7 Million UK Households on 'Cliff Edge' of Fuel Poverty

To tackle the cost of living crisis, the UK government announced the Energy Price Guarantee which caps tariffs, in September, ensuring that ordinary households will pay no more than £2,500 for gas and electricity annually for the next two years. However, new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on Monday said the guarantee would be reviewed in April 2023.

Close to seven million homes in the UK may experience fuel poverty unless a £14Bln package of emergency support is provided by the government, campaigners from the Warm This Winter group have warned.

The pressure group says that, despite the measures already unveiled by the government of Prime Minister Liz Truss, such as the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) and the £400 fuel rebate, more help will be needed to prevent the "severe health impacts of living in cold, damp homes crippling the NHS and causing excess winter deaths".

Furthermore, after the new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, announced on Monday that the EPG would be reviewed and changed in April 2023, indicating that payments will probably increase next year for many families, the pressure group expressed profound concerns.

BREAKING: The government has announced the #EnergyPriceCap will now only last for 6 months, not 2 years.

We're deeply concerned that homes won't be properly protected from rising #energybills.

We'll follow the plans and work closely with Ministers to keep people #WarmThisWinter pic.twitter.com/4UM2nTyutI

— Warm This Winter (@ThisWinterUK) October 17, 2022

With British households also set to be encouraged to cut back on energy usage, the group warned of the danger that homes won't be properly protected from rising bills.

In England, fuel poverty is measured using the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency ( LILEE ) indicator. Under it, a household is considered to be fuel poor if they are living in a property with a fuel poverty energy efficiency rating of band D or below. People on low incomes but with higher-than-average energy consumption - often linked to poor home insulation - are believed to be the worst affected.

The group has called for urgent additional assistance, both fiscal and non-financial, aimed at the most vulnerable.

First, the group argued the need for a third cost of living payment of £325 for those on income-linked benefits to be paid on 1 December. Warm This Winter is also urging a further £150 of disability benefits, restoration of the £20 Universal Credit uplift and boosting energy bill support payments for people who do not have a mains gas connection. All households who received the Warm Homes Discount last winter ought to be able to have access to a £150 rebate this winter, insisted the group.

As for non-financial help, it suggested an immediate suspension of all forced transfers of households onto more expensive pre-payment meters, whether by court warrant or remotely via smart meters.

"With millions of homes set to be plunged into fuel poverty this winter, we’re extremely concerned that the nation’s lung health will rapidly deteriorate if the government doesn’t step up to help the most vulnerable. If people cannot afford to heat their home, they may be forced to live in freezing homes where cold and flu viruses can thrive," Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of Asthma + Lung UK, said.

According to a spokesman for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, the UK government policy has "created a cliff edge in April 2023, with the Energy Bills Support Scheme and additional Cost of Living Payments due to end".

The government has been urged to set out a "medium-term plan for financial support" while the longer-term measures take effect.

The UK remains in the grip of the cost-of-living crisis as inflation and fuel prices soar. The Bank of England (BoE) predicted in August that inflation could hit 13 percent early next year.

A study conducted by the University of York in August suggested that at least 45 million Brits may be in the grip of fuel poverty by January 2023, after inflation rates in the UK reached a 40-year high of 10.1 percent. The dire forecasts were preceded by UK government ministers acknowledging that the “severe sanctions” that western countries slapped on Russia shortly after Moscow launched its special military operation in Ukraine, would have a knock-on effect on the cost of living in Britain, urging citizens to be prepared to take an “economic hit”.