There will not be a crash unless the Mortgage lenders decide that properties are overvalued and/or people can no longer afford the same multiples on earnings and restrict lending criteria.
Prices seem crazily high to me. Particularly in London.
I had a look for a new deal on my gas and electric yesterday. I wasnt going to commit to one until the government announce their support for consumers today, I currently pay £124 per month, fixed until the end of March. They offered me 4 options which varied between £300 fixed until Feb next year, £275 with boiler cover, fixed for 2 years, £275 without boiler cover also fixed for 2 years, or £147 if I dont commit to a deal and revert to the standard variable tariff.
In roughly 2 hours' time, we will know what that £147 will become in April. Probably around £220. Then in October, may well be £300-odd. After that? No-one seems to have a clue.
Everything is a risk-fixed or variable. But, for me at least, current (new) fixed deals seem to represent bad value at the moment.
NB_EDIT. Only the Gas part of the bill will go up by those percentages. Electric will be lower.
It seems strange that are offering with boiler cover, and without for the same amount, and fixing the cost for 2 years is cheaper than fixing the cost for one year.
I think I have got it. Having read the terms and conditions again. It appears that they are doing free boiler cover for 6 months. So they are quoting the rate while the cover is free, and conning me into taking it up. Then surprising me 6 months down the road when I have to pay for it.
The best rate I can get today is £270, an increase of just about £150 per month. The Government will lend me £200 in October. As I am band F, I dont qualify for the Council Tax discount. So ignoring the loan of £200, which I will have to repay. My increase is around £1800 per year.
Energy bills to rise by 54% a year for millions
Millions of people will pay an extra £693 a year on their energy bills from April, a rise of 54%, Ofgem has said.
The regulator's new price limit means 18 million households in England, Wales and Scotland will typically pay £1,971 a year for gas and electricity.
Another 4.5 million people on prepayment meters will see an even bigger increase of £708 a year.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has outlined plans to soften the blow via council tax rebates and help with bills.
This would provide the majority of families with a total of £350 to help them adjust to higher prices, he said.
It will mean a £200 discount on energy bills for households from October, which will be paid back over next five years at £40 per year starting in April 2023. Analysts suggest bills could rise again that month.
In England, households in council tax bands A to D - information you can find on your bill - will get a £150 discount from April, the chancellor added. Funds for the equivalent discounts would be provided to devolved nations in the UK.
So. An extra £700 p.a (on average) in April, and probably an extra £700 p.a in October.
The Government has listened. A one-off £150 in April, and a £200 loan in October. Just £1,050 down then for some for now, and in reality £1250/1400.Thanks for listening. And thanks for selling off British Gas...
There will not be a crash unless the Mortgage lenders decide that properties are overvalued and/or people can no longer afford the same multiples on earnings and restrict lending criteria.
Prices seem crazily high to me. Particularly in London.
I had a look for a new deal on my gas and electric yesterday. I wasnt going to commit to one until the government announce their support for consumers today, I currently pay £124 per month, fixed until the end of March. They offered me 4 options which varied between £300 fixed until Feb next year, £275 with boiler cover, fixed for 2 years, £275 without boiler cover also fixed for 2 years, or £147 if I dont commit to a deal and revert to the standard variable tariff.
In roughly 2 hours' time, we will know what that £147 will become in April. Probably around £220. Then in October, may well be £300-odd. After that? No-one seems to have a clue.
Everything is a risk-fixed or variable. But, for me at least, current (new) fixed deals seem to represent bad value at the moment.
NB_EDIT. Only the Gas part of the bill will go up by those percentages. Electric will be lower.
It seems strange that are offering with boiler cover, and without for the same amount, and fixing the cost for 2 years is cheaper than fixing the cost for one year.
I think I have got it. Having read the terms and conditions again. It appears that they are doing free boiler cover for 6 months. So they are quoting the rate while the cover is free, and conning me into taking it up. Then surprising me 6 months down the road when I have to pay for it.
The best rate I can get today is £270, an increase of just about £150 per month. The Government will lend me £200 in October. As I am band F, I dont qualify for the Council Tax discount. So ignoring the loan of £200, which I will have to repay. My increase is around £1800 per year.
Energy bills to rise by 54% a year for millions
Millions of people will pay an extra £693 a year on their energy bills from April, a rise of 54%, Ofgem has said.
The regulator's new price limit means 18 million households in England, Wales and Scotland will typically pay £1,971 a year for gas and electricity.
Another 4.5 million people on prepayment meters will see an even bigger increase of £708 a year.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has outlined plans to soften the blow via council tax rebates and help with bills.
This would provide the majority of families with a total of £350 to help them adjust to higher prices, he said.
It will mean a £200 discount on energy bills for households from October, which will be paid back over next five years at £40 per year starting in April 2023. Analysts suggest bills could rise again that month.
In England, households in council tax bands A to D - information you can find on your bill - will get a £150 discount from April, the chancellor added. Funds for the equivalent discounts would be provided to devolved nations in the UK.
So. An extra £700 p.a (on average) in April, and probably an extra £700 p.a in October.
The Government has listened. A one-off £150 in April, and a £200 loan in October. Just £1,050 down then for some for now, and in reality £1250/1400.Thanks for listening. And thanks for selling off British Gas...
In my case it looks like almost £1800. I dont qualify for the council tax discount. Nor do I particularly want to borrow £200.
I heard this on tonight's ITV news........Its SHOCKING !
.......and they're putting National Insurance up to pay for the pandemic, (amongst other things), when they've wasted so much money. Especially when you see the breakdown of what they've wasted the money on
Should put a dent in Sunak's leadership prospects
It is meant to eventually fund Social Care, and in the meantime fund an NHS attempt to reduce the massive waiting list caused by the pandemic. He is still a short priced favourite.
My prediction is neither Rishi. nor BoJo will be the Prime Minister after the next election ........and highly unlikely the Tories will be in power either.
At least Kier Starmer is a better option than Corbyn
I heard this on tonight's ITV news........Its SHOCKING !
.......and they're putting National Insurance up to pay for the pandemic, (amongst other things), when they've wasted so much money. Especially when you see the breakdown of what they've wasted the money on
Should put a dent in Sunak's leadership prospects
It is meant to eventually fund Social Care, and in the meantime fund an NHS attempt to reduce the massive waiting list caused by the pandemic. He is still a short priced favourite.
My prediction is neither Rishi. nor BoJo will be the Prime Minister after the next election ........and highly unlikely the Tories will be in power either.
At least Kier Starmer is a better option than Corbyn
You would be a better candidate than either of the Corbyns. Any political predictions in the long term are very difficult. Boris surely cant last much longer. Whoever replaces him will improve the polls in respect of the Tories, as soon as they take office, as Boris is dragging them down. They probably have enough time to turn it around. We dont get a say in who replaces him. That is unless you are a Tory Party member.
As far as Rishi Sunaks sales pitch of yesterday is concerned, I thought it was a sh1t one.
The pitch was that the average bill would increase to £1971. Yet in my case the best rate I can currently get is over £3200 per year.
He promised help with meeting the increase. The promise was that he would cover almost half the increase, ie £350.
This is made up of a council tax discount of £150 in April. Though if you are outside the A-D banding you dont qualify. I live in a band F. So I dont qualify, unless the qualification differs in Wales.
The balance of the £350 is a loan of £200 in October. This has to be repaid at the rate of £40 per year over 5 years. The £40 will be added to your bill from April next year. So from next year onwards this will have the effect of taking the average to over£2k. This seems to suggest that from next year, even the poorest will be expected to fund the increase in full, plus an additional £40 to repay the loan. So those that will struggle this year, will find next year much tougher.
You live in a larger than average house. Consequently, you have larger than average fuel bills. It really is that simple.
The Band A-D help is, IMO correctly targeted. The loan is rubbish. Not enough is being done, clearly.
We won't have to wait until next year for problems. April will be a major problem for millions. There will likely be a similar rise in October. If that is correct, average fuel bill will comfortably exceed £200 per month. Which will be even higher in Winter.
That will not only have a cumulative effect, it will be happening as Winter approaches. April 2022 is a massive problem. But October 2022 is far worse.
You live in a larger than average house. Consequently, you have larger than average fuel bills. It really is that simple.
The Band A-D help is, IMO correctly targeted. The loan is rubbish. Not enough is being done, clearly.
We won't have to wait until next year for problems. April will be a major problem for millions. There will likely be a similar rise in October. If that is correct, average fuel bill will comfortably exceed £200 per month. Which will be even higher in Winter.
That will not only have a cumulative effect, it will be happening as Winter approaches. April 2022 is a massive problem. But October 2022 is far worse.
I am not disputing any of that, I was just try to illustrate how the "help" may work in practice. So do you think it would be better to take a 2 year fixed deal out now?
The 2-year-fixed? Either way, it is a massive gamble, either to take it or not.
If I could predict the future, I would be a rich man. My guess? I would be (and am) on a variable rate for now. And review it every 3-6 months. Because that is the big advantage of variable rates-flexibility. But I could be spectacularly wrong.
The 2-year-fixed? Either way, it is a massive gamble, either to take it or not.
If I could predict the future, I would be a rich man. My guess? I would be (and am) on a variable rate for now. And review it every 3-6 months. Because that is the big advantage of variable rates-flexibility. But I could be spectacularly wrong.
Like a lot of poker players, I like Maths. So-apologies to anyone who thinks this is blindingly obvious.
In October 2021 the fuel cap went up by 12%. In April, it will be by a further 54%. And it is believed the October 2022 rise may be a further 40%.
I'm sure there are some people who think-increases of (12 plus 54 plus 40) is a rise of 106%. But it is far worse.
These are cumulative increases. So a 12% rise plus a 54% rise leads to an 72% rise (£100-112-172).
And a 12% plus a 54% rise plus a 40% rise is in reality a 241% increase. In 1 year and 1 day. (£100-112-172-241). Even a 30% rise in Oct 2022 would mean a total rise of 223%.
And that is before every retailer and pub etc jacks up their prices as their costs go up...
UK Big Six energy firms made more than £1bn in profit ahead of price hike.
Exclusive: Analysis of most recent accounts shows huge profits as customers face soaring energy bills
Adam Bychawski 3 February 2022, 4.45pm
The UK’s Big Six energy companies raked in more than a billion pounds of profit ahead of this year’s record hike in bills.
The highest earner, SSE, made £600m alone in profit before taxes, according to annual accounts published by the energy regulator Ofgem. Last month, the Scottish energy company was forced to apologise for advising customers to “do star jumps” to keep their energy bills down.
E.On, Scottish Power and Centrica, which owns British Gas, made a further £622m before tax between them. Only EDF Energy recorded a loss, of £154m.
The figures are the most recent available, and cover either 2020 or the 2020/21 financial year.
Energy bills are set to soar in April after Ofgem announced it would increase the maximum rate suppliers could charge by 53%. It said the rise reflected the fourfold increase in energy market prices over the past year.
Households on an average dual-fuel energy tariff will face a rise of £693 a year. But the poorest, who are more likely to use pre-paid meters, will be hit with a steeper hike of £708 a year. Some low-income customers are unable to move from meters to automatic payments – on which suppliers offer discounts – because they require credit checks.
Britain is already in the grip of a cost of living crisis. In December, inflation jumped to 5.4%, its highest level in almost 30 years. All areas of daily life, including food and clothing, have seen prices rise since 2020, with transport costs alone rising as much as 12%.
Poorer households will be worst affected by the squeeze. As a proportion of their income, the lowest-income families spend twice as much on food and housing bills as the richest, according to research by the Resolution Foundation.
Wages have failed to keep up, with inflation-adjusted pay falling in November to below the pre-financial crisis peak for wages recorded in 2008. Average pay is expected to shrink this year as workers are hit with a rise in National Insurance contributions in April.
The bosses of the Big Six energy firms remain some of the highest earners in the UK. In 2019, the BBC reported that the former Centrica chief executive was paid £2.4m in 2018, a 44% rise on the previous year.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, CEO of the UK’s third-biggest energy company, SSE, made £1.6m in the first year of the pandemic, according to a report by the High Pay Centre. SSE was acquired by the Bristol-based supplier OVO Energy in 2020.
The energy company was criticised last month for advising customers to keep their heating bills low by “having a cuddle with your pets”, eating “hearty bowls of porridge” and “doing a few star jumps”.
The 2-year-fixed? Either way, it is a massive gamble, either to take it or not.
If I could predict the future, I would be a rich man. My guess? I would be (and am) on a variable rate for now. And review it every 3-6 months. Because that is the big advantage of variable rates-flexibility. But I could be spectacularly wrong.
Water bills in England and Wales to rise from April
Comments
The Government has listened. A one-off £150 in April, and a £200 loan in October. Just £1,050 down then for some for now, and in reality £1250/1400.Thanks for listening. And thanks for selling off British Gas...
I dont qualify for the council tax discount.
Nor do I particularly want to borrow £200.
At least Kier Starmer is a better option than Corbyn
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/martin-lewis-asks-rishi-sunak-why-the-****-they-re-giving-out-loans-rather-than-making-energy-companies-pay/vi-AATrPRc?ocid=msedgntp
Any political predictions in the long term are very difficult.
Boris surely cant last much longer.
Whoever replaces him will improve the polls in respect of the Tories, as soon as they take office, as Boris is dragging them down.
They probably have enough time to turn it around.
We dont get a say in who replaces him.
That is unless you are a Tory Party member.
As far as Rishi Sunaks sales pitch of yesterday is concerned, I thought it was a sh1t one.
The pitch was that the average bill would increase to £1971.
Yet in my case the best rate I can currently get is over £3200 per year.
He promised help with meeting the increase.
The promise was that he would cover almost half the increase, ie £350.
This is made up of a council tax discount of £150 in April.
Though if you are outside the A-D banding you dont qualify.
I live in a band F.
So I dont qualify, unless the qualification differs in Wales.
The balance of the £350 is a loan of £200 in October.
This has to be repaid at the rate of £40 per year over 5 years.
The £40 will be added to your bill from April next year.
So from next year onwards this will have the effect of taking the average to over£2k.
This seems to suggest that from next year, even the poorest will be expected to fund the increase in full, plus an additional £40 to repay the loan.
So those that will struggle this year, will find next year much tougher.
https://theworldnews.net/gb-news/rishi-sunak-answers-martin-lewis-question-why-the-****-aren-t-you-giving-people-more
Martin Lewis predicts 'change' from Rishi Sunak as he slams 'stupid' scheme
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/martin-lewis-predicts-change-from-rishi-sunak-as-he-slams-stupid-scheme/ar-AATqCO7?ocid=msedgntp
You live in a larger than average house. Consequently, you have larger than average fuel bills. It really is that simple.
The Band A-D help is, IMO correctly targeted. The loan is rubbish. Not enough is being done, clearly.
We won't have to wait until next year for problems. April will be a major problem for millions. There will likely be a similar rise in October. If that is correct, average fuel bill will comfortably exceed £200 per month. Which will be even higher in Winter.
That will not only have a cumulative effect, it will be happening as Winter approaches. April 2022 is a massive problem. But October 2022 is far worse.
So do you think it would be better to take a 2 year fixed deal out now?
https://uk.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=AwrINmDH9fxhkWUAWwZLBQx.;_ylu=Y29sbwNpcjIEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Nj?p=Martin+Lewis+asks+Rishi+Sunak+'why+the+****'+they're+giving+out+loans+rather+than+making+energy+companies+pay&fr=yfp-t
The 2-year-fixed? Either way, it is a massive gamble, either to take it or not.
If I could predict the future, I would be a rich man. My guess? I would be (and am) on a variable rate for now. And review it every 3-6 months. Because that is the big advantage of variable rates-flexibility. But I could be spectacularly wrong.
In October 2021 the fuel cap went up by 12%. In April, it will be by a further 54%. And it is believed the October 2022 rise may be a further 40%.
I'm sure there are some people who think-increases of (12 plus 54 plus 40) is a rise of 106%. But it is far worse.
These are cumulative increases. So a 12% rise plus a 54% rise leads to an 72% rise (£100-112-172).
And a 12% plus a 54% rise plus a 40% rise is in reality a 241% increase. In 1 year and 1 day. (£100-112-172-241). Even a 30% rise in Oct 2022 would mean a total rise of 223%.
And that is before every retailer and pub etc jacks up their prices as their costs go up...
Exclusive: Analysis of most recent accounts shows huge profits as customers face soaring energy bills
Adam Bychawski
3 February 2022, 4.45pm
The UK’s Big Six energy companies raked in more than a billion pounds of profit ahead of this year’s record hike in bills.
The highest earner, SSE, made £600m alone in profit before taxes, according to annual accounts published by the energy regulator Ofgem. Last month, the Scottish energy company was forced to apologise for advising customers to “do star jumps” to keep their energy bills down.
E.On, Scottish Power and Centrica, which owns British Gas, made a further £622m before tax between them. Only EDF Energy recorded a loss, of £154m.
The figures are the most recent available, and cover either 2020 or the 2020/21 financial year.
Energy bills are set to soar in April after Ofgem announced it would increase the maximum rate suppliers could charge by 53%. It said the rise reflected the fourfold increase in energy market prices over the past year.
Households on an average dual-fuel energy tariff will face a rise of £693 a year. But the poorest, who are more likely to use pre-paid meters, will be hit with a steeper hike of £708 a year. Some low-income customers are unable to move from meters to automatic payments – on which suppliers offer discounts – because they require credit checks.
Britain is already in the grip of a cost of living crisis. In December, inflation jumped to 5.4%, its highest level in almost 30 years. All areas of daily life, including food and clothing, have seen prices rise since 2020, with transport costs alone rising as much as 12%.
Poorer households will be worst affected by the squeeze. As a proportion of their income, the lowest-income families spend twice as much on food and housing bills as the richest, according to research by the Resolution Foundation.
Wages have failed to keep up, with inflation-adjusted pay falling in November to below the pre-financial crisis peak for wages recorded in 2008. Average pay is expected to shrink this year as workers are hit with a rise in National Insurance contributions in April.
The bosses of the Big Six energy firms remain some of the highest earners in the UK. In 2019, the BBC reported that the former Centrica chief executive was paid £2.4m in 2018, a 44% rise on the previous year.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, CEO of the UK’s third-biggest energy company, SSE, made £1.6m in the first year of the pandemic, according to a report by the High Pay Centre. SSE was acquired by the Bristol-based supplier OVO Energy in 2020.
The energy company was criticised last month for advising customers to keep their heating bills low by “having a cuddle with your pets”, eating “hearty bowls of porridge” and “doing a few star jumps”.
https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/water-bills-england-wales-rise-132945857.html