Could today's Gas Price increases be the final tipping point for the housing market

mr.broderick

m00m00 wrote: »

With British Gas (and the others soon to follow) announcing massive increases in bills to come this winter, I feel this is going to have a double edged impact on the housing market. Firstly those struggling to meet repayments at the moment, and currently falling onto the SVR 'trap' will be hit very hard by the increase in their fixed costs, along with the certain general inflationary effects of these rises.


Secondly older people currently sitting on big, expensive to heat old houses, will be more incentivised to downsize to smaller, easier to run properties.

those energy efficiency ratings for the HIPS are going to get ever more important going forward now.

For goodness sake moomoo this is clutching at the proverbial straws isn't it?
It is going to affect all of us...

m00m00

but it will affect the more heavily indebted, and the asset rich, cash poor, most of all.

it will unfortunately also have a very deleterious effect on the very poorest on fixed incomes, who traditionally have higher fuel tariffs due to the use of prepayment meters, and an inability to switch suppliers.

ultra10

Food, Fuel for heating as well as running you car or cars.. council Tx, water rates etc etc... Doesnt leave a lot of room for a Mortgage does it !! ...Something has got to / had to give sooner or later.... period ..

m00m00

doesn't leave much room for rent increases too, so another squeeze on the plans of the BTL'ers

PasturesNew

When I was a kid, we woke up in the winter with ice on the inside of the windows, usually at least half way up. We had a single fire in the living room, that was it. Dad would get thick plastic sheeting and fix it to the windows. In later years, when more modern things were available, he had panes of glass cut to fit - they were edged in a rubber and would stay in place with screw in fixings.

BTLNEWbie_3

PasturesNew wrote: »

When I was a kid, we woke up in the winter with ice on the inside of the windows, usually at least half way up. We had a single fire in the living room, that was it. Dad would get thick plastic sheeting and fix it to the windows. In later years, when more modern things were available, he had panes of glass cut to fit - they were edged in a rubber and would stay in place with screw in fixings.

Your right, these youngsters that want it all and cant wait would never have survived back then, reckon it will be hitting them very soon when they have to make a choice, keep warm or save for deposit.
Not hard working out what their answer would be is it.

pebbles88

PasturesNew wrote: »

When I was a kid, we woke up in the winter with ice on the inside of the windows, usually at least half way up. We had a single fire in the living room, that was it. Dad would get thick plastic sheeting and fix it to the windows. In later years, when more modern things were available, he had panes of glass cut to fit - they were edged in a rubber and would stay in place with screw in fixings.

oh yes i remember those! when we moved into the house i live in now (25 yrs ago) we had that in the bedrooms. i always remember snuggling up under blankets downstairs to keep warm.

this winter we will be going back to that! the prices are just gettin crazy now! my mum lives with us and i am grateful that she wont have to worry about the heat/eat crisis that will affect the elderly again this year.

neverdespairgirl

PasturesNew wrote: »

When I was a kid, we woke up in the winter with ice on the inside of the windows, usually at least half way up.

When you were a kid?

More recently for me, a couple of years ago I woke up in my parents' Kent pad to find a frozen water glass on my bedside table!

brit1234

Well its going to effect the prices of gas central heating properties. I'm not going to buy one of those, its going to be electricity for me especially when there is so much choice in properties.

In the next few yes it is going to be ex council estate homes, properties above shops or next to busy roads, new build flats and gas heated homes that are going to have the biggest drops.:beer:

lostinrates

Happens to us a bit....DH and I rarely use heating, out o choice, not tightness, but of course money svaing is a big bonus! In fact, its really healthy..no dry skin or dried out hair, fewer colds. DH has psoriasis which is better without heating. We have always turned it on for friends visiting or high days and holidays, or if one of us should be unwell, but it drives me mad when people say its too cold when they are wearing light t shirts....whack the heating up without trying either doing something (housework is ok, ironing is fab for warming up) or putting a jumper on. We NEVER out the heating above 21 degrees even when visitors are cold(we're meanies) but for just us we'd heat to say 19 degrees.

When I was little I remember my mother making the cold fun, but say, racing to get dressed first or pretending we were eskimos in bed....we understood it was winter. People just don't dress warmly nowadays. I sound like a granny.:(