Three in four pensioners are living in a cold home

Whitewavemark2

3 out of 4?

Absolute balderdash.

Bit harsh WWM I personally didn't suffer, or as far as I know any of my friends.. but I was horrified at the number of posters on here that were living in cold conditions..
and even if it is only 1 in 4 the figures are still too high..

Thank you Wyllow

I hate this kind of dishonesty in MSM.

All the Express had to say was, "based on a survey of pensioners with an income of under £20.000, 3 out of 4 report that....etc.

Wyllow3

I hate this kind of dishonesty in MSM.

All the Express had to say was, "based on a survey of pensioners with an income of under £20.000, 3 out of 4 report that....etc.

That’s so different to 3 out of 4 pensioners.

The other issue here is possibly those older, like us, might live in much older properties.

Our mid terrace was built in 1904 and even with double glazing, is cold in spots.

We had to have a new boiler and roof within a few years of each other and it’s made a huge difference.

Thanks Wyllow3, I’ve been trying to understand how that percentage could be right. There are apparently 2.9 million pensioners (out of the total of around 10 million) who rely on the state pension alone, of whom 1.3 million receive the winter fuel allowance still. That leaves 1.6 million people reliant on the state pension only, some of them on the new pension and some on the old one.
Of course some unfortunate people either haven’t claimed help, or are just above the eligibility criteria, but others must be prioritising other things over heating, or worrying that they can’t afford it, so not spending the money they do have on heating.
I also wasn’t clear if the definition for having a cold home included those people who are taking the advice to keep one room warm rather than heating the whole house?

The report doesn't include the "one room" factor, it does say that 800.000 people are still not claiming PC who are entitled to.

I still don't get it. Are people choosing to be cold? I know a couple of people who would rather be cold than pay their bills and I just don't understand it. They are not what I would call poor. Some live in large houses.

Maybe the heating systems are out of date, in which case why don't they get an upgrade- grants are available in some areas, or dare I say it, why don't they get better insulation for which grants are also available, or even downsize so they can have more efficient homes?
800 000 people not claiming pension credit? That seems very high.

I know someone who like me, does not qualify for pension credit and moans about losing the WFA so has gone to Australia for a holiday to keep warm. Honestly, you can't make it up!

(The 800.000 figure is in the Age UK report)

There are around 13 million pensioners in the UK in around 9.4 million pensioner households.

In 2023/24, around a million pensioners paid tax at 40% or 45%. Some 2.7 million pensioners are expected to be paying at higher rates very soon due to fiscal drag so they must be close to the cusp now. That's over a quarter of pensioner households.

Logical deduction then that the other three-quarters of pensioner households, anyone on an income of less that £50,271 which in the 40% threshold is struggling. It's nonsense.

BTW that Age UK report is dated Feb 2024 not 2025.

Age UK’s new report, Cold at Home: How winter cost of living pressures continue to impact older people

www.ageuk.org.uk/siteassets/documents/reports-and-publications/reports-and-briefings/safe-at-home/cold-at-home-energy-and-col-report.pdf

Pensions increased by 6.7% in April 2024 while the energy price cap came down from £1,928 to £1,690 a reduction of £238. It has increased since to £1738 less than a £1 a week but it was possible to avoid it by fixing.

I am not suggesting that some people aren't struggling but it isn't 3 in 4 pensioners which would be 9.7 million of the total of around 13 million pensioners.

So am I, VV. Balderdash, it is not.

Last year, we were shivering away despite having the heating on. Now, with a brand new boiler and new double glazing all round, we are warmer than ever before and our bills have gone down! Of course, not everybody can afford to do what we have done but it certainly has made a difference. I cannot stand being cold. Old systems do cost money. It’s worth investigating what grants are available if you are on a low budget.

The Express, like every other newspaper, is primarily in the business of making money. We should bear that in mind when our eye is caught by an inflammatory headline. Did the reporter ask every pensioner? Of course not - I wasn't asked, for one. Or did (s)he ask 4 pensioners and 3 said their homes were cold? Were there reliable statistics to support the claim? (Mark Twain: "There are lies, damned lies and statistics.")

Silverbrooks

There are around 13 million pensioners in the UK in around 9.4 million pensioner households.

In 2023/24, around a million pensioners paid tax at 40% or 45%. Some 2.7 million pensioners are expected to be paying at higher rates very soon due to fiscal drag so they must be close to the cusp now. That's over a quarter of pensioner households.

Logical deduction then that the other three-quarters of pensioner households, anyone on an income of less that £50,271 which in the 40% threshold is struggling. It's nonsense.

BTW that Age UK report is dated Feb 2024 not 2025.

Age UK’s new report, Cold at Home: How winter cost of living pressures continue to impact older people

www.ageuk.org.uk/siteassets/documents/reports-and-publications/reports-and-briefings/safe-at-home/cold-at-home-energy-and-col-report.pdf

Pensions increased by 6.7% in April 2024 while the energy price cap came down from £1,928 to £1,690 a reduction of £238. It has increased since to £1738 less than a £1 a week but it was possible to avoid it by fixing.

I am not suggesting that some people aren't struggling but it isn't 3 in 4 pensioners which would be 9.7 million of the total of around 13 million pensioners.

Also if that report was Feb 2024, it would be based on winter 2023/24, when WFA was paid to all.

Also I do remember 800,000 pensioners being targeted by this govt to claim PC.

Whitewavemark2

So are most of GN members living in cold homes?

Do a straw poll of friends - how many do you know live in cold homes.

I know of no one.

Although not shivering, my thermostat is as low as I can bear it. My flat is certainly not warm. I sit with a rug over my legs and£ hope that the ridiculous obligatory night storage heaters we have, haven’t cooled down too much by night!

The Feb 2024 Age UK report states:

Our latest estimates show that even with prices expected to come down slightly this year there will still be 1.9 million older households in the UK living in fuel poverty across 2024, representing around one in six (16%) of all older households in the UK.

One sixth isn't three quarters!

Age UK conducted two waves of research into the impact of the cost of living crisis on older households and how they relate to the ongoing issues older people face in the energy market, with the first wave taking place in January 2023 and the second in January 2024. Both waves consisted of a representative sample of 2,700 people aged 60+ living in Great Britain with the majority of respondents completing online and a smaller group being offered a telephone interview.

In other words, relatively small samples the first of which was taken at the height of the energy crisis when the energy price cap was £4,279. It's now £1,738.

keepingquiet

I still don't get it. Are people choosing to be cold? I know a couple of people who would rather be cold than pay their bills and I just don't understand it. They are not what I would call poor. Some live in large houses.

Maybe the heating systems are out of date, in which case why don't they get an upgrade- grants are available in some areas, or dare I say it, why don't they get better insulation for which grants are also available, or even downsize so they can have more efficient homes?
800 000 people not claiming pension credit? That seems very high.

I know someone who like me, does not qualify for pension credit and moans about losing the WFA so has gone to Australia for a holiday to keep warm. Honestly, you can't make it up!

It's easy to make those kind of snap judgements when you have no idea about people's individual circumstances. We live in an old house which has as much insulation as possible and installed a new boiler just over a year ago. There is very little we could possibly do to make our house more energy efficient - and for various reasons, downsizing simply isn't an option for us. We don't qualify for benefits of any kind. Fortunately we do have a woodburning stove and we can get access to free logs for that, so we tend to use that alone and only put the central heating on when absolutely necessary (and our idea of 'absolutely necessary' would probably horrify others). During the daytime, we just layer up, but there are occasions when it gets so cold (we live in Scotland) that it is genuinely quite miserable.

Not just those on incomes under £20,000, but those with incomes under £20,000 and not in receipt of means tested benefits and that is a very different thing.

No one, I know, which includes people on incomes under £20,000 and receiving means tested benefits has gone cold this winter.

As someone who has been a market research manager, the one thing I know is that you need to see the exact question asked and exactly how the sample of respondents was selected before commenting on the results of a survey.

Given the right question and the right sample it could be proved that no pensioner in the UK has gone cold this winter.

Silverbrooks

There are around 13 million pensioners in the UK in around 9.4 million pensioner households.

In 2023/24, around a million pensioners paid tax at 40% or 45%. Some 2.7 million pensioners are expected to be paying at higher rates very soon due to fiscal drag so they must be close to the cusp now. That's over a quarter of pensioner households.

Logical deduction then that the other three-quarters of pensioner households, anyone on an income of less that £50,271 which in the 40% threshold is struggling. It's nonsense.

BTW that Age UK report is dated Feb 2024 not 2025.

Age UK’s new report, Cold at Home: How winter cost of living pressures continue to impact older people

www.ageuk.org.uk/siteassets/documents/reports-and-publications/reports-and-briefings/safe-at-home/cold-at-home-energy-and-col-report.pdf

Pensions increased by 6.7% in April 2024 while the energy price cap came down from £1,928 to £1,690 a reduction of £238. It has increased since to £1738 less than a £1 a week but it was possible to avoid it by fixing.

I am not suggesting that some people aren't struggling but it isn't 3 in 4 pensioners which would be 9.7 million of the total of around 13 million pensioners.

There is some confusion between 2 reports. And its my fault, sorry, as I gave them both in subsequent posts

That report is last years report, 2024. Its a good long and full one, lots of detail,

but

This years report, which is the one that the Express based the figures on, 9th Feb 2025, is this one

www.ageuk.org.uk/latest-press/articles/2024/energy-crisis-is-still-causing-misery-for-the-poorest-pensioners-says-age-uk/

I'll repeat the post here from which explains why the Express News report says 3 out of 4 - sorry to have caused confusion

Here is the 2025 report

www.ageuk.org.uk/latest-press/articles/2024/energy-crisis-is-still-causing-misery-for-the-poorest-pensioners-says-age-uk/

The "three out of four" figures are based on a specific group not all pensioners

The group is restricted to:

In a new report out today, Age UK warns that

older people living in a household with an income less than £20,000 per year and not in receipt of means tested benefits, have faced particularly steep challenges with managing through recent times

New research for the Charity revealed that for these older people, the cost of living crisis is far from over

so this is not to say that we should not address the crisis,

but to emphasis the Express new report is based on a survey of all pensioners not those with incomes under £20.000

Wyllow3

I hate this kind of dishonesty in MSM.

All the Express had to say was, "based on a survey of pensioners with an income of under £20.000, 3 out of 4 report that....etc.

Me too. The attention grabbing headline has worked though and many people, unlike Wyllow3 won't look further that that. Choosing not to use your central heating at the expense of being miserable is not something that I would do, but I also layer up and that is just sensible and hardly a hardship to complain about.

You must move in elite circles Monica, how fortunate you are, spare a thought for those less so.
I stated earlier I can easily count 10 people who are living in an inadequately heated condition, due to lack of sufficient income...not that they just choose to do so.

Parsley3

Wyllow3

I hate this kind of dishonesty in MSM.

All the Express had to say was, "based on a survey of pensioners with an income of under £20.000, 3 out of 4 report that....etc.

Me too. The attention grabbing headline has worked though and many people, unlike Wyllow3 won't look further that that. Choosing not to use your central heating at the expense of being miserable is not something that I would do, but I also layer up and that is just sensible and hardly a hardship to complain about.

Using an AgeUK report like that also discredits AgeUK.

The Express isn't doing the charity any favours to use partial information that has been carefully complied by the charity on behalf of the most vulnerable.

I only looked further because I thought, "3 out of 4 is too high" .
......so some of the readers will follow the Express Papers real intention to get people to believe an inaccurate "shock horror headline

and others will think, well, thats AgeUK being inaccurate. which is hardly fair or beneficial to the charity.

Bridie22

You must move in elite circles Monica, how fortunate you are, spare a thought for those less so.
I stated earlier I can easily count 10 people who are living in an inadequately heated condition, due to lack of sufficient income...not that they just choose to do so.

I think Monica was pointing out that surveys can be misleading depending what they are trying to show.. not that she was disbelieving your realities..Bridie

My income is well below £20 000 and despite making enquiries with Age UK they always tell me there is no help available. They even told me to claim disability benefit when there is nothing wrong with me.

I have my heating on twice a day every day and I'm still in credit. Yes, I had a new boiler installed and had no help with that either. I live in an old draughty house too.

It has been a consistently cold winter here in the north. It's hard to feel any sympathy with people who don't either get help or sort themselves out instead of reading discredited newspapers and getting swept up in media storms.