Game changing circumstances mean new approach to fuel poverty needed

Poverty Radiator thermostat
NewsFebruary 22nd, 2016

The Bevan Foundation calls for a new approach to tackle fuel poverty in Wales.

Already more than a third of households needs to spend more than 10% of their income on keeping their home at the recommended temperature of 18 degrees C, and the numbers are forecast to increase further.

The warning that old approaches are no longer adequate is based on the Bevan Foundation’s analysis of forecasts on the economy, housing, energy prices and climate change.

Speaking at the National Energy Action Cymru conference, Victoria Winckler said “The combination of falling incomes amongst the least well off especially families, the growth of the private rented sector, and the likelihood of more extreme weather – including extreme cold – is a game-changer.”

“The NEST programme is valuable but it is only able to help 68,000 households since it was created in 2011, a tiny proportion of the 330,000 households affected by fuel poverty in Wales.

“Increasingly there are cases being reported of families whose incomes are so low they cannot afford to heat their homes at all, which is why a new approach is needed.”

To download Victoria Winckler’s presentation for the National Energy Action Cymru conference, please click here.

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