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Review of the Fuel Poverty Strategy: scorecard (annex B) (accessible webpage)

Published 7 February 2025

Applies to England

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Indicator Name 2014 2019 2023 Change (2014-23) Change (2019-23) Overview/Notes
Proportion of fuel poor households with no central heating (including no storage heaters) (%) 4.3% 5.5% 6.4% ↑ 2.1% points ↑ 0.9% points This shows the share of fuel poor households that have no choice but to use expensive and inefficient secondary heating systems because they have no central heating. The proportion of fuel poor households with no central heating has increased in the long term. As progress is made to improve energy efficiency in fuel poor homes, the households remaining are those with alternative heating systems and therefore the hardest to remove from fuel poverty.
Proportion of fuel poor households with non-condensing boilers1 (%) 39.8% 20.1% 15.2% ↓ 24.6% points ↓ 4.9% points This shows the share of fuel poor households with inefficient noncondensing boilers. Significant progress has been made towards more efficient heating methods with the majority of fuel poor households having condensing boilers.
Proportion of fuel poor households with cavity walls that are insulated (%) 32.7% 32.1% 31.4% ↓ 1.3% points ↓ 0.7% points This shows the share of fuel poor households with cavity walls that have had them treated with highly cost-effective insulation – which is predominantly policy driven. The number of fuel poor households with cavity walls that are insulated has remained stable. This is due to some cavity wall insulations removing households from fuel poverty and other energy efficiency improvements impacting households with other types of walls.
Proportion of fuel poor households with a loft that has 125mm of insulation or more (%) 51.3% 48.6% 47.8% ↓ 3.5% points ↓ 0.8% points This shows the share of fuel poor households with lofts that have been insulated.
Loft insulation is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways of reducing heating needs. The share of fuel poor households with at least 125mm of loft insulation has decreased from 51% in 2014 to 48% in 2023. The decrease here may in fact hide the progress in this area, as households previously considered in FP may have received insulation that has subsequently removed them from this % indicator. However, the 48% does signal that there remains scope for insulating FP homes.
Proportion of fuel poor households not connected to mains gas (%) 16.3% 17.1% 20.9% ↑ 4.6% points ↑ 3.8% points This shows the share of fuel poor households not connected to mains gas. The increase in boiler efficiency since 2014 has driven significant reductions in fuel poverty.  Non-gas households have not benefited, leading to these households making up a much higher share of the fuel poor in 2023.
Proportion of fuel poor households with dependent children (%) 42.7% 40.3% 36.9% ↓ 5.8% points ↓ 3.4% points This shows the proportion of fuel poor households with dependent children. The proportion has decreased since 2014 as households with children, particularly Lone Parent households, are now more likely to live in a property with an energy efficiency rating of Band C or above, and therefore not fuel poor.
Proportion of fuel poor households with renewable heat or electricity generating measures - - 3.0% - - We recognise that technologies enabling households to generate their heat and/or electricity from renewable sources will play an increasingly important role as we move towards decarbonising our economy. In the 2021 strategy we committed to reporting on this in the future where possible. The majority of fuel poor households with renewable heat or electricity generating measures have solar PV. Just 3% of fuel poor households have renewable technologies compared with 7% of all households. We are considering the best way to report on the delivery of these technologies to fuel poor households going forwards.
Proportion of fuel poor households who are vulnerable[footnote 1] - 60.7% 66.6% - ↑ 5.9% points We recognise the impact that cold homes can have on health and that some people are more vulnerable to the effects of living in a cold home. The proportion of vulnerable fuel poor households has increased by 5.9 percentage points since the definition of vulnerability was changed in the 2021 fuel poverty strategy.
Health indicator We recognise the link between fuel poverty and health and well-being and work continues to develop modelling to demonstrate the link.          

  1. A household is considered vulnerable in these statistics if it contains at least one household member who is 65 or older, younger than 5 or living with a long-term health condition affecting mobility, breathing, heart or mental health condition. ↩

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