Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Not Addressed
High energy costs drive fuel poverty despite energy efficiency improvements
Conclusion
High energy costs mean that even tenants living in homes that have undergone energy efficiency improvements can struggle to afford to heat their homes sufficiently. The higher the standard of works, the greater the benefit. While we support the Government’s plans to bring all social homes up to a minimum standard of energy efficiency, people can still live in an EPC C home and be in fuel poverty. (Conclusion, Paragraph 42) 46
Government response summary AI-generated
The government response discusses the statutory New Homes Ombudsman scheme and the Housing Ombudsman but does not address how to ensure people can afford to heat homes even with energy efficiency improvements.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
18. The government has published a new Fuel Poverty Strategy for England which sets out our plan to lift up to a million households out of fuel poverty. The new fuel poverty strategy places a stronger emphasis on energy affordability with a new affordability indicator. 19. Fuel poverty is the issue of low-income households who are unable to keep warm at a reasonable cost. In England, we measure progress to the fuel poverty target using the Low-Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) metric. As LILEE is a measure of the number of homes below the fuel poverty target level this will be retained as the most effective measure of progress to 2030. 20. We recognise, however, that for too long households across England have paid the price for our nation’s energy insecurity and energy bills remain too high. Many low-income households still need short term support, and some, especially those with high energy needs, such as disabled or medically dependent members, will always require additional protections. This new strategy therefore places a stronger emphasis on energy affordability. To do this we have developed a new affordability indicator, which will monitor the impact of energy affordability for all households and low-income households. 21. We will report annually on average (median) required energy costs as a proportion of household income (after housing costs) in the fuel poverty statistics. We will also continue to report on the number of households spending more than 10 per cent of their income after housing costs on the energy they need to heat their home. 22. New Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards for social housing will allow social housing providers the freedom to choose which new style EPC metrics, from the choice of fabric, smart technology and heating system, to use to comply with the standard. This will allow providers to choose the measures that will be most suitable for their properties and deliver the biggest benefits to tenants in bill savings.
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