In shared apartments, common in large cities and especially in London given the astronomical level of rents, relations are complicated by the different lifestyles and income levels and force the roommates to compromise.

“This winter, we expect 7 million households in the UK to find themselves in fuel poverty. This means that they will no longer have enough money to keep their homes warm to an acceptable level,” explains Simon Francis, coordinator for the End Fuel Poverty coalition, to AFP.

In the UK, electricity bills have doubled since the start of the war in Ukraine and inflation is approaching 11%.

“No matter how much you earn, everyone is going to feel this cost of living crisis, although obviously the people with the lowest incomes are suffering the most. (…) This can clearly create tension between housemates “, adds Simon Francis.

Temperatures, after remaining mild for much of the fall, suddenly plunged below zero in mid-December, before rising a little.

The radiators have run out and the painful winter bills are starting to arrive.

The British government has set up a price shield at 2,500 pounds for an average household per year, but at this level the bills are still doubled over a year.

Millions of families fall into extreme precariousness and have to choose between heating, feeding or clothing.

In shared apartments, few residents have escaped the "discussion" of the moment ("the talk") on how they intend to proceed to limit bills.

Aggressive Passives

At Joe, a 33-year-old teacher who lives in east London, he and his five housemates have decided to turn off the heating in the bedrooms.

They keep it in the living room, where two of them telecommute.

They now turn on an electric heater during the day rather than heating the whole room.

At Julie, a journalist, the roommates have decided not to heat up during the day, except when it is really too cold, like just before Christmas.

Friction emerges, such as those who frequently bring their lover home but don't pay more, or those who have more income and don't pay much attention.

"There were a few passive-aggressive messages from one of my roommates asking us to remember to turn off the lights when we left," Joe said.

"The problem for those who live in shared accommodation is not only the differences in income" but the rents with charges included, notes Simon Francis.

As a result, those who make savings efforts do not necessarily receive the benefits.

Landlords also sometimes increase rents suddenly, to pass on the increase in energy charges... and tenants can no longer keep up, forced to move when finding an apartment on the post-lockdown real estate market has become very difficult.

When looking for a new home, energy efficiency is now a key criterion, whereas few cared about it before.

Simon Knoplioch, a 29-year-old Frenchman who works in finance in London, explains that he recently moved and looked with his friends for a modern building.

"We asked to see the building's energy certificate. The one we are in is a new building".

"Before, we lived in an energy sieve. At the moment the rents are so high" and the competition for apartments, particularly strong, which means "that the owners have no interest in doing the work" of insulation, he laments.

Elsewhere in Europe, energy saving efforts are also going well: in the European Union, gas consumption fell by 20% from August to November, compared to the previous five years, according to Eurostat.

© 2022 AFP