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A million more homes now in fuel poverty

Friday, 2 December 2011 12:14 PM

One in four households have slumped into fuel poverty as a result of stagnating incomes and energy price rises.

More than five million homes now spend more than 10 per cent of their income on energy – the official definition of fuel poverty – according to calculations given to the consumer watchdog Consumer Focus and revealed in the Guardian.

Last year, one in five households or four million were fuel poor. The big increase comes only five years before the government's legally-binding deadline for eliminating fuel poverty in 2016.

And the national average obscures some big differences between the region. In Wales over 40 per cent of households are fuel poor and in the North East and West Midlands over 30 per cent. In contrast only 17 per cent of households in the South East are in fuel poverty.

The surge follows double-digit rises in the price of gas and electricity in the summer and this week's revelation that families are facing the biggest squeeze on their incomes since the 1970s.

According to the Guardian, 2.5 million people are in debt to their energy supplier. The average debt for gas for this in arrears is £320.

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