Fuel Poverty to Rise By 38% Despite Green Deal

The number of fuel poor households living in English social housing is expected to soar by 38 per cent by 2016 as the government’s flagship energy efficiency policies fail to tackle the problem, exclusive figures show. According to calculations by green consultancy Camco, the number of social tenants in fuel poverty will rise from just under 1 million to 1.35 million in four years. This is despite the government’s legal obligation to do ‘everything reasonably practicable’ to eliminate fuel poverty - when households spend more than 10 per cent of their income to keep their homes warm - by 2016. Social landlords face an additional funding gap as the government is proposing to exclude them from affordable warmth energy company obligation funding worth around £500 million over the next 10 years, according to Camco. Read more on Inside Housing.