Isle of Wight families struggle with soaring heating costs in ‘eco-friendly’ homes
By Paul Homewood
h/t Patsy Lacey
“Angry and frustrated” parents say their young children are going cold as heating costs on an Isle of Wight housing estate skyrocket to ‘unaffordable’ rates.
Residents of Bluebell Meadows and St George’s Gate claim they have been ‘lied to’ and feel ‘let down’, having been promised cheap bills and houses which were economical to run.
Residents faced soaring costs
Despite the estate using a unique biomass heating system — a centralised system which burns wood chippings to provide heat and hot water to homes — those living there say they have faced soaring costs in recent months.
Those responsible for the estate — Barratt David Wilson Homes, the Isle of Wight Council and Sovereign Network Group, which together form the Pan Management Company — say the surge in prices “reflect the handover of the biomass centre” to the estate management company.
In a joint statement, they said they were looking at the fuel supply arrangements to try to help reduce costs.
Lack of proper answers
Residents claim there has been a lack of “proper answers” and a meeting for residents arranged earlier this year was cancelled.
Mum-of-one, Amy, 28, is among those who have been calling for accountability.
In December, she said she was “mortified” to see her bills more than double, from £38 to £100 a month.
“There is only so much wrapping up in clothes and blankets you can do”
Amy said residents were ‘trapped’ and could not switch energy providers.
She said,
“Like many others on the estate, one of the main reasons I purchased a new build Barratts home was because of their unique selling point – the homes were economically efficient to run and now I can certainly say that is not true.
“I understand bills are going up, I expected them to, but not this much. Me and my little one have been really ill this past winter and there is only so much wrapping up in clothes and blankets you can do.”
Another resident, Louise, says she has had to buy electric heaters for her house but still has to pay her standing charge, which like other prices, has risen.
She said,
“I just want to heat my house without having to worry how I would have to pay for it.”
Told biomass system was the “most economical choice”
Meanwhile, resident Tina said when she moved in four years ago she was told the biomass system was the “most economical choice”.
Now it is ‘just ridiculous’, she said, as there is no protection for residents as Pan Energy is not regulated with Ofgem, meaning there is no price capping.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
“Those responsible for the estate — Barratt David Wilson Homes, the Isle of Wight Council and Sovereign Network Group, which together form the Pan Management Company — say the surge in prices “reflect the handover of the biomass centre” to the estate management company.
In a joint statement, they said they were looking at the fuel supply arrangements to try to help reduce costs.”
Anyone who has ever experienced Estate Management Companies knows full well that this is long hand for scam. Without residents holding at least 51% of the management posts, they will never get value for money – the purpose of EMC is to maximise revenue while minimising expenditure, you will see no better examples that Local Authority housing estates, maximum rents, minimal maintenance, all the EMC’s are continuing in the traditional game of “fuck you for falling for this shit”.
Biomass is probably the most expensive and least efficient source of energy.
Indeed, they’ll get an even bigger shock when they have to get licences for any alterations or extensions. Leaseholds without a share of the freehold and control of the management company should be avoided as should freeholds with estate management companies without control. I’ve helped run management companies in two blocks of flats with leaseholder control. In the first one we took over from the old outfit that was a subsidiary of the insurance company, you can imagine the premiums and the lack of response to storm damage.
A good analysis of the situation, and well explained. I paticularly liked the penultimate paragraph which I felt sums up most of the UK today.
“On the Wight” appeal to pity. Cold-hearted Gamecock confesses to being a little affected by their tears, though he knows they were just suckers.
Were all who were taken in young women?
“Were all who were taken in young women?” I had to laugh at your comment GC, understandably you are not familiar with the “utilisation” of the UK state benefits system. In certain parts EVERY household is occupied by “unmarried” young mothers and there is NEVER a male partner around…honest guv.
“Government as husband.”
We have a good bit of that around here, too.
I wish I could heat my house for £100 per month
It appears that not only did the Romans have a better grasp of the limitations of windmills than our current ‘arty-farty’ educated elite, they also had a better grasp of the limititations of biomass heating – having slaves to bring in logs for their fire…..
But, the Romans are no longer with us – having fallen into the trap of believing their own existential myths. Much as the above arts graduates who believe themselves fitted by birth and education to be paid for little more effort than getting out of bed in the morning and telling us what to do.
We had the opportunity to escape from that slavish conviction in the 17th century when the application of science and new technologies showed the path to a much more equitable future. Sadly, it did not last, in the 19th and 20th centuries, it ‘fell amongst thieves’.
Now, we demonise those very forces of economic change and seek to cast the blame for our present situation on the very revolution in productivity which, better managed, had the power to banish those worn out, tired, behavioural patterns which fashioned human populations into groups of warring tribes.
There is no ‘existential threat’ from the increase in the level of CO2 in the atmosphere – levels have been far higher in geological time. There is a very real ‘existential threat’ from unregulated, uncontrolled human behaviour. Attempts to provide such a regulatory influence have largely failed, from the League of Nations to the United Nations as tribal behaviours soon dominate such bodies. The economic regulation, imposed at Bretton Woods in 1944, succeeded in controlling the tribal nature of the ‘markets’ and led to a period of unprecedented economic growth in the West as new technologies reshaped the lives of Western consumers, made possible by putting money to work rather than worthless speculation. In contrast, the Eastern block, styled as ‘communist’ although dominated by the worst aspects of tribal behaviour, carried on with a model characterised by millennia of failure – the cult of the all-knowing ‘leader’ and his hangers-on (styled as the ‘party’).
The regulated revolution in the West did not last – a third rate ‘B’ movie actor and an intolerant female, following the blandishments of a third rate economist, swept Bretton Woods away, leading to a plethora of speculative frauds from the 1990s onwards. However, the situation in the Eastern block was even worse, allowing Western governments to claim economic dominant success, even though the policies that had made that possible were now in the gutter.
So, we now face a situation as dire as that faced on the 1930s. A new generation of tribal leaders, as bad as the dictators of the 1930s has emerged. The economic situation in the 1930s, made unnecessarily harsh by the the crash of 1929 and a totally unnecessary trade war brought about by the American right, led to the rise of Adolf Hitler, the militarist regime in Japan and the inevitable slide into a world war.
In order to move to the common sense of Bretton Woods, possibly 65 million had to die. How many will die this time, if we continue to bow down to the Shamanistic side of human behavior?
There is a very real ‘existential threat’ from unregulated, uncontrolled human behaviour.
[citation needed]
Gamecock - It’s called ‘history’ – study it and the dreadful truth is soon revealed. We are shaped behaviourally by forces tens of thousands of years old. My late wife’s study of pre-history uncovered exactly how deep they ran and how long these forces have acted. ‘Bad’ shamans are ‘blue’ – ‘good shamans are ‘red’ – have you ever wondered why Father Christmas is depicted as always being dressed in red…?
And the world cup should be played with the skull of the captain of the last losing team as ball…….
That’s backwards, mervhob. YOU read history, and provide some evidence to back up your fantasy.
Additionally, the universal goal of Man is to insure freedom and liberty for all.
There is a very real ‘existential threat’ from unregulated, uncontrolled human behaviour.
Not a threat, but the desired outcome for Mankind.
I think the only history you have read is that written by bad shamans.
http://www.cosmicelk.net/shaman.htm
Don’t be dense. I’m not reading it. YOU read it, and pick out something interesting to share.
I thought Bretton Woods ended with Nixon in 1971, long before Reagan and Thatcher came to power.
“ In August 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced the “temporary” suspension of the dollar’s convertibility into gold. While the dollar had struggled throughout most of the 1960s within the parity established at Bretton Woods, this crisis marked the breakdown of the system.” IMF
Bretton Woods wasn’t just about pegging the price of gold. It was about putting into place a series of measures that prevented the ‘markets’ engaging in the sort of activity that caused the Crash of 1929. Reagan and Thatcher removed those safeguards, allowing the market free-for-all that sparked the property rises of the following decades, as well as wholesale market rigging that led eventually to the crash of 2008.
The daft idea that the ‘markets’ are governed by intelligence and sound economic principles has not a single example in economic history. A ‘boom’ is the first stage of an inevitable bust. The only sound boom is one resulting from a dramatic change in productivity, by better technical means; as happened in the late 1820s in Britain, with the introduction of railways and steam locomotives. The Railway Boom of the late 1840s was a speculative market that failed – but the technology was advancing so fast, it easily recovered from that setback. A later railway ‘boom’ led to the crash of 1873 – but the triple expansion marine engine and the marine surface condenser led to a massive growth of maritime trade which quickly used the iron and steel resources not required by speculative railway ventures.
“I purchased a new build Barratts home…”
Big mistake!
Indeed!
Would be interesting to see comparable costs with a district heating scheme based on gas / oil.
Also costs for a district combined heat / power scheme based on gas / oil.
surely the firm should have looked at costings prior to taking over the site?