Winter is coming (yes, Winter is coming ) and soon we will have to start using the heating to try not to get so cold. The bills of the communities of owners with gas central heating, which represents 25% of the population, 12 million people according to the data available to the property administrators, will be one of the most affected, multiplying by 7 the price of this supply.
The reason, in addition to the general increase in energy prices and inflation itself, is due to the fact that both the reduction of VAT on the gas bill and the regulated rate are currently prohibited for the communities of owners.
Heating 7 times more expensive
According to the data provided by the General Council of Associations of Property Administrators of Spain, of the 25,208,622 homes that exist in our country , there are 30% with natural gas. Of these, 6.6% use central heating and 23.4% individual heating. In homes with central heating, the large consumer rate is applied, so there is a penalty on individual homes.
“It is as if the bus passenger, a cheaper and more efficient means of transport, were penalized and those who travel by car benefited. There is the paradox that a very inefficient house that is considered luxury, such as a single-family house, can enjoy a regulated rate and a house with communal central heating, a more popular and efficient system, which has been opted for to rationalize the use of energy, he is in the free market paying more than double to heat his home” , declares Pablo Abascal, president of the CGCAFE.
“If we take bills from two years ago as a reference, the price of gas has gone from 0.034 euros per Kw/hour to 0.26 euros Kw/hour. In other words, two years ago the gas bill was 12,684 euros, and currently it could reach 95,000 euros. Seven times more expensive than in 2019 ” .
Possible solutions for central heating
The General Council of Associations of Property Administrators of Spain has met with Prieto, director of Savings and Energy Efficiency of the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE) to try to find an agreement and curb the cost that is going to have this type of heating.
The first proposal is that the regulated gas rate be extended to the communities of owners that have central heating and that have consumption charged individually. Almost all the communities of owners would agree to implement this type of charge so as not to have to assume the gas prices in the free market. Even for communities that do not accept this type of charge, property administrators also request that the regulated rate be applied to homes with individual heating.
The second proposal is to equate the VAT reduction from 21% to 5% on the gas bill, as is the case for individual supply. “It would be an important economic saving that, together with the application of the regulated gas rate, would make it possible for many residents not to have to do without or reduce the central heating service .”