Fuel poverty ‘continues to rise’, October 21, 2009, BBC News: “Up to 4.6 million households in England could be in fuel poverty in 2009, new figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change show. The government has vowed to end fuel poverty in England by 2016. Fuel poverty is defined as those who spend more than 10% of their household income on heating their homes. The projection comes within data that reveals the number fuel-poor households in the UK rose from 3.5 million in 2006 to four million in 2007. The data, based on the latest figures for England and Scotland along with extrapolated estimates for Wales and Northern Ireland, suggest that 16% of all UK households were in fuel poverty in 2007…”
Households in fuel poverty to hit 4.6m, By Sandra Haurant, October 21, 2009, The Guardian: “The number of households living in fuel poverty in England is likely to reach 4.6 million by the end of the year, figures published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showed today. A household is said to be “fuel poor” when more than 10% of its income is spent on fuel to maintain an “adequate level of warmth” – usually 21C in the living area and 18C in other rooms. The latest figures show that 3.25 million households in the UK lived in fuel poverty in 2007, an increase of half a million compared with 2006. In England 2.8 million households were fuel poor in 2007, up from 2.4 million in 2006. The DECC said the jump in fuel poverty was caused by an increase in fuel prices, which continued to soar in 2008…”
Thousands ‘facing fuel poverty’, July 12, 2009, BBC News: Rising unemployment and higher energy prices are likely to push hundreds of thousands more homes into fuel poverty, a key government advisory body says. The Fuel Poverty Advisory Group (FPAG) says about 4m households in England are already in fuel poverty, spending more than 10% of their income on energy…”
Damning report condemns lack of action on fuel poverty, By Lauren Thompson, July 13, 2009, The Times: “Rising unemployment, high energy bills and the cost of “green” measures could push hundreds of thousands more households into fuel poverty, a Government advisor warned today. There are already 4 million households in fuel poverty – where one tenth or more of income goes on gas and electricity bills – compared with 1.2 million in 2004. Almost half of fuel-poor households are pensioners…”
