Surge in energy bills makes it harder for UK renters
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 31st: Inflation is high and the energy crisis continues. This winter is extremely cold for British tenants. Due to different income levels and different lifestyles, tenants are under greater pressure to save heating bills, and high energy bills create tension between co-tenants, who must make compromises with each other.
Agence France-Presse reported on the 30th that a 33-year-old school teacher shared a rent with 5 other people in the east of London, the British capital, and two of them worked from home. To save money, they agreed to turn off the heat in the bedroom and keep only the living room warm.
The teacher said that everyone is concerned about whether the lights are turned off after people leave the room, and the roommates are often reminded to turn down the heat temperature, especially when the co-tenants bring friends over for the night, which may cause disputes.
Agence France-Presse reported that some tenants in London chose to turn off the heating completely unless the temperature dropped to extremely low levels. These people do it even at Christmas. Some renters are moving out of their original rental housing and opting for more energy-efficient accommodation.
Tenant Simon Noprioch, 29, who works in finance, has just moved to a more energy-efficient and modern home. He said many landlords had no intention of replacing energy-efficient features because they were happy to see rent increases due to the strong demand for rental properties in London. Some landlords take the government’s energy subsidies for themselves, while renters struggle to get government support.
On December 12, people walked on the snow near the “London Eye” in the UK.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ying
Simon Francis, a member of the British Poverty Reduction and Environmental Protection Organization to Eliminate Fuel Poverty Alliance, said that the energy crisis affects everyone. “Obviously, those who earn the least have the hardest life. High energy bills may cause tension among co-tenants.”
Inflation in the UK has hit a 40-year high recently, with soaring energy bills squeezing household budgets. Francis fears that seven million households in the UK may fall into “fuel poverty” this winter. These households spend more than 10 per cent of their total household income on energy bills, “meaning they don’t have enough money to keep the room temperature within an acceptable range,” he explained.
In order to reduce energy expenses, many people in many places in the UK turned off their home heating facilities and went to the “heating bank” set up by the government and welfare agencies to “catch the heating”. (Bao Xuelin)