers' money at everyone isn't sustainable in the long term. They either need to limit it to those who can't afford it (i.e. means tested or more targetted beneficiaries), or they need to find ways to "encourage" suppliers to reduce their profits/charges. A promise of support for all for 2 years means no one would bother reducing their consumption and supply firms would just keep their prices high (because people can afford to pay) and increase their profits.

Mortgage rates have a knock on effect on renters too. So really the people who 100% stood to benefit from energy bill help, who perhaps won't continue to benefit from it post-April was those who own their homes outright and have savings that they were looking forward to getting extra interest on. But even they probably have investments that were suffering. So many variables but for the vast majority, because of the knock on impact of the cuts, i can't see how this is anything but positive across the board.

I am desperate not to like Jeremy Hunt though.

I am desperate not to like Jeremy Hunt though

Just concentrate on his face and Mr Bean mannerisms...that should see you through 😁

Maybe this is the start of only means tested benefits,perhaps taxpayers cannot be expected to keep on supporting everyone.

I can't imagine it encourages excessive consumption for anyone except the very rich.

Forecast based on usage over the last 12 months - and we cut down a LOT last winter - is that we'll use an average of £170/mth, works out at £2040 a year, a lot below the average use of £2,500 despite us being in a three bed semi.

Not sure how we could cut back much further - last winter we rarely had the heating on for more than three hours a day, it was usually two, and when it was on the thermostat is set to 18. We've cut back on showers. We have a gas cooker, so cheaper than electric and usually only cook in the evening unless it's microwaving leftovers.

We are having a new boiler fitted, a combi - the old one was costing £10 a month just on the pilot light through the summer and I didn't dare turn it off for months in case it didn't come back on, and I also didn't dare turn on the immersion heater because of the cost so no hot water. We can't afford a heat pump, and as I understand it would probably need to replace all the double glazing for it to benefit us which we also can't afford.

No. We live in a five bed semi. It is a Victorian property. We also have an electric car. We have the maximum amount of solar. We have insulated. We have double glazed upstairs but we can't afford to do downstairs - we were intending to do it this winter but the price has gone up by £7000 and we simply can't afford it anymore. Our house is cold. Even based on that usage it wasn't like we were warm last year. It's around 15 degrees inside at the moment so we're just wearing coats indoors for as long as we can (both WFH).

If you think of a household income at which you’d just run energy it’s pretty high up the population scale. So maybe top 1 to 5 percent - not sure exactly - would be letting it run but many will already be cutting back to what they need

Oh for fucks sake. I'm sick of this now. My DD amount has been changed 3 times in the last month alone. I've been moved from a fixed to variable because it was the cheapest option with the government help and now its going to change again.

We are fortunate enough to be able to afford increased prices but I cannot stand all this piss ballsing about that means I cannot plan and budget. I will just need to not spend any money ever out of fear of what my bills will be come April!

You can't trust a word this shitshow of a government says.

And what about everyone else in between? The country is not divided into the most vulnerable and the most comfortable.

Im not vulnerable but am extremely far from comfortable. Im struggling as it is. I am scared.

I think the rising base rate was the greater issue to those wedged in-between. The increase in mortgage and rental costs was the real sucker punch down the line.