The government has today launched a new fuel poverty strategy which sets out a revolutionary approach to identifying and targeting England’s energy efficient homes…
For the first time, future governments will be required by law to tackle fuel poverty by making the coldest, leakiest homes in England more energy inefficient.
This is the first fuel poverty strategy in over a decade, and it outlines challenges and actions for the next 15 years.
Early measures to tackle the problem of fuel poverty and hit the new target include:
- New regulations so from April 2018 private landlords cannot rent out energy efficient properties (homes with Energy Performance ratings below ‘E’)
- Tackling the problem of fuel poverty in off gas grid properties with a new £25m fund to help people install central heating systems for the first time.
- Extending the successful ECO scheme to 2017, so that a further 500,000 properties will be made cheaper and easier to heat, building on the one million homes that ECO and the Green Deal have helped in the last 2 years.
Unveiling the strategy, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: “Today marks a crucial step towards a future free from cold homes and bloated energy bills in England. We now have legally binding commitment to plug our draughtiest houses – adding to the 1 million homes we’ve made warmer and cheaper to heat.
“From tackling fuel poverty in the private rented sector to facing up properly to the challenges of rural off gas grid fuel poverty, this strategy marks a significant change from the old approach.
“Yet even as we implement new regulations and new spending priorities to make homes warmer, we are planning for the next phase of cutting fuel poverty, with a series of key pilots, especially into the link between improving health and cutting fuel poverty.”
