The number of fuel poor households has dropped slightly to 2.4 million, according to new government figures.
The latest statistical trends and analysis on fuel poverty in England, based on data from 2018 and published yesterday (30 April), estimate that the number of such households was down 0.7 per cent on the previous year’s figure of 2.5 million.
The report cites two main reasons for the falling number of fuel poor households – a slower than average increase in fuel bills for low-income households and a higher than average increase in incomes for less well-off households.
The report also shows further progress towards the interim 2020 fuel poverty target that as many homes as possible reach at least a Band E energy efficiency rating with 92.6 per cent of all fuel poor households living in a property meeting this benchmark. The proportion of fuel poor households living in the least energy efficient Band F or G properties has dropped from 18.9 per cent in 2010.
The average fuel poor household required a reduction of £334 to their fuel costs to move them out of fuel poverty, a 1.9 per cent increase compared to the figure of £328 in 2017.
According to the report, the introduction of the cap on pre-payment customers’ bills in April 2017 has had a “beneficial impact” overall on fuel poverty with such customers enjoying ‘lower’ price increases than those using other payment methods.
The report says the default tariff price cap, introduced in January last year, has helped to reduce the number of households who would otherwise suffered fuel poverty as a result of increases in energy bills that would have otherwise happened.
The proportion of households in fuel poverty is projected to rise in 2019 by 0.1 per cent to 10.4 per cent with changes to the energy efficiency of properties having a “minimal impact”.
The report says that it does not have information to estimate the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on fuel poverty.
However National Energy Action (NEA), the fuel poverty charity, warned that the upsurge in Universal Credit claim and increased domestic energy use means that more households may be struggling with fuel bills.
Adam Scorer, chief executive of NEA, said: “The impact of Covid-19 is truly horrific. But we have been fortunate that, so far, the virus has struck hard during warmer weather. The possible coincidence of a further wave in a cold winter should make us think long and hard about the steps we need to take to avoid the deadly collision between Covid-19 and fuel poverty related mortality.
“Among the many policy decisions delayed due to the coronavirus response are new Fuel Poverty Strategies, decisions on the main fuel poverty programmes and the centrality of domestic energy efficiency within an infrastructure strategy. The delay is understandable, and if used to make the hard connection between cold homes, ill health and vulnerability to early death, that delay could be beneficial.
“Cold homes create underlying medical conditions. They take thousands of lives. Deaths and suffering from fuel poverty are not novel, unimaginable or unprecedented. It is an annual catalogue of failure, as society and successive governments to protect the most vulnerable. We know the cause, the scale and the consequence. We know the solutions. At this precise moment we should be more alert to these issues than ever before.”