High street agents await business energy bill support...

High street agents are eagerly anticipating a government announcement on support for business energy bills today.

As with many businesses, estate agents face pressures to light and heat their branches and may also have the extra costs of window displays.

New Prime Minister Liz Truss has already announced a two-year energy price cap worth £2,500 for the average UK household and previously promised support for businesses.

Further detail on a support package for businesses was delayed by the national mourning period following the death of the Queen but it is understood that details will be revealed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy today.

Businesses, including high street estate agents, currently don’t benefit from any price cap.

Trade body Propertymark has said energy bills have become a major issue for members.

It represents 12,000 branches across all its divisions.

Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns for Propertymark, said: “Businesses have not previously benefitted from an energy price cap, so our member agents have been very much exposed to unsustainable increases in their bills.

“We’ve been contacted by one member who says without intervention their quarterly bill will go up from around £3,000 to over £10,000, and we know they will not be alone.

“The UK government has said help is coming, but we still don’t know at what level the six-month cap will be set and more importantly what, if any, support there will be beyond that initial period, which may not be long enough.

“Propertymark successfully lobbied ministers at the start of the pandemic for agencies to benefit from the business rates holiday, which was a massive help.

“We need the UK government to step up again and present a longer-term energy support plan so our members can budget with certainty.”