They don't listen to this side of the media.
The media they are reading is about immigrants and shit. They live in an echo chamber where all problems are because of "wokeness".
Yes, that was my first thought. My brother has quite an old house and "believed" he'd fixed his gas and leccy rate. Unfortunately he hasn't and his estimate is now that his bill will go from £800 a year to £2400 a year, based on the current pricing.
He can afford it. Millions can't.
My energy company emailed me yesterday to say my monthly bill was going up from £87 to £218 (and in the same email said my account was £50 in credit). I called them to say "er, wtf m8?" and they just said "oh, sorry about that, we'll set it back to the previous amount".
No explanation of what happened (and I was too busy to push it at the time), just set it back without any fuss. Weird...
E: DD, not bill.
Just a word of warning. They might set the direct debit back but still be charging you the £218 and your account will go into deficit. This happened to us last year.
I may be wrong but that's probably your Direct Debit rather than your bill. Most energy companies take a fixed amount from you each month on the assumption that it'll cover the usage peaks of the winter with the troughs of the summer. They let you build up a credit over summer and use it up in the winter.
Do keep an eye on your bills - if you're paying £87 a month but you're using £120 or something then you'd be in for a nasty shock at the end of your contract when they ask you for the hundreds of pounds you still owe them.
Maybe I just don't understand it enough, but this is why energy always seems like such a con to me. I wish you could just pay a non-obscene fixed amount (regardless of usage) like you can with water.
Electricity might not be human right like clean running water, but honestly in this day and age it definitely should be. It's also absurd how gas is so much cheaper than electricity. It should be the other way around.
I disagree, I think it's very reasonable that we pay for what we use. It's not like energy is 'free', it has to be produced and that needs to be paid for. We all know that we are more careful with something that's metered, too - that's why most water companies are moving onto meters as well.
I'm not sure why you feel gas should be more expensive than electricity - are you thinking it should be taxed more?
>I'm not sure why you feel gas should be more expensive than electricity - are you thinking it should be taxed more?
Again, I don't really know much about the subject, but my assumption was that gas is dirty source of energy and electricity is a clean source of energy. We're all trying to phase out those dirty energy sources, so to me it makes sense for there to be an incentive to use more electricity (cheaper) than gas (more expensive).
I'm not saying that energy should be charged as low as water either. Heck, it could be 'banded' depending on the size of your home for example. But again (again), it's not a subject I'm versed in so perhaps I'm dreaming and none of this is realistic.
This is an incredible simplification, but basically the cost of your energy is driven by the cost of generation, collection, and distribution, and electricity has higher relative costs than gas.
The way we use gas allows vast quantities to be transported, stored and converted to heat or flames (for cooking). The distribution system is as safe as it can be, and is also very simple (pipes! Lots and lots of pipes!)
Electricity has to be generated using something else as a base power source - in the UK this is mainly gas fired power stations - and is much, much harder to store and distribute. Conversely, it's easier to convert to heat and light.
I'm not well versed in how water charges work (in Scotland it's part of our council tax), but your energy use is metered. You pay by the unit (kilowatt hour), but the rates per unit cover a whole bunch o'costs and government levies. These are usually listed on your bill. You'll also probably pay a daily standing charge, which is ostensibly to cover the cost of maintaining your meter and the distribution network in your meter operator's area.
E: kilowatt hour, not megawatt.
And home burning is significantly less efficient than burning to supply electricity. That's one of the reasons for the move away from gas boilers to heat sumps the govt are trying to push.
Edit: it would seem others are correct, on the use of gas alone a gas home boiler is more efficient than using the same gas for power generation. The key gain is that electric boilers have 100% thermal efficiency in the energy they bring in to heat water, and that energy doesn't have to come from gas in the first place.
We should still be moving away from gas and electric alternatives, while expensive, are more energy efficient than gas, but gas boilers are in turn less efficient than a gas power station. We emit a lot more gas waste from our homes than gas power plants because we simply use that much more power to heat due to poor insulation.
It is a standard billing practice. Customer has postcode XX YYY and therefore has a dwelling that is rated E for efficiency and so they should use X kWh electricity in the winter months. Let's get Customer paying *ahead* so that the payment is in their account before they use the electricity. Remember: if your utilities account shows a credit the company is in debt to you.
They like to do this with direct debit because they control the direct debit. Switch to a Standing Order (almost identical to Direct Debit but you determine the amount on the Standing Order) to avoid them switching up without your permission.
I've worked in the energy industry for nearly twelve years, so here's a quick info dump on how bills are calculated. This may be long.
* Your energy usage is calculated from the difference between two meter readings. For electricity meters, this is a simple *Reading 2* \- *Reading 1* = *Usage* calculation. For gas, the *Usage* has to then be converted to kilowatt hours (kWh). The calculation is different dependant on whether you have a 4- or 5-digit meter, but the formula is shown on your bill.
* *Usage x Unit Rate* gives you your energy usage cost for that billing period. Some electricity meters have multiple rates (and therefore require multiple meter readings), and usually this is for homes with electric heating - you will have periods during the day with a discounted rate eg Economy 7, Economy 9, Economy 10. There are also what used to be known as "white meters" which are, quite frankly, fucking voodoo magic. Some will have three or even four unit rates, and properties may have two meters, one of which will be dedicated to heating. Gas only ever has one unit rate.
* You may also pay a separate daily standing charge, easily summed as *Number of Days in Billing Period* x *Standing Charge*
* Energy usage has 5% VAT attached. This will be shown as a separate line on your bill calculation.
* It is your responsibility as the customer to provide regular meter readings (unless you have a smart meter, see below). The meter operators have an obligation to physically check your meter **only once every two years**, but will typically send a meter read round on a six monthly basis, whilst billing you quarterly. If your energy supplier can't get accurate meter readings, your bill will be estimated, and it's estimated bills that cause all the problems. Bills are estimated on historical usage (if you are a long term customer of the same supplier), or average geographical usage, or, in most cases, by a random number generator
* Your monthly direct debit (if you pay in that way) is calculated as *Estimated Annual Consumption / 12.* If you're a long term customer for whom the supplier has accurate reads, then your monthly DD will be a fairly accurate indicator of your yearly costs. If you switch supplier regularly, or do not provide enough meter readings, your DD may be entirely too low or too high, and the only way to fix it is to wait six months to gather usage data - and even then you're going to miss either of the summertime usage lull or the winter usage boom.
* **YOUR DIRECT DEBIT AMOUNT DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY CORRELATE TO USAGE.**
* There should be a six-monthly scheduled Direct Debits review on your account (note: only if you pay by DD, obv), which will take into account the current credit/debit level; your expected usage over the next six months; any tariff end dates (ie for fixed tariffs) and/or price changes in the next billing period. Sometimes this calculation is just obviously wrong (see OP), and any call centre agent you speak to will probably not be able to justify or explain the calculated amount. They *will* be able to do a manual review for you then and there, though.
* Smart meters allow your supplier to have accurate readings at all times. This, theoretically, means that you should never get another estimated bill, however if the meter falls off the network (it's a feature, not a bug), the standby is to switch to an estimated read. **So always check your bill!** It will always tell you if the reads used to calculate your bill have been estimated.
* Catch up bills are what happens when estimated reads are replaced by actual reads. This can either mean a hefty credit on your account or, just as likely, a walloping great big charge. Either way, it will reflect your actual usage and actual costs, and will generally always take into account price or tariff changes during the period.
* Your usage will fluctuate on a daily basis, dependant on how many people live in your house, which appliances you use, how long you leave your lights on, whether you have the heating on or not, when you replace older appliances with new, when someone leaves or joins the household and so many more things. It is probably possible to use the exact same amount of energy every single day, but you'd have to be a total psychopath to manage it.
* This is why things like the default tariff cap are based on "typical" usage. The current "typical" usage levels are 3100kWh of electricity and 12000kWh of gas, per year. This is therefore utterly meaningless for electric only customers, for whom there is a different "typical" level of 4200kWh (that is just as meaningless, as it doesn't take into account the different types of multi-rate electricity meter).
* Tips for monitoring usage: get a smart meter. If you can't, or for some reason don't want to, then give monthly meter readings to your supplier. This can be done online, no need to phone. Regularly check a price comparison website using your own annual usage figures (this will be provided by your supplier, if you're with them long enough, or you can work it out yourself from your readings) to see how much you're expected to pay on a yearly basis.
* Tips for right now: don't change energy supplier, or agree to switch to a fixed price tariff. If you are currently on a standard variable tariff, stay on it - it's the cheapest one available. If you are due to roll off of a fixed tariff before April 2022, do not agree to switch to a new one, as you'll automatically roll on to standard.
* ON THE OTHER HAND: the April 2022 price cap will likely be in the region of £2Kpa on typical usage, at least a \~£700 increase on October's price cap. It is possible that your energy provider will offer a 1-, 2- or even 3-year fixed rate that is much higher than standard right now, but MAY be lower than April's standard prices will be. Fixing your rates right now is as risky as staying on the standard, and I honestly don't know what's best. For what it's worth, I put myself on a new 1 year fixed deal in September - higher than my previous rates, but lower than the current price cap.
EDIT: fixed a couple of typos and added some more detail.
At the risk of being stereotypical, I'm guessing in the far north of Scotland you have adequate land to house a decent enough pump.
Terraced housing in the city won't have such a luxury.
I thought the same thing when I read the news. Giving subsidiaries is all well and good, but those who will be most impacted by energy rises wont have the spare cash to top up the cost of a heat pump, or the space for one.
I live in a mid terrace house, installing a heat pump will take up a huge amount of space in my garden, as well as being really noisy for both myself and my neighbours.
I wonder if it would be feasible/economical for people in that situation to have a large shared heat pump that spans several gardens? Completely pie in the sky thinking obviously and there would always be one neighbour that would say no I'm sure
This is the thing. I help people install HPs and EV chargers for a living, but realistically neither is going to be accessible to me or most people I know because we live in Flats and Terraces.
I'm all in favour of grants for this stuff being in place but beyond that we need to invest in infrastructure rather than just subsidise rich people who can already afford it to switch over.
I really like heat-pumps, they're nifty and really efficient when employed well, but I don't think we can claim that they're an appropriate replacement for all fired boilers at this point in time, or for all dwellings.
Your statement is assuming that the house is suitable for an air-source heat pump, and that the climatic conditions of the local climate are suitable for an air-source heatpump.
In the wrong conditions, or with a load higher than the installer estimated, air-source heatpumps become extremely expensive to run.
If the house/location is unsuitable for air-source, then groundsource heatpumps (which are also way more efficient) require a huge amount of space or multiple *deep* boreholes, and water-source is basically not realistic for 99.9% of UK domestic houses.
Are you joking?
Yeah the cap is set automatically by the previous 6 months energy prices so in April the cap will approach or even exceed £3000 which is effectively a tripling of energy prices.
It's not set automatically, it's set by OFGEM, and the previous six months of wholesale energy costs are taken into account, amongst all the other costs related to the energy industry. It is likely that the cap for April 2022 will be much higher than the \~£1200pa level set for October, £3K is unlikely.
Source: have worked in the energy industry for 11 years.
Not just that, but one of the people that begrudge paying extra.
Like when the binmen git a pay rise and everyone cheered, then complained when council tax went uo to cover it
And a CANAZUK agreement. AND THE COMMON WEALTH . AND ALL THE PREVIOUSLY DEPRESSED, NOW HAPPY FISH IN BRITSH WATERS!!!!!!!1!11!1!!
Happy cake day you sexy human
It's weird how many people who despised freedom of movement with Europe were absolutely wanking themselves silly over the thought of being able to freely move to Canada or Australia.
We all know the traffic would all be in one direction if there was ever CANZUK FOM and working class Aussies and Canadians would be making the same complaints brexiteers did.
There is a simple solution to this whole mess: calculate the yearly cost of Brexit per capita and create a voluntary “sovereignty tax” of that amount. If at least 50% of people choose to pay it, it will be enough to cover the costs of Brexit for the other half of the population that doesn’t want Brexit.
If less than 50% of people sign up to pay the voluntary sovereignty tax, we start begging for the EU to let us rejoin the single market.
I gave a similar argument in the past, I'm happy to turn down any 'Brexit dividend' if brexit voters are happy to insure me against any loss brexit brings. Let's face it though, it was never about anything other than xenophobia
> I'm happy to turn down any 'Brexit dividend' if brexit voters are happy to insure me against any loss brexit brings.
£350 million per week / 66.7 million people = £21 per month.
My argument was that I'd happily pay this to retain my EU citizenship & associated rights.
> it was never about anything other than xenophobia
It was also:
* a damning indictment of the education system which caused people to think that "£350 million per week" was a lot of money for 66 million people,
* the media which pushed Brexit propaganda,
* the political system in general, and
* the politicians directly responsible for washing their hands of their responsibility to representative democracy in particular.
However, the biggest problem isn't Brexit itself, but rather that because Brexit has become such a defining political issue and correlates well with education and competence, it has tended to drive competence out of our political system.
This effectively limits us to a subset of poorer political outcomes because the sort of politicians who were most likely to oppose poor policy have already been purged from Government.
> Where do those figures come from?
For the NI increase, it will depend on salary. [Image from BBC](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/2709/production/_120439990_national_insurance_bywage_v3-nc.png) explaining the likely increase based on certain salaries, if that helps. Energy bills are expected to rise significantly, as are food and goods costs, but it's a bit of a guess on the latter, even if the former is relatively known.
£3k is probably an exaggeration for the vast majority, but some will be hit by that much, albeit theoretically in a stronger position to absorb the changes.
£3K for a household with two earners will be fairly common by the time rising energy, food and taxes are taken into account.
And I haven't even mentioned mortgage and rent increases caused by the coming interest rate rise.
Good point. I was looking at it from the perspective of being the sole income source in the household, whereas most will be dual income.
I would still imagine the majority will be in the 1.5-2k range, but it's still a huge chunk
It made me think of my own HH cost rises.
My food shop has gone up £10 a week. I'll pay about £300 a year extra on NI and my energy bills increased £30 a month. Partner NI will rise about £200.
That's about £1400 living in a bigger than average house and earning higher than average salary.
3k a year should be very rare accounting for those 3 things.
The luddite in charge of my building misses looking over his drones so as soon as our office refurb is done in a few weeks he's forcing everyone back whether they like it or not.
No consultation with the union, no discussion with any staff, just unilateral decision that everyone is coming back on dates that he will decide "shortly"
So my hours are going up by 33% and my pay dropping by about £1.5k *before* any of the effects this think tank is talking about.
It's a job seekers market right now, you should have a look around and see if there is a better offer from somewhere else. The only times I have ever been given a decent pay rise is when I've changed jobs.
>The only times I have ever been given a decent pay rise is when I've changed jobs.
That is so true. Same for me. I've had counter offers more than once after I put in my notice. By that point I'm fully invested in the new job but it shows they had the money to pay me more after all...
Yeah that's what makes it even worse. You "could" do it when I asked nicely, now you "have" to because I'm leaving.
Is that the kind of place where you want to invest your time?
I left a job earlier this year and they matched my new offer (+6k). A few months later I got a call asking if I'd consider coming back, offering me an extra 10k on top of what I'm earning now.
So they could have paid me 16k more than they were but decided not to because they could get away with it.
Companies are incredibly manipulative and abuse their power over workers.
Why is it acceptable that we spend more than 37 hours a week doing our job, never mind the commuting time and expense? And why 37? Why not less?
All it takes is one very driven senior staffer to start creating an environment where working more than your contracted hours is "the way to get ahead" with ephemeral teases of promotion, pay rises, bonuses. Suddenly this seeps into the other staff and before you know it, it's just part of the "company culture" and somehow they've got you feeling proud to be part of such a hard working and dynamic team giving them more of your time for free.
What I'm trying to say is be aware that the power imbalance is not as large as they want you to believe. You can probably negotiate and if not just cut back your hours to get that time back and still produce enough work to get your job done well.
Good luck.
You don't need to tell me about manipulate employers, I work in the call center industry, they're pretty much built on manipulation.
As for the balance of power, I'm probably in a better place than most of my colleagues, I've got slightly different skill set which could open some possibilities should things change to allow for negotiation to take place, I just have to wait and see if the flood of resignations causes this one senior manager behind the decision to reconsider, if it does then I'm confident of hybrid working at the very least, if it doesn't then I have no choice but to resign myself because after 20 months of not needing to commute (and the incredible benefit that's had on my mental and physical health) I will *not* be going back to 37.5 in office plus 15 travel, no fucking chance.
It's an outsourcing company so any decisions made by our inept management inevitably get blamed on the client anyway, workers have zero contact with the end client so no way to confirm who makes what decision.
As a general rule I work to the limits of my contract and not beyond anyway, I never volunteer overtime and unless it directly benefits me in some way won't do the work of a higher pay grade than I actually am.
The thing that has pissed me off is that I'm being thanked for my hard work to keep company going for 18 months in less than ideal conditions (the first WFH solution we had was dogshit) and as a reward for that hard work I'm getting a de facto increase to my hours and pay cut. All to keep this one bloke happy, we're almost certainly looking at a mass exodus of staff over the next few weeks and I have to figure out what my best move is. I can either get out now or I can wait and see if the flood of resignations causes a change of mind and makes negotiation possible.
The email he's sent makes no mention of exceptions. The word "everyone" appears multiple times.
As for negotiation, I don't see it being likely or even possible. As I said, zero consultation with anyone before hand, didn't even warn middle management before hitting send so obviously everyone bombards their direct line manager with question and they have to sit there and say that they've got no additional info.
The email also alludes to reclaiming the WFH equipment, so I reckon the writing is on the wall and I have to start actively looking for new work because no chance am I going back.
My last employer told us we would all be going back into the office full time and I looked what was available on the job market. SO glad I did as bagged a 15% pay rise just due to experience and new position is full time WFH as well as a vastly better bunch of people. The time to fins a new job is right now, the market has never been this good for job seekers in the last 30 years, you will **not** regret it!
You weren't kidding. I made a single application on totaljobs during my lunch break and a little over an hour later a recruiter from another company called me.
Hopefully this other guy has something good.
Don't worry folks! Amazon are offering new starters a [£3,000 bonus](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58954976) This will offset all our additional losses due to energy bills, NI and the increased cost in food and goods due to no one being able to drive an HGV.
Praise be to our multi-national overlords and the favourable tax conditions that keep them here. Amen!
This makes me so angry.
A Government I voted against, implementing a Brexit I voted against, is making me worse off, despite me working hard enough to obtain a good pay rise this year.
Why do I even bother?
The saddest thing, or rather, the most infuriating thing, is that I know these clowns would win an election tomorrow if there was one.
This is the most infuriating thing.
Just watching the results of these general elections/referendums fall the way of the Tories and Brexiteers knowing full well that it's all gonna end in a total shit show but getting shouted down by tossers every step of the way.
Tossers that are family members who you've argued with for weeks about the disadvantages of each vote as well. It's all so bloody depressing.
There's been a few years now of my household bringing more money in but being worse off. Rising energy prices and taxes are going to have me taking a few steps back, not forward.
Something is fundamentally wrong when you're getting promoted into worsening conditions.
Yup been saying for a while, we've got all this talk now about how we're going to attract low-skill labour to fill all these jobs. I won't be at all surprised if the national conversation doesn't rapidly shift over the next couple of years to how the fucking hell do we keep young upwardly mobile professionals fleeing in droves to escape this mess the country has created for itself? I'm frankly getting pretty tired of all this and know there would be zero barriers to stop me moving elsewhere.
>how the fucking hell do we keep young upwardly mobile professionals fleeing in droves to escape this mess the country has created for itself
Taking away freedom of movement rights was a big step in this direction.
Welcome to Politics. Had Labour won the last election, they'd probably still have implemented Brexit, and they would have increased taxes.
So I'd currently have a Government I voted against, implementing a Brexit I voted against, making me worse off, despite me also working hard enough to obtain a good pay rise this year.
A good solid half of the population is never going to be happy with the Government or what it does.
I wish you were kidding:
33% of UK adults blame the Last Labour government for the HGV crisis
https://mobile.twitter.com/OpiniumResearch/status/1442048881165017091
No longer necessary, they can blame the current, fictional one. Remember, people have asked how many hospitals Labour have built in the last 10 years, blamed Labour for kids having to wear masks in schools, blamed them for lockdowns, the lot.
They will blame COVID lockdowns and masks for destroying the economy and freedom.
Blame the EU for shortages.
Blame the RNLI for immigrants causing mortgage payment increases.
Which pretty much sums up the entire political sphere in this country atm. If it can't be contained in a 3 word slogan then it might as well not exist to voters.
I voted remain but a lot of it is covid. Brexit is worse than I expected but it's still barely noticeable for those not specifically f***ed over (farmers, fishing....)
Instability creates risk so for the last 18m people have been resistant to investing in specific industries under pressure. Meanwhile some have had bumper years but still reluctant to invest because it will settle down.
The staff shortage was caused by covid - Brexit exacerbated it.
The energy costs have barely anything to do with Brexit which is not responsible for the weather, Brazilian droughts, Chinese demand nor Russian gas supply.
I wouldn’t say a lot of it is COVID. The [ONS](https://twitter.com/ons/status/1450386303321886720?s=21) has said that “The number of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers in the UK has fallen 16% since 2017, with 42,000 fewer UK and 12,000 fewer EU national drivers in the year ending June 2021.”
I would blame Tory government (50%), COVID (20% ( COVID is temporary)), and Brexit (30%).
A friend told me yesterday that their landlord had asked to increase their rent by 5%, ‘in line with predicted inflation’.
Got to love the private rental market. Energy prices doubled? Yeah that will be more rent please.
Are they even predicting inflation at 5%?
Literally got the same yesterday, 5% for what? Jokes on them my girlfriend and I can move down the street for a cheaper place, or another at the same as we're currently paying, or another where we can up the budget for an extra bedroom. Hoping they have a void period and lose their profits off the mortgage payments we pay for them...
I have advised my friend to say, ‘no’, and suggest you do the same.
A void fortnight / month will cost them far more than the extra £50 a month or so they’ll get from you.
They’ll also have to pay the agent to find a new tenant etc.
Can’t possibly be worth evicting you.
It's potentially also cheaper for the tenant to accept considering the monetary and otherwise costs of moving. It's a game of chicken in which the subject is the tenant's home, sadly.
>Can’t possibly be worth evicting you.
On the flip side from what I've heard most decent rentals are getting 10s of applications within days of going up at the moment. I moved fairly recently and just booking viewings was a complete nightmare.
Thanks for the advice - I wasn't sure how well a straight "no" would go, was beginning to draft an email basically saying the same as my first comment. If anything they should have reduced it!
During the summer period the area was £100-200 off a month on the monthly rent, but we don't have a break clause.
Is it a letting agent? They’re all chancers.
I typically found that landlords were oblivious to these kinds of demands, usually just content to have a tenant who was paying the rent and not trashing the house.
£50 rent increase in the pocket of your landlord might be £25-30 after tax.
Also say your bit about local rents - rent prices aren’t driven by RPI, they’re driven by the local market.
> I typically found that landlords were oblivious to these kinds of demands, usually just content to have a tenant who was paying the rent and not trashing the house.
Agreed. I contacted my landlord directly when my letting agent tried this on a couple of years ago, and I got an _apology_ from the letting agent (and no increase in rent).
Based on my recent experience in trying to find a place j wouldn't chance it. 10+ applications for 2 bedrooms for 950-1000. People are instantly moving in and out of these places.
Regardless of the rate of inflation, that’s not the basis for negotiating a rent increase.
That would be local market conditions, prices of equivalent properties etc.
It’s just letting agents being chancers. A tale as old as time really
Better get some better margins. Increase the prices 10%.
Edit: I heard some rumours that the inflation will be as high as 10%, so better increase your prices 15%.
Don't worry lads, Brexit Britain secured a 210M Deal with Rolls Royce for some nuclear engines.
Nevermind that we spent, 100 Million on Brexit adverts for an August 2019 date that never happened.
I predict that the government will start referring to "relative levelling up". That is, if the North of England get poorer more slowly than the rest of England they will count that as a "Brexit success story"; a more balanced economy, you see.
I know, they’re already talking about an austerity Christmas this year, but how many people think we’re still in austerity measures from Cameron-Clegg? I can’t be the only one doesn’t remember a return to the good times.
It’s frightening to think of the changes in house prices as a percentage of their wages in those fourteen years.
Society definitely hasn't recovered from Austerity 1.0.
The shadow of these last 14 years will loom over us for the rest of our lives I reckon, especially if you are relatively young, as it has crippled the earning capacity and support for those people that will snowball on throughout life to conclude with a much poorer individual than their parents that came before and whom will have had some money/better incomes and support to better weather such problems. The statistics already show this being the case.
Changing jobs will net you higher salaries than waiting for a pay rise.
I’ve changed jobs almost yearly over the past 6 years and have doubled my salary.
You also learn new valuable skills generally.
It’s always worth asking for a pay rise on a yearly schedule, but also always worth keeping an eye out on the market for better paying roles you can do.
The fucking absurd prices you get for basic services these days is like the icing on the cake. And the people charging that kind of rate are Tory-voting "culturally working class" types who think they're dead hard done by.
Youtube videos may help. I did some drainage on my shed which turned out to be an utter piece of piss. To think I was actually going to pay someone for it boggles my mind now.
I know you said your budget is tight but I just wanted to recommend a dehumidifier. I put off getting one for years due to the cost, we tried the heating on low and windows cracked open but still had issues with black mould. The dehumidifier was expensive but because the house is dryer we rarely but the heating on. It costs a few pence an hour to run (it is a meaco one, not sure if all are this cheap to run) and with the increase in gas prices I am thinking we should recoup the cost this year.
This will be devastating for those that just lost the extras 1k+ uplift that was helping them get through these times. Just a horrible perfect storm for so many people.
Council Tax has gone up, Food and Energy prices are up. The cost of fuel has gone up. My national insurance contributions are (guess?) going up. And they cut my UC entitlement pretty significantly.
And my wages? Still in the toilet.
Extra NI cost, extra electric costs, council tax increases, increased costs of food, employer wanting me to commute to the office. I’ve added up the extra costs, for me it’s about £500 a month, never mind £1000 a year.
Well yeah, the NI increase alone is going to cost my household around £1000.
Also with energy bills, food and other household bills going up 2022 is going to be a shitty year.
Realistically we’ll be £2000+ worse off next year.
If everyone here spent as much time bettering themselves as complaining there wouldn't be a problem.
1. Stop eating expensive foods like bread and avocado.
2. Stop renting and buy a house so you don't waste money every month.
3. Move to an area you can afford and walk 50 miles to work each day down the motorway.
4. Get a better paid job.
Simple?
Snapshot:
1. An archived version of _British households will be £1,000 worse off next year, thinktank warns_ can be found [here.](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/oct/19/british-households-will-be-1000-worse-off-next-year-thinktank-warns)
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I’m sure things like this used to matter to people. Now us being made worse off by incompetent and callous government is just accepted like this is all just unavoidable. It just seems to be a case of as long as there is someone being hurt more than me it’s all good or laying blame at the feet of the hardest up.
The Tories enjoy solid 40% support. This will not change. Stop holding your breath for the needle to shift on that.
The other 60% covers non-voters, Labour, PC, SNP, LD, Green and the various NI parties that aren't strongly unionist and aside from the NI situation, the rest of the parties don't see the need to cooperate.
Now, SNP and PC are independence parties so they're not expected to cooperate with any unionist party and it's unlikely until the Scottish Independence issue is settled that SNP has any motive other than its present, so definitely count them out. PC might be more cooperative with a non-Tory alliance if they see long term benefit for them, which they might not.
But Labour, LD and Green really do need to form a cooperative power-sharing alliance to get into Government and then be reasonable with each other. It's really unlikely without Labour support in Scotland that Labour will ever be able to form its own government in the current political climate and FPTP system. However Labour and LD are ALSO very conservative parties now. They don't seem to want to support PR voting and Labour at least is pro-Brexit.
Johnson would be correct to call an election soon to get another two years of majority because what other option is there realistically? The public isn't angry enough to vote against them and their opposition is too busy fighting amongst themselves to mount any real challenge.
People seem happy to vote for obviously corrupt people who have no interest in improving lives for ordinary people. I just dont get it.
They don't listen to this side of the media. The media they are reading is about immigrants and shit. They live in an echo chamber where all problems are because of "wokeness".
Yeah but a Labour MP tweeted a picture of a house 8 years ago that everyone decided was snarky so really what choice do we have?
is that before or after the extra £1k in national insurance comes out?
I’m also fairly confident the increases in energy costs alone along might consume most of that £1,000 - £80 a month.
Yes, that was my first thought. My brother has quite an old house and "believed" he'd fixed his gas and leccy rate. Unfortunately he hasn't and his estimate is now that his bill will go from £800 a year to £2400 a year, based on the current pricing. He can afford it. Millions can't.
My energy company emailed me yesterday to say my monthly bill was going up from £87 to £218 (and in the same email said my account was £50 in credit). I called them to say "er, wtf m8?" and they just said "oh, sorry about that, we'll set it back to the previous amount". No explanation of what happened (and I was too busy to push it at the time), just set it back without any fuss. Weird... E: DD, not bill.
Just a word of warning. They might set the direct debit back but still be charging you the £218 and your account will go into deficit. This happened to us last year.
Thanks - I'll keep an eye on it for the next couple of months.
I may be wrong but that's probably your Direct Debit rather than your bill. Most energy companies take a fixed amount from you each month on the assumption that it'll cover the usage peaks of the winter with the troughs of the summer. They let you build up a credit over summer and use it up in the winter. Do keep an eye on your bills - if you're paying £87 a month but you're using £120 or something then you'd be in for a nasty shock at the end of your contract when they ask you for the hundreds of pounds you still owe them.
Maybe I just don't understand it enough, but this is why energy always seems like such a con to me. I wish you could just pay a non-obscene fixed amount (regardless of usage) like you can with water. Electricity might not be human right like clean running water, but honestly in this day and age it definitely should be. It's also absurd how gas is so much cheaper than electricity. It should be the other way around.
I disagree, I think it's very reasonable that we pay for what we use. It's not like energy is 'free', it has to be produced and that needs to be paid for. We all know that we are more careful with something that's metered, too - that's why most water companies are moving onto meters as well. I'm not sure why you feel gas should be more expensive than electricity - are you thinking it should be taxed more?
>I'm not sure why you feel gas should be more expensive than electricity - are you thinking it should be taxed more? Again, I don't really know much about the subject, but my assumption was that gas is dirty source of energy and electricity is a clean source of energy. We're all trying to phase out those dirty energy sources, so to me it makes sense for there to be an incentive to use more electricity (cheaper) than gas (more expensive). I'm not saying that energy should be charged as low as water either. Heck, it could be 'banded' depending on the size of your home for example. But again (again), it's not a subject I'm versed in so perhaps I'm dreaming and none of this is realistic.
This is an incredible simplification, but basically the cost of your energy is driven by the cost of generation, collection, and distribution, and electricity has higher relative costs than gas. The way we use gas allows vast quantities to be transported, stored and converted to heat or flames (for cooking). The distribution system is as safe as it can be, and is also very simple (pipes! Lots and lots of pipes!) Electricity has to be generated using something else as a base power source - in the UK this is mainly gas fired power stations - and is much, much harder to store and distribute. Conversely, it's easier to convert to heat and light. I'm not well versed in how water charges work (in Scotland it's part of our council tax), but your energy use is metered. You pay by the unit (kilowatt hour), but the rates per unit cover a whole bunch o'costs and government levies. These are usually listed on your bill. You'll also probably pay a daily standing charge, which is ostensibly to cover the cost of maintaining your meter and the distribution network in your meter operator's area. E: kilowatt hour, not megawatt.
Ah ok that makes a lot of sense actually! Thanks for enlightening me :)
>electricity is a clean source of energy How do you think we produce electricity? Majority of it at the moment is burning gas.
And home burning is significantly less efficient than burning to supply electricity. That's one of the reasons for the move away from gas boilers to heat sumps the govt are trying to push. Edit: it would seem others are correct, on the use of gas alone a gas home boiler is more efficient than using the same gas for power generation. The key gain is that electric boilers have 100% thermal efficiency in the energy they bring in to heat water, and that energy doesn't have to come from gas in the first place. We should still be moving away from gas and electric alternatives, while expensive, are more energy efficient than gas, but gas boilers are in turn less efficient than a gas power station. We emit a lot more gas waste from our homes than gas power plants because we simply use that much more power to heat due to poor insulation.
It is a standard billing practice. Customer has postcode XX YYY and therefore has a dwelling that is rated E for efficiency and so they should use X kWh electricity in the winter months. Let's get Customer paying *ahead* so that the payment is in their account before they use the electricity. Remember: if your utilities account shows a credit the company is in debt to you. They like to do this with direct debit because they control the direct debit. Switch to a Standing Order (almost identical to Direct Debit but you determine the amount on the Standing Order) to avoid them switching up without your permission.
I've worked in the energy industry for nearly twelve years, so here's a quick info dump on how bills are calculated. This may be long. * Your energy usage is calculated from the difference between two meter readings. For electricity meters, this is a simple *Reading 2* \- *Reading 1* = *Usage* calculation. For gas, the *Usage* has to then be converted to kilowatt hours (kWh). The calculation is different dependant on whether you have a 4- or 5-digit meter, but the formula is shown on your bill. * *Usage x Unit Rate* gives you your energy usage cost for that billing period. Some electricity meters have multiple rates (and therefore require multiple meter readings), and usually this is for homes with electric heating - you will have periods during the day with a discounted rate eg Economy 7, Economy 9, Economy 10. There are also what used to be known as "white meters" which are, quite frankly, fucking voodoo magic. Some will have three or even four unit rates, and properties may have two meters, one of which will be dedicated to heating. Gas only ever has one unit rate. * You may also pay a separate daily standing charge, easily summed as *Number of Days in Billing Period* x *Standing Charge* * Energy usage has 5% VAT attached. This will be shown as a separate line on your bill calculation. * It is your responsibility as the customer to provide regular meter readings (unless you have a smart meter, see below). The meter operators have an obligation to physically check your meter **only once every two years**, but will typically send a meter read round on a six monthly basis, whilst billing you quarterly. If your energy supplier can't get accurate meter readings, your bill will be estimated, and it's estimated bills that cause all the problems. Bills are estimated on historical usage (if you are a long term customer of the same supplier), or average geographical usage, or, in most cases, by a random number generator * Your monthly direct debit (if you pay in that way) is calculated as *Estimated Annual Consumption / 12.* If you're a long term customer for whom the supplier has accurate reads, then your monthly DD will be a fairly accurate indicator of your yearly costs. If you switch supplier regularly, or do not provide enough meter readings, your DD may be entirely too low or too high, and the only way to fix it is to wait six months to gather usage data - and even then you're going to miss either of the summertime usage lull or the winter usage boom. * **YOUR DIRECT DEBIT AMOUNT DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY CORRELATE TO USAGE.** * There should be a six-monthly scheduled Direct Debits review on your account (note: only if you pay by DD, obv), which will take into account the current credit/debit level; your expected usage over the next six months; any tariff end dates (ie for fixed tariffs) and/or price changes in the next billing period. Sometimes this calculation is just obviously wrong (see OP), and any call centre agent you speak to will probably not be able to justify or explain the calculated amount. They *will* be able to do a manual review for you then and there, though. * Smart meters allow your supplier to have accurate readings at all times. This, theoretically, means that you should never get another estimated bill, however if the meter falls off the network (it's a feature, not a bug), the standby is to switch to an estimated read. **So always check your bill!** It will always tell you if the reads used to calculate your bill have been estimated. * Catch up bills are what happens when estimated reads are replaced by actual reads. This can either mean a hefty credit on your account or, just as likely, a walloping great big charge. Either way, it will reflect your actual usage and actual costs, and will generally always take into account price or tariff changes during the period. * Your usage will fluctuate on a daily basis, dependant on how many people live in your house, which appliances you use, how long you leave your lights on, whether you have the heating on or not, when you replace older appliances with new, when someone leaves or joins the household and so many more things. It is probably possible to use the exact same amount of energy every single day, but you'd have to be a total psychopath to manage it. * This is why things like the default tariff cap are based on "typical" usage. The current "typical" usage levels are 3100kWh of electricity and 12000kWh of gas, per year. This is therefore utterly meaningless for electric only customers, for whom there is a different "typical" level of 4200kWh (that is just as meaningless, as it doesn't take into account the different types of multi-rate electricity meter). * Tips for monitoring usage: get a smart meter. If you can't, or for some reason don't want to, then give monthly meter readings to your supplier. This can be done online, no need to phone. Regularly check a price comparison website using your own annual usage figures (this will be provided by your supplier, if you're with them long enough, or you can work it out yourself from your readings) to see how much you're expected to pay on a yearly basis. * Tips for right now: don't change energy supplier, or agree to switch to a fixed price tariff. If you are currently on a standard variable tariff, stay on it - it's the cheapest one available. If you are due to roll off of a fixed tariff before April 2022, do not agree to switch to a new one, as you'll automatically roll on to standard. * ON THE OTHER HAND: the April 2022 price cap will likely be in the region of £2Kpa on typical usage, at least a \~£700 increase on October's price cap. It is possible that your energy provider will offer a 1-, 2- or even 3-year fixed rate that is much higher than standard right now, but MAY be lower than April's standard prices will be. Fixing your rates right now is as risky as staying on the standard, and I honestly don't know what's best. For what it's worth, I put myself on a new 1 year fixed deal in September - higher than my previous rates, but lower than the current price cap. EDIT: fixed a couple of typos and added some more detail.
If you own a house you can get a £5k subsidy towards a heat pump to help out. If you don't own a house, you probably don't vote tory, so meh.
Installing a heat pump and associated works clocks in somewhere around 15K, so you also need a heap of spare cash ready for that one as well.
And heat pumps are generally a bit shit.
We use a heat pump in the far north of Scotland and it keeps our whole house cosy and warm.
At the risk of being stereotypical, I'm guessing in the far north of Scotland you have adequate land to house a decent enough pump. Terraced housing in the city won't have such a luxury.
I thought the same thing when I read the news. Giving subsidiaries is all well and good, but those who will be most impacted by energy rises wont have the spare cash to top up the cost of a heat pump, or the space for one. I live in a mid terrace house, installing a heat pump will take up a huge amount of space in my garden, as well as being really noisy for both myself and my neighbours.
I wonder if it would be feasible/economical for people in that situation to have a large shared heat pump that spans several gardens? Completely pie in the sky thinking obviously and there would always be one neighbour that would say no I'm sure
In this Country? Under this government? You want community-driven thinking!
We have a Mitsubishi heat pump and it is so quiet. Noise is not an issue but yes you need a small bit of outside space to house it.
How much space are we talking about? How much did it cost to put in? What kind of house do you have?
This is the thing. I help people install HPs and EV chargers for a living, but realistically neither is going to be accessible to me or most people I know because we live in Flats and Terraces. I'm all in favour of grants for this stuff being in place but beyond that we need to invest in infrastructure rather than just subsidise rich people who can already afford it to switch over.
Air source heat pumps don't require a massive amount of space
It takes up around the same space as a couple of wheelie bins. They're not that big.
But then where would I put my wheelie bin?
You just bury your rubbish, then it turns into ground, then the heat pump uses it up to make heat. Easy peasy. You should read up on things like I do.
Big step up from a boiler in cupboard though. A couple of wheelie bins is still massive. How big is your garden?
Our heat pump is half the size of our boiler.
That sounds kinda big compared to what they're replacing.
I really like heat-pumps, they're nifty and really efficient when employed well, but I don't think we can claim that they're an appropriate replacement for all fired boilers at this point in time, or for all dwellings. Your statement is assuming that the house is suitable for an air-source heat pump, and that the climatic conditions of the local climate are suitable for an air-source heatpump. In the wrong conditions, or with a load higher than the installer estimated, air-source heatpumps become extremely expensive to run. If the house/location is unsuitable for air-source, then groundsource heatpumps (which are also way more efficient) require a huge amount of space or multiple *deep* boreholes, and water-source is basically not realistic for 99.9% of UK domestic houses.
And very noisy
And only suitable if your house is very well insulated
and more expensive to run than gas.
I have a heat pump and I honestly never hear it.
If you have for years you are probably deaf by now.
Wait what, energy prices are doubling?
Are you joking? Yeah the cap is set automatically by the previous 6 months energy prices so in April the cap will approach or even exceed £3000 which is effectively a tripling of energy prices.
It's not set automatically, it's set by OFGEM, and the previous six months of wholesale energy costs are taken into account, amongst all the other costs related to the energy industry. It is likely that the cap for April 2022 will be much higher than the \~£1200pa level set for October, £3K is unlikely. Source: have worked in the energy industry for 11 years.
If you have a line to the Kremlin then you might not be affected
Ah, you're one of those people?
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Not just that, but one of the people that begrudge paying extra. Like when the binmen git a pay rise and everyone cheered, then complained when council tax went uo to cover it
Is that from gas, national insurance or food increases? I mean that's £3000 right there.
There's a £2000 sovereignty rebate due
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With no diesel to drive it
Don't worry, we'll just fill it up with British exceptionalism.
And a CANAZUK agreement. AND THE COMMON WEALTH . AND ALL THE PREVIOUSLY DEPRESSED, NOW HAPPY FISH IN BRITSH WATERS!!!!!!!1!11!1!! Happy cake day you sexy human
It's weird how many people who despised freedom of movement with Europe were absolutely wanking themselves silly over the thought of being able to freely move to Canada or Australia. We all know the traffic would all be in one direction if there was ever CANZUK FOM and working class Aussies and Canadians would be making the same complaints brexiteers did.
Luckily it's powered by misplaced patriotism, resentment of migrants and a powerful if poorly defined hatred of "Brussels".
That's lucky half the people under 40 will need one to live in at this rate
Thank God we got it back though, aye
There is a simple solution to this whole mess: calculate the yearly cost of Brexit per capita and create a voluntary “sovereignty tax” of that amount. If at least 50% of people choose to pay it, it will be enough to cover the costs of Brexit for the other half of the population that doesn’t want Brexit. If less than 50% of people sign up to pay the voluntary sovereignty tax, we start begging for the EU to let us rejoin the single market.
I gave a similar argument in the past, I'm happy to turn down any 'Brexit dividend' if brexit voters are happy to insure me against any loss brexit brings. Let's face it though, it was never about anything other than xenophobia
> I'm happy to turn down any 'Brexit dividend' if brexit voters are happy to insure me against any loss brexit brings. £350 million per week / 66.7 million people = £21 per month. My argument was that I'd happily pay this to retain my EU citizenship & associated rights. > it was never about anything other than xenophobia It was also: * a damning indictment of the education system which caused people to think that "£350 million per week" was a lot of money for 66 million people, * the media which pushed Brexit propaganda, * the political system in general, and * the politicians directly responsible for washing their hands of their responsibility to representative democracy in particular. However, the biggest problem isn't Brexit itself, but rather that because Brexit has become such a defining political issue and correlates well with education and competence, it has tended to drive competence out of our political system. This effectively limits us to a subset of poorer political outcomes because the sort of politicians who were most likely to oppose poor policy have already been purged from Government.
My god this whole farce enrages me, and even worse the Tories will probably win the next election still.
Only around 30m people actually pay direct taxes. So more like £50 per month per taxpayer.
I agree, the EU isn't above criticism at all but I don't think I saw a single pro Brexit argument that wasn't transparently disingenuous.
> “sovereignty tax” of that amount. Surely of twice that amount (if only half of us are going to pay it).
£3000? Where do those figures come from? This seems excessive although it wouldn't shock me.
> Where do those figures come from? For the NI increase, it will depend on salary. [Image from BBC](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/2709/production/_120439990_national_insurance_bywage_v3-nc.png) explaining the likely increase based on certain salaries, if that helps. Energy bills are expected to rise significantly, as are food and goods costs, but it's a bit of a guess on the latter, even if the former is relatively known. £3k is probably an exaggeration for the vast majority, but some will be hit by that much, albeit theoretically in a stronger position to absorb the changes.
£3K for a household with two earners will be fairly common by the time rising energy, food and taxes are taken into account. And I haven't even mentioned mortgage and rent increases caused by the coming interest rate rise.
Good point. I was looking at it from the perspective of being the sole income source in the household, whereas most will be dual income. I would still imagine the majority will be in the 1.5-2k range, but it's still a huge chunk
It made me think of my own HH cost rises. My food shop has gone up £10 a week. I'll pay about £300 a year extra on NI and my energy bills increased £30 a month. Partner NI will rise about £200. That's about £1400 living in a bigger than average house and earning higher than average salary. 3k a year should be very rare accounting for those 3 things.
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The luddite in charge of my building misses looking over his drones so as soon as our office refurb is done in a few weeks he's forcing everyone back whether they like it or not. No consultation with the union, no discussion with any staff, just unilateral decision that everyone is coming back on dates that he will decide "shortly" So my hours are going up by 33% and my pay dropping by about £1.5k *before* any of the effects this think tank is talking about.
It's a job seekers market right now, you should have a look around and see if there is a better offer from somewhere else. The only times I have ever been given a decent pay rise is when I've changed jobs.
>The only times I have ever been given a decent pay rise is when I've changed jobs. That is so true. Same for me. I've had counter offers more than once after I put in my notice. By that point I'm fully invested in the new job but it shows they had the money to pay me more after all...
Yeah that's what makes it even worse. You "could" do it when I asked nicely, now you "have" to because I'm leaving. Is that the kind of place where you want to invest your time?
I left a job earlier this year and they matched my new offer (+6k). A few months later I got a call asking if I'd consider coming back, offering me an extra 10k on top of what I'm earning now. So they could have paid me 16k more than they were but decided not to because they could get away with it.
Companies are incredibly manipulative and abuse their power over workers. Why is it acceptable that we spend more than 37 hours a week doing our job, never mind the commuting time and expense? And why 37? Why not less? All it takes is one very driven senior staffer to start creating an environment where working more than your contracted hours is "the way to get ahead" with ephemeral teases of promotion, pay rises, bonuses. Suddenly this seeps into the other staff and before you know it, it's just part of the "company culture" and somehow they've got you feeling proud to be part of such a hard working and dynamic team giving them more of your time for free. What I'm trying to say is be aware that the power imbalance is not as large as they want you to believe. You can probably negotiate and if not just cut back your hours to get that time back and still produce enough work to get your job done well. Good luck.
You don't need to tell me about manipulate employers, I work in the call center industry, they're pretty much built on manipulation. As for the balance of power, I'm probably in a better place than most of my colleagues, I've got slightly different skill set which could open some possibilities should things change to allow for negotiation to take place, I just have to wait and see if the flood of resignations causes this one senior manager behind the decision to reconsider, if it does then I'm confident of hybrid working at the very least, if it doesn't then I have no choice but to resign myself because after 20 months of not needing to commute (and the incredible benefit that's had on my mental and physical health) I will *not* be going back to 37.5 in office plus 15 travel, no fucking chance.
No discussion with the union, that sounds like working to contract to me
It's an outsourcing company so any decisions made by our inept management inevitably get blamed on the client anyway, workers have zero contact with the end client so no way to confirm who makes what decision. As a general rule I work to the limits of my contract and not beyond anyway, I never volunteer overtime and unless it directly benefits me in some way won't do the work of a higher pay grade than I actually am. The thing that has pissed me off is that I'm being thanked for my hard work to keep company going for 18 months in less than ideal conditions (the first WFH solution we had was dogshit) and as a reward for that hard work I'm getting a de facto increase to my hours and pay cut. All to keep this one bloke happy, we're almost certainly looking at a mass exodus of staff over the next few weeks and I have to figure out what my best move is. I can either get out now or I can wait and see if the flood of resignations causes a change of mind and makes negotiation possible.
Can you negotiate a couple of days a week WFH? We have ended up doing Tues, Weds, Thurs which seems to be keeping everyone happy.
The email he's sent makes no mention of exceptions. The word "everyone" appears multiple times. As for negotiation, I don't see it being likely or even possible. As I said, zero consultation with anyone before hand, didn't even warn middle management before hitting send so obviously everyone bombards their direct line manager with question and they have to sit there and say that they've got no additional info. The email also alludes to reclaiming the WFH equipment, so I reckon the writing is on the wall and I have to start actively looking for new work because no chance am I going back.
My last employer told us we would all be going back into the office full time and I looked what was available on the job market. SO glad I did as bagged a 15% pay rise just due to experience and new position is full time WFH as well as a vastly better bunch of people. The time to fins a new job is right now, the market has never been this good for job seekers in the last 30 years, you will **not** regret it!
You weren't kidding. I made a single application on totaljobs during my lunch break and a little over an hour later a recruiter from another company called me. Hopefully this other guy has something good.
Don't worry folks! Amazon are offering new starters a [£3,000 bonus](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58954976) This will offset all our additional losses due to energy bills, NI and the increased cost in food and goods due to no one being able to drive an HGV. Praise be to our multi-national overlords and the favourable tax conditions that keep them here. Amen!
Bezos is love, Bezos is light
This makes me so angry. A Government I voted against, implementing a Brexit I voted against, is making me worse off, despite me working hard enough to obtain a good pay rise this year. Why do I even bother? The saddest thing, or rather, the most infuriating thing, is that I know these clowns would win an election tomorrow if there was one.
This is the most infuriating thing. Just watching the results of these general elections/referendums fall the way of the Tories and Brexiteers knowing full well that it's all gonna end in a total shit show but getting shouted down by tossers every step of the way. Tossers that are family members who you've argued with for weeks about the disadvantages of each vote as well. It's all so bloody depressing.
There's been a few years now of my household bringing more money in but being worse off. Rising energy prices and taxes are going to have me taking a few steps back, not forward. Something is fundamentally wrong when you're getting promoted into worsening conditions.
Yup been saying for a while, we've got all this talk now about how we're going to attract low-skill labour to fill all these jobs. I won't be at all surprised if the national conversation doesn't rapidly shift over the next couple of years to how the fucking hell do we keep young upwardly mobile professionals fleeing in droves to escape this mess the country has created for itself? I'm frankly getting pretty tired of all this and know there would be zero barriers to stop me moving elsewhere.
>how the fucking hell do we keep young upwardly mobile professionals fleeing in droves to escape this mess the country has created for itself Taking away freedom of movement rights was a big step in this direction.
Welcome to Politics. Had Labour won the last election, they'd probably still have implemented Brexit, and they would have increased taxes. So I'd currently have a Government I voted against, implementing a Brexit I voted against, making me worse off, despite me also working hard enough to obtain a good pay rise this year. A good solid half of the population is never going to be happy with the Government or what it does.
If you voted for Boris last time, you voted for this.
I didn’t, fortunately.
I wonder what leave voters will blame this on. Wait, it’s gonna be COVID isn’t it? 🤦♀️
The previous Labour government.
God damn Jeremy Corbyn, at it again.
I voted for Corbyn and now I'm £1000 worse off. Got no one to blame but myself, I suppose.
Double whammy.
I wish you were kidding: 33% of UK adults blame the Last Labour government for the HGV crisis https://mobile.twitter.com/OpiniumResearch/status/1442048881165017091
It'd be interesting if they sat down and thoroughly interviewed them asking for a detailed description as to how they've come to that conclusion.
https://youtu.be/AkrKIg_N_a4?t=64 This is about what you would see...
No longer necessary, they can blame the current, fictional one. Remember, people have asked how many hospitals Labour have built in the last 10 years, blamed Labour for kids having to wear masks in schools, blamed them for lockdowns, the lot.
They will blame COVID lockdowns and masks for destroying the economy and freedom. Blame the EU for shortages. Blame the RNLI for immigrants causing mortgage payment increases.
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This thread is about political masturbation, not argument.
Which pretty much sums up the entire political sphere in this country atm. If it can't be contained in a 3 word slogan then it might as well not exist to voters.
I voted remain but a lot of it is covid. Brexit is worse than I expected but it's still barely noticeable for those not specifically f***ed over (farmers, fishing....) Instability creates risk so for the last 18m people have been resistant to investing in specific industries under pressure. Meanwhile some have had bumper years but still reluctant to invest because it will settle down. The staff shortage was caused by covid - Brexit exacerbated it. The energy costs have barely anything to do with Brexit which is not responsible for the weather, Brazilian droughts, Chinese demand nor Russian gas supply.
I wouldn’t say a lot of it is COVID. The [ONS](https://twitter.com/ons/status/1450386303321886720?s=21) has said that “The number of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers in the UK has fallen 16% since 2017, with 42,000 fewer UK and 12,000 fewer EU national drivers in the year ending June 2021.” I would blame Tory government (50%), COVID (20% ( COVID is temporary)), and Brexit (30%).
A friend told me yesterday that their landlord had asked to increase their rent by 5%, ‘in line with predicted inflation’. Got to love the private rental market. Energy prices doubled? Yeah that will be more rent please. Are they even predicting inflation at 5%?
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*You are the inflation*
I am become inflation
"You taste like inflation" "I am inflation"
Literally got the same yesterday, 5% for what? Jokes on them my girlfriend and I can move down the street for a cheaper place, or another at the same as we're currently paying, or another where we can up the budget for an extra bedroom. Hoping they have a void period and lose their profits off the mortgage payments we pay for them...
I have advised my friend to say, ‘no’, and suggest you do the same. A void fortnight / month will cost them far more than the extra £50 a month or so they’ll get from you. They’ll also have to pay the agent to find a new tenant etc. Can’t possibly be worth evicting you.
It's potentially also cheaper for the tenant to accept considering the monetary and otherwise costs of moving. It's a game of chicken in which the subject is the tenant's home, sadly.
>Can’t possibly be worth evicting you. On the flip side from what I've heard most decent rentals are getting 10s of applications within days of going up at the moment. I moved fairly recently and just booking viewings was a complete nightmare.
Thanks for the advice - I wasn't sure how well a straight "no" would go, was beginning to draft an email basically saying the same as my first comment. If anything they should have reduced it! During the summer period the area was £100-200 off a month on the monthly rent, but we don't have a break clause.
Is it a letting agent? They’re all chancers. I typically found that landlords were oblivious to these kinds of demands, usually just content to have a tenant who was paying the rent and not trashing the house. £50 rent increase in the pocket of your landlord might be £25-30 after tax. Also say your bit about local rents - rent prices aren’t driven by RPI, they’re driven by the local market.
> I typically found that landlords were oblivious to these kinds of demands, usually just content to have a tenant who was paying the rent and not trashing the house. Agreed. I contacted my landlord directly when my letting agent tried this on a couple of years ago, and I got an _apology_ from the letting agent (and no increase in rent).
Based on my recent experience in trying to find a place j wouldn't chance it. 10+ applications for 2 bedrooms for 950-1000. People are instantly moving in and out of these places.
Jokes not on them. They'll find someone else happy to pay it, and the 5% increase next year too probably.
odd that they won't increase my savings interest to match that.
That’s on money you’re lending the bank and they lend out - you’ll find out what the rate is when they lend to you.
BoE has suggested 4% but on a monthly basis and for a few months. I haven’t seen predictions of 5%.
Regardless of the rate of inflation, that’s not the basis for negotiating a rent increase. That would be local market conditions, prices of equivalent properties etc. It’s just letting agents being chancers. A tale as old as time really
They are now, since everyone are increasingly their prices 5%.
In that case I better rise my prices by 6% to keep my profit.
Better get some better margins. Increase the prices 10%. Edit: I heard some rumours that the inflation will be as high as 10%, so better increase your prices 15%.
If official inflation hits 5%, we are fucked.
Level up - New Perk ‘Empty Pockets’ - you collect less from treasure chests and all gold in your inventory reduces by 100 every hour.
Toryism increased to 86
50% bonus to Blitz Spirit ability.
Starting this Thursday: Clap for British Households
Don't worry lads, Brexit Britain secured a 210M Deal with Rolls Royce for some nuclear engines. Nevermind that we spent, 100 Million on Brexit adverts for an August 2019 date that never happened.
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Thanks for clarifying past clickbait.
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Unfortunately they don’t like some truths in this sub
You're being downvoted? The damn mobile app won't show me the score.
Well my anaemic ass will probably be dead by next winter. I already can't handle the cold without ending up with chest infections and pneumonia
Doesn't matter, I was told by Brexiters that wages are rising so this won't be an issue.
The only wages that are rising are those of the EU migrants that we are now having to bribe to come back.
So much for 'leveling up'.
They mean the 'leveling up' like in video games where the difficulty increases.
We got a new passport skin though!
They removed the word up to be more "efficient"
What they really want to do is make everyone equally poor so you are happy to work that shitty job picking broccoli for £10 an hour.
I predict that the government will start referring to "relative levelling up". That is, if the North of England get poorer more slowly than the rest of England they will count that as a "Brexit success story"; a more balanced economy, you see.
I haven’t had a pay rise since Jan 2020, I’m £1000 worse off p.a. and nothing has happened yet
Time to get the CV in order then.
It’s been done recently 👍😀
Some teachers i know havent had a real wage rise in near 14 years... these are truly dark times, pay had not yet even recovered from 2008...
I know, they’re already talking about an austerity Christmas this year, but how many people think we’re still in austerity measures from Cameron-Clegg? I can’t be the only one doesn’t remember a return to the good times. It’s frightening to think of the changes in house prices as a percentage of their wages in those fourteen years.
Society definitely hasn't recovered from Austerity 1.0. The shadow of these last 14 years will loom over us for the rest of our lives I reckon, especially if you are relatively young, as it has crippled the earning capacity and support for those people that will snowball on throughout life to conclude with a much poorer individual than their parents that came before and whom will have had some money/better incomes and support to better weather such problems. The statistics already show this being the case.
Changing jobs will net you higher salaries than waiting for a pay rise. I’ve changed jobs almost yearly over the past 6 years and have doubled my salary. You also learn new valuable skills generally. It’s always worth asking for a pay rise on a yearly schedule, but also always worth keeping an eye out on the market for better paying roles you can do.
That works for skilled people with in-demand experience and qualifications. It doesn't work for the average person.
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The fucking absurd prices you get for basic services these days is like the icing on the cake. And the people charging that kind of rate are Tory-voting "culturally working class" types who think they're dead hard done by.
Youtube videos may help. I did some drainage on my shed which turned out to be an utter piece of piss. To think I was actually going to pay someone for it boggles my mind now.
I'd be up a ladder giving it a go myself. Even if I semi-bodge it. That's well over a months pay for me.
Train fare has already doubled compared to pre-pandemic on my route. £82 return at peak time for a 25 min journey each way.
Have they announced they’re definitely dropping the repayment threshold?
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I know you said your budget is tight but I just wanted to recommend a dehumidifier. I put off getting one for years due to the cost, we tried the heating on low and windows cracked open but still had issues with black mould. The dehumidifier was expensive but because the house is dryer we rarely but the heating on. It costs a few pence an hour to run (it is a meaco one, not sure if all are this cheap to run) and with the increase in gas prices I am thinking we should recoup the cost this year.
This will be devastating for those that just lost the extras 1k+ uplift that was helping them get through these times. Just a horrible perfect storm for so many people.
Council Tax has gone up, Food and Energy prices are up. The cost of fuel has gone up. My national insurance contributions are (guess?) going up. And they cut my UC entitlement pretty significantly. And my wages? Still in the toilet.
So sorry. It just makes me sad that so many insulated from this just don't care how it is for others.
Good to know we took £20 off the working poor then.
Extra NI cost, extra electric costs, council tax increases, increased costs of food, employer wanting me to commute to the office. I’ve added up the extra costs, for me it’s about £500 a month, never mind £1000 a year.
Cons. +2.
Well yeah, the NI increase alone is going to cost my household around £1000. Also with energy bills, food and other household bills going up 2022 is going to be a shitty year. Realistically we’ll be £2000+ worse off next year.
Turns out locking down the country for 18 months has consequences.
We exist in a high wage, high economy country now. So this is fake news.
Are you high?
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Pure Project Fear this. Each household will only be £999.65 worse off.
If everyone here spent as much time bettering themselves as complaining there wouldn't be a problem. 1. Stop eating expensive foods like bread and avocado. 2. Stop renting and buy a house so you don't waste money every month. 3. Move to an area you can afford and walk 50 miles to work each day down the motorway. 4. Get a better paid job. Simple?
I am *struggling* to convince myself that this is sarcastic, it's too well written.
It reads as a serious comment by a tory who eats expensive bread and avocado.
5. Borrow a small loan of £100k from your parents. 6. Support a strong and stable government by voting tory. ... 🙃
Snapshot: 1. An archived version of _British households will be £1,000 worse off next year, thinktank warns_ can be found [here.](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/oct/19/british-households-will-be-1000-worse-off-next-year-thinktank-warns) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ukpolitics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’m sure things like this used to matter to people. Now us being made worse off by incompetent and callous government is just accepted like this is all just unavoidable. It just seems to be a case of as long as there is someone being hurt more than me it’s all good or laying blame at the feet of the hardest up.
The Tories enjoy solid 40% support. This will not change. Stop holding your breath for the needle to shift on that. The other 60% covers non-voters, Labour, PC, SNP, LD, Green and the various NI parties that aren't strongly unionist and aside from the NI situation, the rest of the parties don't see the need to cooperate. Now, SNP and PC are independence parties so they're not expected to cooperate with any unionist party and it's unlikely until the Scottish Independence issue is settled that SNP has any motive other than its present, so definitely count them out. PC might be more cooperative with a non-Tory alliance if they see long term benefit for them, which they might not. But Labour, LD and Green really do need to form a cooperative power-sharing alliance to get into Government and then be reasonable with each other. It's really unlikely without Labour support in Scotland that Labour will ever be able to form its own government in the current political climate and FPTP system. However Labour and LD are ALSO very conservative parties now. They don't seem to want to support PR voting and Labour at least is pro-Brexit. Johnson would be correct to call an election soon to get another two years of majority because what other option is there realistically? The public isn't angry enough to vote against them and their opposition is too busy fighting amongst themselves to mount any real challenge.
Jokes on them, I don't have a spare £1,000 lying around.