CIH joins End Fuel Poverty Coalition to call for urgent Government action on spiralling energy bills.

One in three households in Britain could be left facing fuel poverty if the Ukraine invasion pushes the average energy bill to £3,000 a year.

Following the end to the energy price cap in April, the average UK energy bill was set to soar to £2,000 per year, pushing around 6.5 million people into fuel poverty.

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition, (EFPC) representing around 50 charities and organisations including the Chartered Institute of Housing, has said that the rise could lead to higher deaths among elder and vulnerable people without further action from the Government. 

This could rise even higher as gas prices soar following the invasion of Ukraine, with the average bill potentially reaching £3,000 per year. One in three UK households – 8.5 million – could find themselves in fuel poverty, having to make the impossible choice between heating and eating. These concerns were highlighted in this week’s oral evidence to the DWP Select Committee.

Analysis from the upcoming 2022 UK Housing Review shows that low-income households are bearing the brunt of rising inflation and face being plunged into poverty if the Government does not intervene. In England alone, nine million poor people live in energy-inefficient homes, making them particularly vulnerable to inflated energy prices. Even before the energy price increases, 39.1 per cent of owner-occupiers and 37.6 per cent of private renters were living in fuel poverty, along with 23.2 per cent of social tenants. 

Together with the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, CIH is calling on the Government to rethink its “heat now, pay later” rebate scheme and to cut bills for the most vulnerable households. Without more meaningful support, escalating prices could lead to unnecessary deaths among the old and vulnerable next winter.

Head of policy and external affairs, Rachael Williamson, said: “The Government must address the scale of the problem and use the upcoming Economic Statement to cut energy bills for the poorest, set out longer-term plans to tackle homes with poor energy efficiency and uprate benefits in line with inflation.”