Could going abroad this winter be cheaper than staying and paying UK energy bills?

A bills-inclusive month in a Portuguese beach town could cost you as little as £670 this winter, finds Lucy Thackray

Krabi in Thailand wins on both weather and cost of living in winter (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

As the cost of living crisis bites and fuel costs surge, many are worried about the figures they’ll see on their energy bills this winter.

Though each household’s annual energy bill will be capped at £2,500 following a pledge by new prime minister Liz Truss, the nation will still see a rise in October from the current cap of £1,971. As such, households will be paying roughly double what they were in March for electricity and gas.

If a one-bedroom flat’s £97 monthly energy bill doubles to £194, just nudging the upper end of the government cap (which works out to £208 per month), it will put a huge strain on the occupant’s finances.

One travel agent, TravelTime World, recently launched a “The Heat is On” campaign, urging travellers to take a long-stay holiday this winter to ease the cost of living. It estimated that Britons could live on around £20 a day in certain destinations, aiming to prove that a holiday isn’t just a luxury - in some locations, it could actually save you cash.

So could it be more affordable to flee the UK, dodge winter fuel costs and live it up more cheaply abroad?

Cafe culture in Valencia, Spain (Getty Images)

How much could I save by staying abroad?

Those who are able to get out of rental properties for a few months will get the best deal here. While homeowners could lock up, switch off appliances and let utilities providers know they will be away for a month or two, your bill won’t reduce to zero if you have a meter and an energy provider. However, you will make significant savings.

Those who are able to get out of a rental arrangement - or property owners able to rent out their place on a short-term basis ‒ and spend up to two or three months living abroad this winter could save hundreds or even thousands in the process.

In July, the average UK rent outside of London hit a record high of £1,126 per calendar month, while the average rent inside the capital increased to £2,257. That works out to between £37.50 and £75.23 per night that we’re spending on a roof over our head in any given 30-day period ‒ before you even get to surging energy bills.

For comparison, you could bag a one-bed apartment in Valencia, Spain from £1,145 for the entire month of November ‒ that’s £38 per night with no worries about energy bills. Or you could rent a one-bed holiday apartment in Faro, Portugal for as little as £671 for the same period ‒ that’s just £22.36 per night on accommodation.

These are based on the cheapest listings for those locations on Airbnb, booked two months ahead ‒ the rentals website’s monthly-bookings discount is a huge help here, giving you between 5 to 50 per cent off when you stay at one property for 28 days or longer.

Holiday apartments are even cheaper than they look, because you’re not responsible for utility bills during your stay. So by staying in the Faro apartment, you’re saving not just £455 a month on the average non-London UK rent, but hundreds more on utility bills such as gas, electricity and water.

Even in winter, the beaches around Faro, Portugal are spectacular (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

What are the other perks of fleeing for winter?

On top of being bills-free, you’d be less chilly: Valencia’s average daily temperature in November is 13C to London’s 7C, with Faro’s average at 16C.

Cost of living wise, with bills removed, your budget will need to cover food and drink, fuel or transport, personal essentials, dining out and entertainment ‒ all of which would be cheaper in these locations, with consumer prices estimated by Numbeo this year to be 23.53 per cent lower in Spain than in the UK, and 39.74 per cent lower in Portugal.

Going on these price drops, if your household’s monthly outgoings after rent or mortgage and utility bills is typically £2,000, your living costs in Spain would be around £470 a month cheaper, while in Portugal you’d save more like £795 a month. Of course, you’d pay for your flight and any transport to and from the airport, so allow for that in your savings calculations.

I don’t fancy Europe in winter. Where else could I go?

Factoring in a pricier flight, you could rent an apartment in a farther-flung city with better weather, lower rent and even cheaper cost of living.

Fly to Bangkok, Thailand (from £638 return for a connecting flight in November, at the time of writing) and a modern one-bed Airbnb apartment will cost you from as little as £339 per month, bills inclusive. The cost of living in Thailand is also less than half of what it is in the UK ‒ 54.77 per cent less, according to Numbeo.

This means you could stand to save up to £1,095 a month (based on the assumption of £2,000 living costs detailed above), plus travellers will of course get the best deal on vitamin D here, too ‒ the average temperature in Thailand in November is 28C, with a mix of warm sunshine and brief spells of rain.

In Europe, post-Brexit, Britons can visit for up to 90 days in any 180 day period ‒ so if you haven’t been to a European country in the past six months, you could stay in Spain or Portugal for nearly three calendar months. Meanwhile, in Thailand you can stay for up to 30 days visa-free, then apply on the ground to extend for another 30 days.

The longer you go for, the more that flight cost will average out across your total “winter abroad” spend. Go to Thailand for the maximum 60 days, and you’re paying £319 a month on getting out there and back, but saving more than £1,000 a month on life after rent.

Other far-flung, cheap cities include Cape Town (consumer prices 50.75 per cent lower than in London; Britons can stay up to 90 days for tourism purposes); Mexico City or Tulum (consumer prices 37.91 per cent lower than in London; stay up to 180 days with a Mexico Tourist Card); and Morocco (consumer prices 52.06 per cent lower than London; Britons can stay for up to three months).