Energy affordability crisis

[Best_loser]

I hope you all have smart meters, if you don’t then ask your provider for one. You are likely to have a surprise at how your electricity (in particular) consumption racks up.

I’m home and off work this week and have made umpteen requests to get out of the shower, shut the fridge door, wash the dishes rather than load the dishwasher, turn the TV’s off (at one point there were more TV’s on than there are people living in the house). Kids can’t wait for me to go back to work.

I'd never have a smart meter, not a chance in hell.

I won't either unless I'm forced to , so many people claim they don't work properly and when they contact the power company they aren't interested

 

[Uxy]

I am now in my mid 40's.
I have to say I am very worried about those in their early 20's on their early forays into employment and working life.
They are beginning to say things like £25k is bugger all.......back in 1999 I was on 10k. I thought I was doing ok and would have been able to have had a mortgage on a very basic property worth 30k in Carmarthen.....fast forward to now and that 30k property is now valued at 120k.
Phenomenal!!!!

Many years ago mortgage borrowing was subject to strict criteria, single people were allowed to borrow a maximum of 3 x their income and couples 2.5 x their joint income and everyone had to have a deposit - there was no flexibility. Whilst we had high interest rates to contend with, because of the cap on borrowing the impact (whilst it was unpleasant and hard) was mitigated.

These days interest rates are lower, but an ex local authority house in Townhill is around £130k to £140k, maybe a little more. Under the old criteria, a single person would me need to earn something like £40k+ per year and a couple £55k+ to be able to buy the house plus they’d need a deposit and money for fees etc, it’s a nightmare situation. I think the situation the youngsters of today face is much tougher and I really fear for my kids.

( I used Townhill as it’s an area a lot of us will be familiar with and can relate to).

It was 4x when I bought in the mid 2000s. I think we were the last generation that could realistically afford to buy a house over those terms.

Agree with everything you've said about the younger generation. The problem now is that, while the lowest end has risen, everything is now consolidated around the 20k mark. Sounds good, but that's barely covering rent and utilities these days. Certainly never going to be able to buy without considerable assistance. Social mobility is about to become a lot less mobile.

 

[Neath_Jack]

I hope you all have smart meters, if you don’t then ask your provider for one. You are likely to have a surprise at how your electricity (in particular) consumption racks up.

I’m home and off work this week and have made umpteen requests to get out of the shower, shut the fridge door, wash the dishes rather than load the dishwasher, turn the TV’s off (at one point there were more TV’s on than there are people living in the house). Kids can’t wait for me to go back to work.

I'd never have a smart meter, not a chance in hell.

I put it off for a number of years as well, but had one fitted last week. I can’t switch anything on now without going to check how much it’s costing

 

[Best_loser]

Many years ago mortgage borrowing was subject to strict criteria, single people were allowed to borrow a maximum of 3 x their income and couples 2.5 x their joint income and everyone had to have a deposit - there was no flexibility. Whilst we had high interest rates to contend with, because of the cap on borrowing the impact (whilst it was unpleasant and hard) was mitigated.

These days interest rates are lower, but an ex local authority house in Townhill is around £130k to £140k, maybe a little more. Under the old criteria, a single person would me need to earn something like £40k+ per year and a couple £55k+ to be able to buy the house plus they’d need a deposit and money for fees etc, it’s a nightmare situation. I think the situation the youngsters of today face is much tougher and I really fear for my kids.

( I used Townhill as it’s an area a lot of us will be familiar with and can relate to).

It was 4x when I bought in the mid 2000s. I think we were the last generation that could realistically afford to buy a house over those terms.

Agree with everything you've said about the younger generation. The problem now is that, while the lowest end has risen, everything is now consolidated around the 20k mark. Sounds good, but that's barely covering rent and utilities these days. Certainly never going to be able to buy without considerable assistance. Social mobility is about to become a lot less mobile.

Until a house price crash you mean , everything comes down to its natural level sooner or later and that will be the case with house prices

 

[Uxy]

It was 4x when I bought in the mid 2000s. I think we were the last generation that could realistically afford to buy a house over those terms.

Agree with everything you've said about the younger generation. The problem now is that, while the lowest end has risen, everything is now consolidated around the 20k mark. Sounds good, but that's barely covering rent and utilities these days. Certainly never going to be able to buy without considerable assistance. Social mobility is about to become a lot less mobile.

Until a house price crash you mean , everything comes down to its natural level sooner or later and that will be the case with house prices

Absolutely no sign that will happen. It hasn't over the last 20 years or so.

 

[Best_loser]

Until a house price crash you mean , everything comes down to its natural level sooner or later and that will be the case with house prices

Absolutely no sign that will happen. It hasn't over the last 20 years or so.
Crashes tend to happen when not expected , they are artificially far to high due to years of cheap money , anyway I did say sooner or later , we will see

 

[Uxy]

Absolutely no sign that will happen. It hasn't over the last 20 years or so.
Crashes tend to happen when not expected , they are artificially far to high due to years of cheap money , anyway I did say sooner or later , we will see

I hope you're right. I thought it might do that in 2008 but property held its value well.

 

[Best_loser]

I hope you're right. I thought it might do that in 2008 but property held its value well.

On a personal level I hope I'm wrong , nobody Likes the value of their property being less than it was including me , I just think the worlds economy with the level of national debt countries are carrying , something is going to give , everything will fall including house prices , its a house of cards that can't escape gravity forever

 

[legoman]

Until a house price crash you mean , everything comes down to its natural level sooner or later and that will be the case with house prices

Absolutely no sign that will happen. It hasn't over the last 20 years or so.

I don't expect a house price crash either on the basis that

a) in the UK there's not enough supply and there's too much demand and

b) the UK economy is pretty dependent upon home ownership and it's ingrained in our culture to own rather than rent property

I think the worst that will happen is the rate of house price growth will slow

 

[Costello]

I'd never have a smart meter, not a chance in hell.

Why not?

I'd never have one because I'd be a complete nightmare to live with. Plus, like another poster, I'm dubious about their integrity. Same with 'Alexa'. When 'Alexa' can make me a cup of tea, take the rubbish out or even provide me with a reasonable soapy tit w@nk - I'd consider getting one.

 

[Niigata Jack]

I'd never have a smart meter, not a chance in hell.

I put it off for a number of years as well, but had one fitted last week. I can’t switch anything on now without going to check how much it’s costing

Doh! next time I see you remind me about smart meters

 

[legoman]

I'd never have a smart meter, not a chance in hell.

I won't either unless I'm forced to , so many people claim they don't work properly and when they contact the power company they aren't interested

Are you talking about the actual meter that's connected to your supply or the fancy gizmo thingy in your kitchen that you plug in and use to see what your consumption is?

If it's the latter, I agree that they are just a gimmick plus, a while back I noticed mine said I'd used £10,000 worth of electricity in one day and the other days looked stupid as well. I called EDF who said to reset by, you guessed it, turning it off and on again. Didn't clear it.

As my bills seemed in order I ignored it. Later EDF contacted me to say they wanted to change my meter under the stairs. When the engineer was in my house I asked about the kitchen display thingy. He laughed and said it was probably due to a software change at EDF and said it would never be right unless I asked for a new box.

As I couldn't see what the advantage of it was I unplugged it and binned it

I found that initially it was interesting to see the instantaneous read out when I put the kettle on, but ultimately I thought "what the feck's the point? If I want a cuppa I gotta boil the thing" and so I never bothered with it much again, except to wipe the dust off it once in a while.

I believe though that the main smart meters under the stairs are a good thing because they do provide an accurate reading.

 

[Cooperman]

I'd never have a smart meter, not a chance in hell.

I won't either unless I'm forced to , so many people claim they don't work properly and when they contact the power company they aren't interested

Don’t work properly? I’ve been sat in the kitchen this evening, flicking through Planet Swans and in the corner of my eye I can see the smart meter reading moving up and down (it’s like a rev counter), but all the time inside the green zone which equates to less than 1000W consumption. My lad saunters by and says he’s off for a shower; he’s already smelling lovely so I protest gently. He grunts in return. Two mins later the rev counter hits the red zone which is the sign that the shower has gone on. After about fifteen minutes it’s still showing 10kW so I holler through the door which seems to do the trick and the rev counter turns back green within a minute or so; we’re now back to a few lights and a telly. When I quizzed about the cause of such a lengthy shower I was met with the answer of “I was on my phone” :lol:

Serious point though, of course they work (if connected correctly). Seeing this thing in the red zone was enough for me to do something about it.

 

[Best_loser]

Just flicking through news channels , Shaun Bailey on GB news , what a thick cvnt , another one droning on about letting people keep more of their money as the solution when its clear , the people most at risk don't pay taxes

 

[Squarebear]

This £400 government giveaway is something, but why on Earth are they also giving it to people on fixed tariff deals? It defies belief (something I find myself saying pretty much every time I open a newspaper)