Government Schemes to help reduce fuel poverty
Savings on fuel bills
Incredibly, the UK has the second highest rate of fuel poverty in Europe, ranking just behind Slovenia. This is partly due to high fuel costs and also as a result of the UK having an old, inefficient housing stock which was built with no regard to energy saving measures such as insulation.
There are approximately 2.4 million households in England living in fuel poverty, which is 10.3% of total households. Unfortunately in Wales and Scotland the number of households in fuel poverty is even higher.
Research by National Energy Action has found that more than 3,000 people were needlessly dying each year in the UK because they could not afford to properly heat their homes, and called for urgent action to end to the devastating but entirely preventable tragedy.
WHAT IS FUEL POVERTY?
A household is classed as ‘fuel poor’ if it has above-average energy costs, and if paying those costs would push it below the poverty line as far as its remaining income was concerned. As a general rule-of-thumb, many people class fuel poverty as having to spend more than 10% of your income on fuel for your home.
Fuel poverty affects the unemployed, people on low incomes, and people living in energy-inefficient properties. The Fuel Poverty Energy Efficiency Rating system measures the energy efficiency of a property, ranking dwellings from A to G, with A being the most efficient and G being the lowest.
WHAT HELP IS AVAILABLE FOR FUEL POOR HOUSEHOLDS?
ENERGY COMPANY OBLIGATION FUNDING SCHEME
WINTER FUEL PAYMENTS
You could receive between £100 and £300 to help you with your energy bills through the winter fuel payments scheme if you were born on or before 5 November 1954. If you are eligible and you receive a social security benefit, such as a state pension, then you’ll usually get this as an automatic payment.
COLD WEATHER PAYMENTS
Cold weather payments are part of another government scheme that gives eligible people £25 for every period of seven days where the temperature reaches zero degrees Celsius or below. You might qualify for these payments if you receive:
Income support
Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
Income-related employment and support allowance
Universal credit
Pension credit
Warm home discount scheme
The warm home discount scheme offers to help you with your energy bill, giving you up to £140 as a one-time discount. The money isn’t paid to you directly – it is deducted from your electricity bill sometime between October and March instead.
You’ll either be eligible through the guaranteed credit element of Pension Credit, or you’ll qualify if you’re on a low income and you meet the standards set out by your supplier – if they’re involved in the scheme.
GRANT FUNDING
We are able to help homeowners, tenants and landlords obtain funding for energy saving measures such as loft insulation, wall insulation, boilers and renewable energy.
The amount of funding that may be available varies depending on a number of factors including how old the property is, the size of the property, the type of fuel the property has and the Council area in which it is located.
Please complete the Grant Checker on our Home Page and our office will contact you to discuss your eligibility for a grant.
Check Your Eligibility Using Our Grant Checker
Please ensure that all information provided below is 100% accurate. Any errors in your personal information could delay or prevent you qualifying for a government funded grant
Please note that you do not necessarily need to be in receipt of tax credits or benefits as we still may be able to obtain funding for you via your Council or through other funding schemes.