The government has published the first fuel poverty strategy for over a decade which it claims will improve the nation’s draughtiest homes.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) claims that a legally binding target which stipulates that as many fuel poor houses as “reasonably practicable” should be energy efficiency Band C or higher by 2030 is key to the strategy’s potential effectivness.
Early measures present in the new strategy include: regulations that will prohibit private landlords from renting out energy inefficient (EPC rating below E) from April 2018; A £25 million fund designed to help off gas grid properties from joining the grid; extending the ECO scheme out to 2017.
Commenting on the launch of the strategy, energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey said that the measures would help tackle “cold homes and bloated energy bills”. He continued: “We now have a 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.
“Households in fuel poverty in the least energy efficient homes (Bands F and G) typically face energy costs that are £1,000 more than those in higher quality homes. To help focus support where it is needed most, the strategy introduces interim milestones to get as many as fuel poor homes as reasonably practicable up to a minimum energy efficiency rating of Band E by 2020 and Band D by 2025.”
Prescribing energy efficiency measures
The government has also revealed a £3 million pilot scheme which will allow healthcare professionals to ‘prescribe’ energy efficiency measures to those whose illness are being exacerbated by cold homes.
The pilot is part of a wider strategy by the government to support more local energy efficiency projects.
Dr Tim Ballard, vice-chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, added: “The Royal College of GPs welcomes this new fuel poverty strategy. It marks an important turning point in acting on what we have known for some time: that cold homes contribute to the most vulnerable people being unhealthy and can even be lethal for them.
“The new strategy provides a long-term framework in which the health sector has a vital role to play, in partnership with Government. The new funding for health-related pilot projects is especially needed and will help build the case for more investment to cut the cost of warmth and help reduce the burden of cold homes on the health service.”
.
.