The UK regions WORST hit by surging energy prices
The UK regions WORST hit by surging energy prices: Bill payers in the North, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland spend much more of their weekly budget on gas and electricity
Northern Irish households spend 66 percent more of their weekly budget on gas and electricity than households in LondonHouseholds in Scotland, Wales and the North also spend far more of their weekly budgets on energy than their counterparts in London and the South Households in London spend the smallest proportion of their budget on heating It comes as average household gas bills rose 28.1 percent from Oct 2020-2021
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
Data from the ONS has revealed that families in some parts of the UK are paying as much as 66 percent more of their weekly budget on heating than their counterparts in London.
Households in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Northern England are forced to spend far much more of their weekly budgets on gas and electricity than any other place in the country.
It comes as average UK household gas bills rose by 28.1 percent and electricity bills 18.8 percent in the year to October, meaning household finances in the regions are likely to have felt an even tighter squeeze.
Meanwhile, the National Energy Action said the average household gas bill could increase by £467 from £466 a year in October last year to £944 in April next year, meaning the cost of heating the average home will have doubled since last winter.
It also warned that average domestic dual fuel energy bills, which have already soared by more than £230 per customer compared to last year, could increase by a further £550 a year in the Spring amid exploding gas prices across Europe.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced growing pressure to tackle the cost of living ’emergency’ and save families from soaring energy bills.
His backbenchers urged him to scrap the green taxes that make up a quarter of electricity bills and cost households as much as £200 a year and he is also facing demands to honour a Brexit campaign pledge to scrap VAT on fuel – knocking another £60 off annual bills.
Average UK household gas bills rose by 28.1 percent and electricity bills 18.8 percent in the year to October according to ONS data (stock image)
Households in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Northern England are forced to spend far much more of their weekly budgets on gas and electricity than any other place in the country. ONS data shows that people in Northern Ireland spend 44 percent more of their weekly budget on gas and electricity than the average UK household, and a whopping 66 percent more than households in London.
Experts have warned that gas and electricity bills for millions of Britons could soar to a record £2,000-a-year from next year as the energy price cap is set to be doubled in the coming months.
Households are expected to see a severe hike in the cost of their energy in April as suppliers are due to increase prices in line with soaring wholesale costs after changes to an industry price cap.
As a result, millions of households and businesses have been passed on to new providers, so-called suppliers of last resort.
The energy watchdog said it is consulting on changes, which would spread the cost of bailing out the customers of failed suppliers potentially over several years – instead of one larger hit to costs.
Investment bank Investec has said that Britain’s energy price cap will have to be lifted to £1,995-a-year per household from April when the regulator next alters the limit, reported the Financial Times.
The current cap is set at £1,277-a-year per household since October, meaning Britons could have to may more than £700 extra annually unless the government or Ofgem provide ‘mitigating actions’.
Out of all UK regions, residents of Northern Ireland spend the biggest proportion of their household budget on gas and electricity according to the ONS.
The data, which covers from the end of the 2018 financial year to the end of the 2020 financial year, shows that people in Northern Ireland spend 44 percent more of their weekly budget on gas and electricity than the average UK household, and a whopping 66 percent more than households in London.
The data shows the average family in Northern Ireland also spends more of their weekly budget on electricity than they do on net rent (rent minus council tax and other allowances).
Scotland meanwhile is the region second-worst hit by soaring gas prices, with households spending 41 percent more of their weekly budget on heating than residents of London, the area in which households spend the smallest proportion of their weekly budgets on fuel.
Several energy suppliers collapsed across the UK this autumn after the price of gas spiked by as much as five times compared with the start of this year (stock image)
Residents in Wales spend over a third (38 percent) more of their weekly household budget on heating their homes versus London, while households in the West Midlands and North West spend a third more (33 percent).
Homes in the North East spend 28 percent more, while families in the East Midlands, South West and South East dedicate 23, 15 and 8 percent more than London respectively.
While the average salary of a full-time employee in London stands at £39,700 for 2020-2021, workers in the North East, North West and Northern Ireland make on average £10,000 less per year, despite having to pay roughly the same or more for their energy.
Myles Robinson, heating expert at Boiler Central who compiled the data said: ‘Gas and electricity bills are absolutely skyrocketing in the UK due to soaring wholesale prices across the globe.
‘As winter draws in, it’s clear that some areas of the UK are already spending disproportionately more on electricity than other regions, and will likely be most impacted by the hike in energy prices.
‘While the government is looking into alternatives to fossil fuels – such as hydrogen and heat pumps – it could be several years until these become viable for every household, and in the meantime, families have to deal with ever more unaffordable gas prices’.
While the average salary of a full-time employee in London stands at £39,700 for 2020-2021, workers in the North Eat, North West and Northern Ireland make on average £10,000 less per year, despite having to pay roughly the same or more for their energy (stock image)
At the moment the regulator caps the energy bills of more than 14 million households at £1,277 per year on average.
A consultation on potential changes will end in February, and they could be implemented at the beginning of April, when the price cap is set to change.
But even before potential changes, experts at analysts Cornwall Insight predict that energy bills will rocket to £1,660 per year for price cap customers.
Adam Scorer, Chief Executive of National Energy Action (NEA) said: ‘Every home should be a warm and safe place, but for over 4.5 million UK households the cold reality is very different and getting much worse.’
A poll by the NEA conducted in November found six out of 10 British adults say they would reduce their heating use by a fair amount or a great deal if the cost of heating doubles.
Some 85 percent of UK residential buildings, or 23 million homes, are still currently connected to the gas grid, using a boiler and central heating system.
More than two dozen suppliers have gone bust since September, putting thousands of people out of work and leaving millions of homes in limbo as they wait for a new supplier via Ofgem
Last month, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng held crunch talks with energy bosses and energy regulator Ofgem to try and solve the spiralling crisis.
Fears of runaway household bills in the new year have been mounting since rising gas prices began bankrupting suppliers in September.
Since then, they have rocketed from 54p per therm of gas to a staggering £4.50, forcing as many as 26 suppliers out of business.
It was an unprecedented spike caused by something of a perfect storm on global markets.
Firstly, last winter was unusually cold in the northern hemisphere. Gas is still a key fuel in heating homes and businesses in much of the world, so the cold temperatures led to a spike in demand, and countries started eating into their gas reserves.
These reserves could have been topped up again over the summer, but once again the weather had other ideas.
Those working from home full-time face paying an average £131 more for energy this winter
An unusually windless summer meant that wind turbines produced less electricity so gas power plants had to burn more than normal.
Meanwhile, less new supply came onto the market than first thought and demand from China was higher than expected.
All in all, it meant that gas was in short supply, and as a result prices spiked.
For energy suppliers in the UK, this spelled disaster. Since 2019 they have been limited in what they can charge customers because of regulator Ofgem’s price cap.
The cap takes into account the price of energy, but does not change often enough to keep up with this year’s steep rises – it is only moved twice a year.
So when gas prices went up energy suppliers were soon put in a difficult situation where it cost them more to buy gas than they were allowed to sell it for.
It is an unenviable position for any business, and since early September dozens of suppliers have bowed out of the market, with experts predicting further failures.
The episode has exposed several flaws in how the market works, and will likely lead to permanent changes.
The April cap will be announced by regulator Ofgem next month and experts believe it could hit almost £2,000 a year.
Baroness Altmann, a former pensions minister, said: ‘There are so many elderly people across the country who are already struggling with their energy bills.
‘This could endanger their lives and will certainly endanger their health. It is an emergency. Some kind of temporary reprieve, ideally on the VAT side, is really important right now.’
In 2015, green levies accounted for just 7 per cent of an average dual fuel bill (£86 out of £1,165), according to Ofgem. By 2020 that proportion had doubled to 15 per cent (£182 out of £1,189).
Whitehall officials are said to be working on a loan scheme for energy firms that would make it possible for them to avoid having to impose sudden and massive hikes on bills.
Robert Halfon was among 20 signatories – including five former ministers – of a letter to Mr Johnson this weekend calling for action.
