The government published a consultation in February 2025 seeking views on a new fuel poverty strategy for England, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's sub-regional fuel poverty statistics published on 30 April 20251. The review covers the Sustainable Warmth strategy, published in February 2021, which set out the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) metric used to measure fuel poverty in England1.
Under the LILEE indicator, a household is fuel poor if it lives in a property rated band D, E, F or G on the Fuel Poverty Energy Efficiency Rating, and its disposable income after housing costs and energy needs would fall below the poverty line1. The measure is based on required energy bills rather than what households actually spend, so that homes with low bills because occupants limit their heating are not excluded1.
The consultation was published alongside statistics showing how unevenly fuel poverty is distributed. In 2023, 11.4 per cent of households in England were fuel poor on the LILEE measure1. Regional rates ranged from 9.3 per cent in London to 16.7 per cent in the West Midlands, with Yorkshire and the Humber second highest at 14.7 per cent1. The lowest rates after London were the South East and the East, both at 9.7 per cent1.
| Nation or region | Fuel poverty rate, 2023 (LILEE) |
|---|---|
| England | 11.4% |
| West Midlands | 16.7% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 14.7% |
| South East | 9.7% |
| East | 9.7% |
| London | 9.3% |
At local authority level, the five highest rates were Stoke-on-Trent (21.3 per cent), Birmingham (19.3 per cent), Coventry (18.9 per cent), Wolverhampton (18.7 per cent) and Sandwell (18.5 per cent)1. The five lowest were the City of London (4.6 per cent), Wokingham (6.2 per cent), Bracknell Forest (6.5 per cent), Surrey Heath (6.7 per cent) and Tower Hamlets (6.9 per cent)1. The report notes that sub-regional estimates are modelled and constrained to regional totals, and should be used only to identify general trends and areas of particularly high or low fuel poverty, not detailed trends over time1.
Why it matters for households
The strategy under review defines who counts as fuel poor and therefore who is captured by policies aimed at improving home energy efficiency. The LILEE metric ties fuel poverty to the energy performance of the property as well as to income, which means a home's rating on the Fuel Poverty Energy Efficiency Rating scale is central to whether its occupants are counted. Because the measure uses required rather than actual bills, households that under-heat to keep costs down still count as fuel poor1.
For a household, the practical link between the strategy and energy independence runs through the fabric of the home: insulation, heating systems and glazing determine how much energy is needed to keep a property warm, and therefore how exposed occupants are to price changes. The regional figures show that this exposure is not evenly spread. The West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber combined below-average median incomes after housing costs, below-average median energy efficiency ratings and above-average median fuel costs1. London recorded the lowest fuel poverty rate, which the report attributes to the highest median energy efficiency rating, the smallest typical home sizes, the lowest median fuel costs and above-average incomes1.
The report also notes that the fuel poverty gap, an indicator of how deeply fuel poor a household is, is not modelled at sub-regional level. In 2023, fuel poor households in the South West had the deepest levels of fuel poverty of any English region, partly because of above-median energy costs and larger than typical home sizes1.
What happens next
The consultation seeks views on a new strategy to accelerate progress on warm homes1. No date for publication of the new strategy, or for the government's response to the consultation, is given in the statistics report. The report states that the annual fuel poverty statistics are based on projections to 2024, while the sub-regional estimates use 2023 modelled data and cannot be run for 2024 under the current methodology1.