Will energy bills make bigger houses less attractive?

[hypaingea]

I grew up in a big house & my parents are talking about downsizing as the energy bills are going through the roof (it's quite an efficient house just large).
Just picked up my dc from the inlaws & they are saying similar & some of my older colleagues at work have been saying similar this week.
We are looking to move (have sold) & are looking for more space but rising bills are scaring me so I'm deliberately looking for smaller, cheaper houses as I'm worried re the future. Are energy bills going to stay high? If so will large houses be less popular?

My combined gas/electric DDM has gone up to over £440 a month this week. That's an awful lot of money.

Houses are going to have to be pretty special to factor that in.

That's shocking

I dont know really. We live in a large 3 bed house with 2 full bathrooms and a loft conversion (used as a playroom/study). It's a pretty big house, we still pay (and I constantly monitor) £125 per month for gas and electric. It was previously £75 per month. A manageable increase. I guess the only thing we do is use the log burner a lot when it's cold and keep the heating around 18 degrees.

Yes, I have noticed how many large houses are coming onto RM, very relieved, that we downsized last year.

I dunno about large houses being impacted, but I think it's possible the fashion for open plan might become less prevalent.

I suppose if you’re able to, turning off radiators in rooms that are used less, might help.

Ours are about £150 now but there's another increase in Oct & I've read they are going to be high for some time.

Yes, I have noticed how many large houses are coming onto RM, very relieved, that we downsized last year.

My dad did say they should do it asap before there is too much competition!

The people who can afford really big houses, aren't going to be so impacted by high energy bills. They'll just stick a 2nd or 3rd log burner in & stick a solar panel on the roof. This is already happening where I am.

Well poorly insulated, inefficiently heated houses are likely to become un-mortgageable if you read between the lines of the Heat and Buildings Strategy published last autumn, so the current high energy prices will simply accelerate what was already going to happen.

Depends on the price of the house. A large house in a cheaper area might be harder to sell but in an expensive area where the house cost £800k plus the prospective buys are probably not going to be to worried about the extra energy bills as they must be pretty well off to be buying there anyway.

Yes but in my area of London at least many big houses are owned by older people who are asset rich but cash poor. Many rely on downsizing to fund retirement.

We've just gone for a smaller house partly for this reason. But also less space means I keep less stuff that I don't need. So then I don't buy as much. The garden was a bigger priority and as its a bungalow my family member with a disability can actually visit!

Really depends on the house, we have a 3/4 bed house (the 4th is our study) and bills are £115 a month (up from £98) but it new, excellent insulation, triple glazed rated a for efficiency

@HardyBuckette

I dunno about large houses being impacted, but I think it's possible the fashion for open plan might become less prevalent.

I’ve had a few conversations where open plan has been identified as less desirable after lockdowns, particularly when there’s no other room to retreat to downstairs. I’d be happier with less massive kitchens/living rooms personally.

I do think that new builds are going to appeal to more people purely because of their insulation properties and having modern boilers etc. Its going to be a bigger issue to take on a house with a relatively inefficient boiler and associated higher bills if people are already stretched.

Really depends on the house, we have a 3/4 bed house (the 4th is our study) and bills are £115 a month (up from £98) but it new, excellent insulation, triple glazed rated a for efficiency

I expect newer more efficient houses will become much more popular.

@Umbellypico

The people who can afford really big houses, aren't going to be so impacted by high energy bills. They'll just stick a 2nd or 3rd log burner in & stick a solar panel on the roof. This is already happening where I am.

Not necessarily. Classic case in point would be the asset rich cash poor older people still in the family house, especially sole occupiers.

Even when mortgage free, they could be facing 30-50% of their income going on council tax and utilities alone, with the increases taking a big chunk of their disposable income.

Many might look to downsize, but its a big move if there isn't a lot of choice of smaller properties in areas that suit them.

My DM for example. Widow with around £1000 pm income, lives in a 4 bed semi, lots of friends in local area, lives on a good bus route to two cities (quite rare in this area) so she can get around easily), if she moved to a bungalow, it wouldn't be much cheaper, so wouldn't free up a huge amount of money, but might be cheaper to run, but on the downside, she might have to move away from the neighbours she's friendly with and get rid of a lot of 50 years of clutter possessions.

We have a large, detached 4 bed and we've fixed our combined gas and electricity at £160 a month, which I understand is pretty decent at the moment. Our house is a characterless 80s build, but very efficient.
I think character properties may decrease in favour, rather than it just being about size.

Our gas and electric has gone up from £300 a month to £800.

It wouldn't make a difference to me, though it may to some. I think older homes give you more options and feel more solid and safe. Even new builds need new windows etc after a bit and there are usually options for adding insulation etc. I used to like new builds, but some of those I've seen recently seem a bit flimsy and I wonder how well they will age. Also, some newbuilds seem over insulated as I know several people who need air con and fans etc to get the house to a comfortable temperature when we do have warmer weather, though that is less often! Our house isn't large, but is enough for us. I think if we needed more space we would still go for it, we'd just try and ensure efficiencies where possible.

Agree it’ll be older houses not necessarily big houses which will be affected. Looking at righmove at two bed terraces and lots say that due to their energy efficiency they can’t be rented in the current state. So now not wanted by BTL landlords. As will need money spending on insulation and then possible damp issues.

I think it’ll affect prices which maybe isn’t a bad thing

@Otherpeoplesteens sorry I'm just bring lazy and asking you! We're about to get our old windows replaced. Can you see that triple glazed will be the norm rather than double glazed?

Larger houses will continue to be desirable to large families, lots of kids or multi generations.
The hikes in prices put me off going for an old house. We rented a 2 bed terrace 16 years ago and it was not much cheaper for utilities then than our 3 bed semi is now (only 15 year old).

It's depends on the energy efficiency of your house and what 'free heating' you get from the sun. Ours is a large house but grade A energy efficient, south facing and gets lots of heat from the sun all year round. It's a new house - and by far and away cheaper to run than my smaller 'period' properties.