Brits to ditch home working as heating bills soar

LONDON — High heating bills and the prospect of working in a cold and uncomfortable house this winter might soon push more Brits to go back into the office.

Seven in 10 (14%) of 2,000 people surveyed plan to spend more time working from the office to reduce home energy bills, according to research by price comparison site MoneySuperMarket. This figure increases to almost a quarter (23%) when looking at 18-to-24 year olds.

The U.K.’s annual energy price cap is poised to increase to more than £3,500 ($4,131) this year and one fuel poverty charity is urging the government to take action “urgently” to tackle the problem.

Energy consultancy Auxilione estimates the price cap, currently at £1,971 a year, could climb to as high as £6,089 next April as Britain’s cost-of-living crisis worsens. The price cap essentially limits the amount a supplier can charge for their tariffs, but this limit has surged higher recently due to the rise in wholesale prices — meaning Brits have seen bills skyrocket.

Meanwhile, around one in seven working adults in the U.K. worked from home between April 28 and May 8, according to the Office for National Statistics. That number could change as bills surge, according to Matt Copeland, head of policy and public affairs at fuel poverty charity National Energy Action.

“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,” Copeland told CNBC.

Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, can also see workers opting to go back to the office as bills skyrocket.

“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,” she said.

The cost difference between home working and going to the office is also largely dependent on the mode of transport, Coles said.

“Someone taking a commuter train into London is going to face much higher costs than someone taking the bus locally. At the same time, someone in a modern flat will have far lower heating costs than someone in a large, draughty, Victorian house,” Coles told CNBC.

Those traveling to work by train typically spend £136 a week on their commute, while car costs add up to £80 per week on average, according to Confused.com data from 2021.

Spending associated with being in the office doesn’t stop at the commute either, and huge amounts of money can be saved by working from home. 

“There’s also everything from the work wardrobe to lunches, coffees…