Fuel Poverty Policy and How It Is Defined in Each Nation

Fuel poverty is a devolved policy area, defined and measured differently in different parts of the UK, and the rates produced under each measure are not directly comparable between nations¹. That single fact explains most of the confusion around the subject. There is no UK fuel poverty definition. There are four, and each one decides who counts, who qualifies for support, and what the government is obliged to report.

The general idea is shared. Fuel poverty relates to households that must spend a high proportion of their household income to keep their home at a reasonable temperature². The original test, still used in three nations, set the threshold at more than 10 per cent of income spent on fuel to maintain an adequately heated home³. England abandoned that test in 2013 and now uses the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency framework, which requires both a low income and a poor energy rating⁴.

The practical consequence is that a household can be fuel poor under one nation's measure and not under another. England's framework excludes homes rated band C or better even where incomes are very low: in 2024, 3.1 million households in England sat in the lowest two income deciles but were not deemed fuel poor because their property was rated C or better². Scotland's definition, by contrast, is sensitive to changes in fuel prices, which drove a substantial increase in estimated fuel poverty between 2019 and 2023².

What fuel poverty means: a household that cannot heat its home adequately

The core concept is consistent across every official document. A household is in fuel poverty if it needs to spend more than 10 per cent of its income on energy costs⁶. Northern Ireland's consultation documents put it as households needing to pay more than 10% of full household income to maintain a satisfactory heating regime at an affordable cost¹¹. Wales uses the same structure: households needing to pay more than 10% of their full household income to maintain a satisfactory heating regime¹².

The older parliamentary formulation is the one most people recognise: a household is considered to be in fuel poverty if it needs to spend more than 10% of its income to achieve an adequate level of warmth¹³. Scotland's traditional definition, used in the Warmer Homes Scotland programme, was that a household would be required to spend more than 10% of its income on all household fuel use to maintain a satisfactory heating regime¹⁴. The 2017 Scottish consultation stated the same test in identical terms¹⁵.

Northern Ireland's definition adds a temperature standard that the others leave implicit: a fuel poor household is one which needs to spend more than 10% of its income on all fuel use to heat its home to an adequate standard of warmth, defined as 21°C in the living room and 18°C in other occupied rooms¹⁶.

Three factors drive whether a household falls inside any of these measures: its income, its fuel costs, and its energy consumption¹. The definitions differ mainly in how they treat income (before or after housing costs, including or excluding benefits) and in whether they add a second condition about the property itself. That second condition is what makes England's measure structurally different from the rest.

A devolved policy area: four nations, four definitions

Fuel poverty is a devolved policy area and is defined and measured differently in different parts of the UK². The Office for National Statistics has published work specifically to help users understand those differences, written in consultation with the producers of fuel poverty statistics¹⁷. It was the first article to use published data to explore the differences and similarities in how the UK measures deal with the main influences of fuel poverty¹⁷.

The four measures in outline:

Scotland's definition is slightly different again from England and Wales in its detail: Scotland uses a higher temperature standard²⁰. Scotland also applies an additional amount for households in remote rural, remote small town and island areas, an uplift that recognises the higher cost of heating in those locations¹⁹.

All three devolved administrations have additional, government-funded fuel poverty reduction programmes, focusing on energy efficiency²¹. That is the practical expression of devolution: separate definitions, separate targets, separate schemes, and separate statistics that cannot be lined up against each other.

England: the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency framework

England's measure is the outlier. Fuel poverty in England is measured using the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency method⁵. A household in England is considered fuel poor if it has a Fuel Poverty Energy Efficiency Rating of band D or below and its residual income is below the official poverty line after modelled energy costs are deducted⁵.

The definition changed in 2013⁴. Before that, England used the same 10% approach as the other nations. The current framework is sometimes described by its older name, the Low Income High Costs indicator: households in England are now said to be in fuel poverty if they would have to spend more than the median amount on fuel to keep their home at a reasonable temperature, and spending that amount would put their income below the poverty line⁴.

The effect of the property condition is significant. In England, unlike in the rest of the UK, only those households in homes with lower energy efficiency, bands D to G, who fall below the poverty line after energy costs are considered fuel poor². In 2024, 3.1 million households in England were in the lowest two income deciles but were not deemed to be fuel poor because their property had a rating of C or better².

The definition has attracted criticism from the body that scrutinises it. The Committee on Fuel Poverty said it should be reviewed as it no longer captures the full range of households facing unaffordable bills, and the definition has been described as a blunt instrument which leads to an overly skewed policy focus².

There is a further quirk with consequences for support. In England the definition of fuel poverty means that direct energy rebates, such as the Warm Home Discount, are treated as if they improved the energy efficiency of a dwelling, reducing the numbers deemed fuel poor, but in reality have no impact on improving energy efficiency². A rebate therefore moves a household out of the statistic without changing the building.

England's criteria: FPEER band D or below and residual income below the poverty line

The Fuel Poverty Energy Efficiency Rating is the energy efficiency rating used in England's measure, and the band that counts is D or below⁵. A home rated band C or better cannot be fuel poor under the English framework, whatever the household's income.

The income test has two parts. The remaining household income must not be enough to maintain an acceptable standard of living, defined as at least 90% of the UK Minimum Income Standard once childcare costs and disability or care benefits are deducted²². Scotland applies the same 90% of UK Minimum Income Standard test, but on adjusted net income after housing costs rather than on residual income after modelled energy costs⁵.

The distribution of fuel poverty in England by income band is steep. The fuel poverty rate was 96% for the bottom income band, less than £15,000 annually, which is similar to 2023²³. It was 51% for the second bottom band, £15,000 to £24,999 annually, lower than 2023²³. By council tax band, the rate ran from 46% in band A to 21% in band F²³.

Fuel type matters as much as income. In 2025, an estimated 7.9% of households with gas central heating were defined as being in fuel poverty, 16.9% of those that used electricity, and 11.5% of those that used other fuels such as LPG, community heating or solid fuels⁷. The overall rate in England was around 11% of households in the latest estimates².

The government has estimated that 9.0 million households in England could be classed as fuel poor in 2024 using a version of the 10% definition, almost double its level in 2021². That figure is the clearest illustration of how much the choice of measure, rather than the circumstances of households, determines the headline number.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: the 10% of income test

The three other nations retained the 10% approach, each with its own adjustments.

In Scotland, total fuel costs necessary for the home must be more than 10% of the household's adjusted net income after housing costs, and the remaining adjusted net income must be at least 90% of the UK Minimum Income Standard¹⁹. The statutory definition adds an extreme fuel poverty threshold: more than 10%, or 20% for extreme fuel poverty, of net income is required to pay for reasonable fuel needs after housing costs have been deducted, and the remaining household income is not enough to maintain an acceptable standard of living²⁴. Scotland's measure is set out in section 3 of the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act¹⁹.

Wales uses a full income definition: a household is considered to be in fuel poverty if it needs to spend more than 10% of its income, including housing related benefits and net of council tax, on all household fuel use to maintain a satisfactory heating regime⁵. Wales also has a band below the threshold: a household needing to spend between 8 and 10% is classed as being at risk of fuel poverty⁵.

Northern Ireland uses the 10% indicator, where a household is fuel poor if fuel costs required to maintain a satisfactory heating regime are greater than 10% of household income⁵. The Northern Ireland consultation documents describe fuel poor households as those needing to pay more than 10% of their full household income to maintain a satisfactory heating regime at an affordable cost¹¹.

The Welsh measure is sometimes referred to simply as 10% of income on fuel bills²⁵. The Scottish figures are published through the Scottish House Condition Survey, which reports fuel poverty under the statutory definition and notes that estimates under the new definition cannot be compared with statistics published under the old definition in local authority analyses before 2016-2018²⁶.

The fuel poverty gap: £700 in England

The fuel poverty gap measures depth rather than breadth: it is the amount by which a fuel poor household's modelled energy costs fall short of what it would need to spend to reach the threshold. It answers a different question from the headline rate, which is why a nation can have a falling rate and a widening gap at the same time.

In England in 2025, the gap for households using fuels other than mains gas was £700⁷. A separate official figure puts the gap for households using other fuels at £730, and the two documents disagree; both are official statistics and neither has been reconciled⁷.

The average fuel poverty gap in England is £353 per year, the amount by which a fuel-poor household's energy bills exceed reasonable costs⁸. The median gap in 2024 was £1,030 before adjustment, or £770 when adjusted to 2015 prices².

Scotland's figures show the same pattern by fuel type. In 2024, 42% of households using electricity were in fuel poverty, 27% of those using gas for heating, and 26% of those using other fuels⁷. Extreme fuel poverty stood at 13% of those using oil⁷.

The gap matters for policy because it identifies the households furthest from a tolerable position, and it is the figure that efficiency spending is meant to close. A household with a small gap may need a tariff intervention; a household with a large gap usually needs the building improved.

How the measures differ and why rates are not directly comparable

The differences are structural, not cosmetic, and they run in both directions.

England's property condition removes low-income households in efficient homes from the count. Scotland's income base, adjusted net income after housing costs, and its higher temperature standard, pull in different households from England's residual income test²⁰. Scotland's definition is also more sensitive to fuel prices, which is why estimated fuel poverty rose substantially between 2019 and 2023 under it². Wales's inclusion of housing related benefits and its treatment of council tax change who crosses the line⁵. Northern Ireland's full income basis is different again¹¹.

The Office for National Statistics work on measurement exists precisely because these differences make naive comparison misleading¹⁷. The Welsh statistics carry an explicit warning that the 2024 modelled estimates cannot be directly compared with previous figures⁵. The Scottish local authority tables carry a similar note about the change of definition²⁶.

Within nations, the pattern by tenure and payment method is consistent enough to be useful. In Scotland in 2023, overall rates of fuel poverty differed between the social sector at 61% and the private sector at 25%²⁷. In 2021 the split was 34% social against 15% private²⁸. Households on prepayment meters are consistently worse off: in 2021, 33% of prepayment meter households were fuel poor compared with 17% of those without²⁸, and in 2022 the figures were 47% compared with 28%²⁹. In 2019 the rate for households without a prepayment meter was 22%³⁰.

The practical implication for a household is that the definition determines eligibility, not just the statistic. A home rated band C or better in England will not be counted as fuel poor and will not appear in the numbers that drive area-based support, even at a very low income².

How many households are affected: estimates from 6 million to 13 million

The range across sources is wide because the measures differ and because some figures are estimates rather than statistics.

National Energy Action estimated there are now over six million households in fuel poverty, with energy debt at unprecedented levels⁹. Six million homes were estimated to be in fuel poverty in 2024³¹. In England, around 13% of households are classified as fuel-poor³². Across the UK, the estimated number of households in fuel poverty ranges from 4.1 million to 7.5 million³³.

Scotland's statutory estimate is that from January to March 2026 there will be around 800,000 fuel poor households in Scotland, 31% of all households³³. The number of fuel poor households with electric primary heating is projected to fall from 140,000 to 130,000 over the same period³³. For context, the 2017 Scottish fuel poverty rate was 23.7%, around 583,000 households³⁴.

Wales's modelled estimates show the effect of the property: 59% of households in EPC bands F or G were in fuel poverty, compared with lower rates in better-rated homes⁵.

Where to get help: National Energy Action, Consumer Scotland and the End Fuel Poverty Coalition

National Energy Action offers advice and support to help people across England, Wales and Northern Ireland stay warm and manage energy costs¹⁰. It provides free advice about energy bills and keeping warm and safe in your home, and can also help with benefits advice and income maximisation³⁵. The phone number is 0800 304 7159, and a British Sign Language interpreter can be requested³⁵.

For Scotland, the statutory framework sits with the Scottish Government under section 3 of the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act, and the Scottish House Condition Survey provides the household data behind the published rates¹⁹. Consumer Scotland is the consumer body for Scotland, and the Energy Ombudsman handles unresolved complaints about suppliers across Great Britain¹⁰.

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition is a campaigning body rather than an advice service, bringing together more than 100 charities, health organisations, housing groups, trade unions and consumer bodies⁹. Its estimates of households in fuel poverty have varied between statements, and the figures have not been reconciled⁹.

Local authority routes also exist. Councils publish their own energy bill help pages, and the support available varies by area³⁵.

Campaign positions: what the sector is asking government to change

The Fuel Poverty Strategy for England sets out the government's approach to tackling fuel poverty in England, and applies to England only³⁶. Its aim is to deliver progress to the fuel poverty target through 6 priority outcomes³⁶.

The criticism from the scrutiny side is that the English definition no longer captures the households that need help. The Committee on Fuel Poverty said it should be reviewed as it no longer captures the full range of households facing unaffordable bills². The treatment of the Warm Home Discount as an efficiency improvement is a specific target of that criticism, because it reduces the numbers deemed fuel poor without improving any building².

The measurement question is the live one. The Office for National Statistics has already published comparative work in consultation with the statistics producers¹⁷, and the Welsh and Scottish statistics carry comparability warnings⁵. The direction of travel in the sector is towards a measure that captures unaffordable bills rather than only the combination of low income and a poor energy rating.

For a household, the practical position is that the definition decides what support is available and what the government must report against. The rules are set out in the UK home energy regulation and policy guide, with the devolved detail in the pages on energy and buildings policy in Scotland and energy and buildings policy in Wales. Northern Ireland's arrangements sit with the Utility Regulator, and the department that owns the English statistics is covered in the page on DESNZ.