More than one in 10 households were struggling to pay their energy bills to heat draughty homes in 2024, official figures show.
In England, official statistics consider a household to be in fuel poverty if their home has a poor energy efficiency rating of band D or below and their disposable income after housing and fuel costs is below the poverty line.
Data from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero show 2.73 million households, around 11% of families, were in fuel poverty last year, a reduction on the previous year.
The fuel poverty gap – the reduction in fuel costs needed for a household not to be in fuel poverty – was £407 on average, down slightly from £426 in 2023 in real prices.
The Government has a target to move as many fuel-poor homes as possible to a minimum of band C in efficiency by 2030, with a milestone of band D by 2025 – and the figures showed nearly three-fifths (59.5%) of homes were in band C or above, and 93.2% in band D or above in 2024.
The figures also showed energy efficiency measures lifted 59,000 households out of fuel poverty between 2023 and 2024, while growing incomes – partially offset by rising housing costs – lifted 52,000 households out of fuel poverty.
But energy prices rose in 2024, pushing 42,000 households into fuel poverty, the figures reveal.
