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CIH: Fuel poverty is ongoing concern

Thursday, 13 March 2008 12:00 AM

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has warned fuel poverty is an ongoing issue in UK homes.

While welcoming the government's attempts to tackle the issue, which were bolstered in the Budget yesterday, the organisation warns more needs to be done to eradicate the problem.

According to figures from the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy some 2.4 million households presently spend more than ten per cent of their income on fuel - the official definition of fuel poverty.

This represents an increase of 60 per cent of the figure of the 1.5 million homes to be in this form of poverty.

This increase has been caused by the poor energy efficiency in some older housing stock in the UK - particularly in the private rented sector - and rising commodity prices.

In response the CIH is calling for action it two areas.

"Firstly we need a greater commitment from government and energy companies to help low income households by addressing the price differentials between the various payment methods and investing more in social tariffs," said CIH chief executive, Sarah Webb.

"Secondly, we need to see greater urgency in tackling energy efficiency in existing housing stock.

"The Decent Homes programme is making significant improvements to the energy efficiency of social rented housing, but far too many privately owned and rented homes remain poorly insulated and difficult to heat."

Presenting his first Budget on Wednesday chancellor Alistair Darling announced a number of measures to tackle fuel poverty.

These included a commitment to ensure utility companies trebled spending on social tariffs from £50 million to £150 million, as well an additional funding for The Decent Homes Service.

"While CIH welcomes the Budget announcement of funding for the Green Homes Service, more importance needs to be given to improving the energy efficiency of existing housing stock," argued Ms Webb.

"Taking a whole-house approach to making homes more energy efficient will not only help the UK meet its targets of reducing carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050, but will also secure a better future for poorer households currently finding it hard to keep warm."

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