A strategy to end cold homes for good
THE new Fuel Poverty Strategy sets out
a revolutionary approach to identifying and targeting England's energy
inefficient homes. Future Governments will now, for the first time, be required
by law to tackle fuel poverty by making the coldest, leakiest homes in England
more energy efficient.
This new Fuel Poverty Strategy; the first for over a decade outlines
challenges and actions for the next 15 years to ensure future Governments take
the right steps to tackle fuel poverty and get help to those who need it most.
A new legally binding target; in force since December 2014; is at the heart of
the new strategy. It requires a minimum standard of energy efficiency (Band C)
for as many fuel poor homes as reasonably practicable by 2030.
Early measures to tackle the problem of fuel poverty
and hit the new target include:-
► New regulations so from April 2018 private landlords cannot rent out energy
inefficient properties (homes with Energy Performance ratings below 'E').
► Tackling the problem of fuel poverty in off gas grid
properties with a new £25 million fund to help people install central heating
systems for the first time.
► Extending the successful ECO scheme to 2017, so that a further 500,000
properties will be made cheaper and easier to heat, building on the one million
homes that ECO and the Green Deal have helped in the last 2 years.
The strategy prepares the ground for future new measures with a series of pilots
focused on priority areas, ranging from health aspects of fuel poverty through
to specific housing types like off gas grid properties and park homes.
A £3 million pot for such pilots will see £1 million released immediately to
scale up local 'warmth on prescription' projects to help primary
healthcare professionals such as GPs play a much larger part in tackling fuel
poverty. In the coming months up to £2 million more will be released to support
innovation pilots, not just in health but also for off gas grid, park homes and
community energy approaches.
Unveiling the strategy, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said:-
"Today marks a crucial step towards a future free from cold homes and bloated
energy bills in England.
We now have a legally binding commitment to plug our draughtiest houses; adding
to the 1 million homes we've made warmer and cheaper to heat. From tackling fuel
poverty in the private rented sector to facing up properly to the challenges of
rural off gas grid fuel poverty, this strategy marks a significant change from
the old approach. Yet even as we implement new regulations and new spending
priorities to make homes warmer, we are planning for the next phase of cutting
fuel poverty, with a series of key pilots, especially into the link between
improving health and cutting fuel poverty."
Households in fuel poverty in the least energy efficient homes (Bands F and G)
typically face energy costs that are £1,000 more than those in higher quality
homes. To help focus support where it is needed most, the strategy introduces
interim milestones to get as many as fuel poor homes as reasonably practicable
up to a minimum energy efficiency rating of Band E by 2020 and Band D by 2025.
Minister for Energy and Climate Change Amber Rudd:- "We want the fall in
levels of fuel poverty seen under this Government to continue - so that cold
homes are gone for good.
That's the future we're presenting, alongside our ambitious targets, so even
more households can join the 1 million homes already reaping the benefits of
lower energy bills and warmer homes this winter."
Last month, the Government laid draft regulations to introduce minimum energy
efficiency standards that will see up to 1 million people renting from private
landlords benefit from warmer and cheaper to heat homes. Many of the poorest
tenants will benefit and, with Government support, landlords can improve their
properties at no upfront cost; and landlords will only have to make
improvements that are cost effective. This will be backed by a new law to give
tenants the right from April 2016 to request consent for improvements that the
landlord cannot unreasonably refuse.
Nearly 2 million heating and energy efficiency measures have already been
installed across the country. With ECO being extended to 2017 an extra half a
million people will be able to keep warm for less, including many low income,
vulnerable households. This is on top of half a billion pounds of investment in
energy efficiency schemes over 3 years, including the Green Deal Home
Improvement Fund.
Dr Tim Ballard, Vice-Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said:-
"The Royal College of GPs welcomes this new fuel poverty strategy. It
marks an important turning point in acting on what we have known for some time:
that cold homes contribute to the most vulnerable people being unhealthy and can
even be lethal for them. The new strategy provides a long term framework in
which the health sector has a vital role to play, in partnership with
Government. The new funding for health-related pilot projects is especially
needed and will help build the case for more investment to cut the cost of
warmth and help reduce the burden of cold homes on the health service."
