Ofgem price cap changes to see £40 hike for small households this winter - while people in large houses better off
25.08.2023 - 18:37
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
People who live in flats or one-bed houses will generally end up worse off this winter than last - while people in bigger houses could be better off, according to new analysis. It comes after Ofgem revealed the latest energy price cap, which will come into effect from October this year.
Despite the price cap being lowered to £1,923 from its current £2,074 in today's announcement, bills remain much higher than they were before the pandemic, and some households will likely face higher bills this year than last.
Last winter, the typical household would have paid £2,500 per year on their bills due to the government’s Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), which protected households from Ofgem's much higher price cap. On top of that, each household’s bill was reduced by between £66 and £67 per month between October and March due to a separate government grant.
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Without that support this year, some households face being worse off this winter.
New figures analysed by the PA news agency suggest that the average annualised bill for a flat or one-bedroom house with one to two people will be £1,346 between October and December this year. Last year, the same flat’s annual bill would have been £1,306 after government grants are counted - leaving occupants £40 worse off in the final three months of this year than they were last winter.
Meanwhile, houses with four or more bedrooms, with around four and five people in them, will be around £433 better off. Their typical bills will fall from £3,483 to £2,650 even when taking grants into account.
The analysis is based on Ofgem’s estimates of how much gas and electricity different categories of household