Energy bills may force Brits to return to the office – media

A growing number of people find working from home too costly

A growing number of UK residents may soon stop working from home and go back to the office due to rising household energy bills, CNBC reported on Thursday, citing analysts.

According to the report, a survey by MoneySuperMarket showed that 14% of 2,000 UK residents plan to spend more time working from the office to lower energy bills. The figure is much higher (23%) among young adults aged between 18 and 24.

According to the UK Office for National Statistics, around one in seven UK residents worked from home between April 28 and May 8. However, various forecasts show that the energy price cap, which currently stands at £1,971 ($2,329) a year, could soon jump as high as £6,089 ($7,195) due to a shortage of gas and other economic pressures.

“The massive energy bill hikes that are coming in October and January are going to push workers to think about how they can keep costs down. It might be that they would rather use their office’s energy rather than their own,” Matt Copeland, head of policy and public affairs at fuel poverty charity National Energy Action, told CNBC.

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Another expert added that commuting expenses may soon be less significant than the money Brits will have to spend on heating their homes.

“There's a point when energy bills are hike[d] so high that it would be cheaper to commute to work than heat your home during the day, and for some people it will be enough to prompt a return to work,” Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, was quoted as saying.

Analysts note that the relative economy of working from home or the office depends on a variety of factors, but say many may soon be forced to reevaluate the pros and cons of both.

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