Fuel Poverty

In Wales, the latest estimates show that 12%, or 155,000 households are living in fuel poverty, and 9%, or 21,000 social housing tenants are living in fuel poverty.

There are three determinants of fuel poverty; poor energy inefficiency, low incomes, and high fuel costs. Housing associations play their part in reducing fuel poverty by building and retrofitting homes to high energy efficiency standards and by supporting tenants with income maximisation.

We provided both oral and written evidence to the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee’s inquiry into fuel poverty, of which the report can be found here. We welcome Welsh Government’s renewed plan to tackle fuel poverty as it is clear that a refreshed and updated plan is needed to more effectively tackle the problem.

How we develop this area of work

We sat on Welsh Government’s fuel poverty advisory panel to support the development of policies and initiatives designed to lower levels of fuel poverty in Wales.

We have also supported the development of the Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2023, which will see housing associations further improving the energy efficiency of their homes.