Do you think energy bills will impact demand for bigger homes?

[jellywobble22]

Just had my Gas & Electric come through for November and I am paying 50% more than I was last year even though I have been much more frugal with usage.

Do people think that the impact of higher energy bills will impact demand for bigger homes which naturally cost more to heat? Will this lead to people wanting to downsize (as opposed to upsizing we saw amidst C19 which led to detached house price growth outpacing semis / terraces)? Also will people put more emphasis on EPC ratings?

Does anyone remember the awful false ceilings put onto period properties in the 1970s? I assume to cut ceiling height and make the space easier to heat. They usually had polystyrene tiles. Let’s hope we don’t return to that!

I dont necessarily think its just about size. We moved from a 3 bed semi to a new 4 bed detached which is much much bigger. It is also much much more efficient. Heating bills are less comparatively with the smaller house.

I do think in future the efficiency value of a property should be part of the home survey and taken into account. No way would i want a house that costs the earth to heat (Underfloor heating, conservtories etc).

If houses were built to be insulated and pointing in the correct direction for sunlight, ground source heating and rain harvesting, solar power, triple glazing - all done on a mass scale to keep the extra cost down. Then the size of the house/home would not be impacted for those that need or want space.

People would pay £5k more for a new home that effectively had minimum bills of say £200 per year

It will probably depend on the insulation of the property and layout rather than the overall size. A 4 bed that is well insulated and has more but smaller rooms that can be heated individually will be cheaper to run than an old, poorly insulated 3 bed with an open plan design.

We have a 4 bed which isn't open plan , and it is currently only costing £200 per month in energy bills even with the price rises as we don't have to heat the whole downstairs at once. When we moved we consciously made the choice not to go for any open plan properties for this reason, they look nice but are impractical in current times.

I think that it is very unlikely anyone would downsize just because of higher fuel prices if they owned the house. If they were renting then yes I can see it as a possibility.

If you own the house you have to weigh up a saving on fuel by down sizing against paying stamp duty/solicitors fees/more cramped living conditions.

Personally I'd rather be colder/wrap up a lot over winter and live in a larger house with more space for everyone.

4 bed Victorian terrace (rented) in Edinburgh here.
Just got my £700 gas and elec bill for this month. We economised as much as possible, hardly had the heating on, took shorter showers and rationed the oven. I've just spent the month shivering.
Enough is enough.
I'm looking to buy asap and it will be a warm, modern, insulated property for me.

I can imagine it making EPC ratings more important but I don't think that it will otherwise affect the market, or not where I live anyway. The wealthy remain so/have a big enough cushion not to worry about it (2 children in DC's state school have been transferred to a private fee paying school this year for example which you wouldn't do if you're worried about heating!). So I don't think it will cause anyone to downsize, although it might cause a few (but by no means all) of those looking to upsize pause perhaps.

I feel for you Reindeer - that is a small fortune isn't it.

I'm 4 bed end of modern terrace, well insulated with double glazed sash windows, 9 ½ foot ceilings. I've been at home poorly for a month and am dreading my end of month meter reading/bill.

Absolutely yes. And a move away from open plan living, thank goodness.

I can't see how it won't. My in laws are looking to downsize as are many of friends. When we move in the future energy efficiency & size will be front of our minds.

I was thinking of moving post-covid, my parents suggested it wasn't a good time and to do some work on where I am now. I followed their advice and I'm glad I did, my little 2 bed flat only costs £4 a day for electricity and gas with the heating on most of the day. My colleague is paying almost £30 a dayalthough there are 6 of them and their house is huge compared to mine.

I also wonder if lockdown will have a similar impact on family size, lockdown with one child was easy a lockdown with multiple I'm sure must have been more difficult.

Remember lots of people in bigger properties are older ones who are asset rich but cash poor. They don't necessarily have the extra for home improvements/higher bills.

That’s why equity release was invented. Absolutely no reason for the ‘asset rich’ to freeze.

We switched to. larger new build from a small local developer and so glad we did as our heating costs have not risen significantly - it’s even better if the sun shines as main living areas are south facing with floor to ceiling windows , the flip side is the rooms are also smaller

When looking on RM, you can tell what a house is going to be like by looking at the size of the radiators.
The government bringing in minimum EPC rules for renting should be extended to private properties at point of sale. Either the vendor or buyer should be on the hook to get to EPC C rating.

Many do though as equity release has a bad rep. obviously it's a lot better these days but for many it's still more sense financially to downsize.

plus borrowing money is much more expensive these days.

It's put me right off having a bigger or detached house, along with the housework burden.

This is what I don't understand. Can't afford it, trade down to something more manageable.

🤔

This country is full of people who think it's a god given right to live in a big detached house till they die.

If not insulated to within an inch of its life, I'd imagine that large airy (cold!) kitchen diners with huge bifold windows will not be as popular as they are now.

I was going to knock through and make a huge kitchen/sitting/dining room. But I'm not now. It's fine as it is and very easy to heat thankfully. There is nothing like self contained rooms for that, I now realise.

Well to be fair, a lot of the elderly should actually retire and downsize at the same time. However they hang on while in good health and feeling flush, want space for the Christmas get together etc etc, and as they age, delay and delay, then lose the ‘ability’ to go though the process and stress of moving. Add in stamp duty as another dampener.

It depends.

I'm coming to the stage of life where we always said we'd downsize and release some capital, (front half of house is very old, thick walls, high ceilings etc), but now I'm not so sure. We have fireplaces, a solid fuel Aga we don't use but could, and the old part of the house was beautifully cool in the summer when everyone was so uncomfortable in their mega insulated houses. The fact is, people lived reasonably comfortably in nice old houses for hundreds of years. We have solar generators with batteries and a nice big roof we could put the panels on if we wanted. The more modern part of the house requires very little heating for most of the year. We also have a reasonably large garden where we could grow food if we ever needed to.

It really will be a matter of looking closely at individual properties in the future, seeing how well they've been adapted and understanding what makes them tick, and I believe the energy rating system needs to more accurately reflect this.

We've got a small, mid terrace house which is about ten years old. My dream home it is not! But you can't argue with the energy bills. It's really pretty ok to heat. The houses either side plus it being quite new means it is well insulated so we don't lose too much heat

Add in stamp duty as another dampener.

I don't really get this as the cast majority of older people downsizing will have had huge gains.

I've sold mine and am renting while I find something else. I am definitely paying attention to the EPC now. Windows, heating and insulation are all priorities. The house im in now has a suspended floor and is very cold and damp. Every tradesman has said it's because of the suspended floor so now that's something else I definitely don't want.