Policy changes announced yesterday by the Prime Minister could cost British households almost £8 billion in higher bills over the next decade.
That’s according to new analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) which suggests the cost would be even higher if gas prices spike again and this burden stems from cancelling new energy efficiency regulations for the private rental sector.
There could be further impacts on household bills due to changes to the phaseout of oil boilers for off-gas grid homes, according to the report.
Costs to the NHS due to poor housing could reach £1.2bn a year, or £12bn over the next decade experts have estimated.
They note that if gas demand remains high across the economy, the UK could pay an extra £150bn over 10 years to overseas gas producers, compared to if the government introduced policies to ambitiously cut gas demand.
Commenting on the report, Jess Ralston, Energy Analyst at ECIU, said: “This looks chaotic and not the way long term policy should be made around important issues, with emergency cabinet meetings and investors spooked.
“Quite the opposite of an honest debate, the implication that any of these policies were going to affect the cost of living here and now is untrue. In fact, the Prime Minister has sided with landlords over renters, putting their energy bills and cost of living up by ducking the improvement of rules on energy efficiency.
“That doesn’t make any sense when excess cold in homes costs the NHS £1.2 billion per year and renters are amongst those with the lowest incomes. As the North Sea declines, if the UK fails to shift to heat pumps, we’ll end up reliant on importing ever larger quantities of foreign gas.”
