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Did you know a Victorian house could cost around £1,000 more per year in energy bills?

Wholesale gas prices have seen a steep rise since October 2021 which means energy firms have been passing these on to households through rising energy bills. However, the current economic climate shouldn’t put any kind of dampener on your dreams of finding a new home in 2022.

While energy costs are rocketing, it’s worth stopping and considering more than just today’s price hikes. Yes, gas and electricity may be costing more and more, but if your home is energy efficient, then the rising costs may impact you less than you think.

To put things into perspective, we have compared today’s new-build homes with 1970’s and Victorian homes of a similar spec – basing our calculations on the UK average gas and electricity prices set in April 2022.

Did you know a Victorian house could cost around £1,000 more per year in energy bills? image

If you take a look at a 1-bedroom new-build home, you can see that there’s hundreds of pounds to be saved each year when compared to older properties.

Energy bills for a standard 1-bedroom home built by St. Modwen Homes total to £794. For a 1970’s home of the same size, this could cost around £1,639, whilst a Victorian home could cost even more at around £1,815 per year.

Not only are you freeing up some money in the short-term but think of the thousands you’ll be saving over the years you live there.

Did you know a Victorian house could cost around £1,000 more per year in energy bills? image

Moving onto 2-bedroom properties, these are also generally a lot cheaper to run both in the short term and the long term. So, if you’re a first-time buyer and energy efficiency is a priority for you, a new-build home may just be the perfect option.

Annual energy bills for a 2-bedroom St. Modwen home could cost around £688. Whereas a 2-bedroom home built in the 1970’s is almost double the price, costing around £1,182 per year. Energy bills in a 2-bedroom Victorian home will set you back even more each year, costing around £1,288.

Did you know a Victorian house could cost around £1,000 more per year in energy bills? image

If you take look at a typical 3-bed family home, the results are quite staggering. Due to better insulation and sustainable features, new-build homes of this size have an average total energy bill of just under £800.

Comparatively, annual bills for a 1970’s home of the same size cost around £1,613, whilst a Victorian home with some modern improvements could cost around £1,751 per year.

That means owning a new-build home could save you around £1,000 per year on energy bills in comparison to those who own a Victorian property. And, compared to 1970’s homes, you could also save around £800!

Did you know a Victorian house could cost around £1,000 more per year in energy bills? image

A typical 4-bed home built in Victorian times could leave you a whopping £1,846 short of cash each year due to energy bills. A similarly sized 1970’s home wouldn’t leave you much better off with a total bill of £1,693 per year.

However, with a 4-bed new-build built by St. Modwen Homes, your total costs could be around just £940. That’s a similar saving of around £900 a year compared to Victorian homes.

Did you know a Victorian house could cost around £1,000 more per year in energy bills? image

And finally, a 5-bedroom home built by St. Modwen Homes would cost you around £1,171 for your annual energy bills – that’s even less than a 2-bedroom home built in the 70’s.

When comparing this to a 5-bedroom 1970’s home, you can expect to save a staggering £1,363 per year on your energy bills, as a home of this size build in that decade could cost around £2,534.

A Victorian home could cost you even more, with the annual energy bill for a property of this size estimated at £2,772. Not only is that an additional £1,601 a year in comparison to a new-build, but over the years this will add up to tens of thousands.

But there are many other reasons to consider new over old when it comes to buying your home. House building has changed over the last 100 years and there are many benefits (beyond purely economical) to consider when looking for your next dream abode.

One key reason being that new-builds are built with the future in mind – take less air leakage for example. Older homes can be more susceptible to losing air through holes in brick work, window frames, and draughts under doors. And quite simply, the more air you lose, the more energy you need to use to replace it.

Nowadays, there are strict regulations in place surrounding how airtight a home should be – we ensure we always meets the target requirements, often performing better than regulatory standard.

So, if the rising cost of living and rocketing energy costs have put you off buying in 2022 – maybe it’s time to look at it with a new perspective. Thanks to clever design and energy efficient features found in new-build homes, your plans to find your new home this year don’t have to be put on hold.

Plus, as an added bonus, we are offering a limited time Bills Boost incentive to those purchasing a home with us in May 2022. We will be contributing up to £2,000* towards each purchaser’s energy bills! So, the time really is now to find that dream home you’ve been waiting for.

**Figures based on UK regulated average gas and electricity prices set in April 2022. Please note, annual prices will vary depending on each homeowners’ energy usage. These figures exclude appliance energy costs.  

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