living standards · the national record
Fuel poverty in England
How many households cannot afford to keep warm, in every part of England, from the official DESNZ sub-regional statistics. In 2024 about 9.9 per cent of households, around 2.47 million, were in fuel poverty on the government's Low Income Low Energy Efficiency measure. This page shows where the rate is highest and lowest, how the regions compare, and how the measure has changed since 2010.
How to read this
These are the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero sub-regional fuel poverty statistics for England, modelled to local areas and constrained to the national totals. A household is counted as fuel poor under the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency measure if it is on a low income and lives in a home with a fuel poverty energy efficiency rating below band C. The fuel poverty gap is the reduction in required fuel costs a fuel poor household would need to no longer be fuel poor.
Computed from the DESNZ Sub-regional fuel poverty data 2026 (2024 data) and the national Long term fuel poverty trends under LILEE (2010 to 2025 data), published 2026. England only. Local and regional figures are for 2024, the latest year available below national level.
The national picture
About one in ten households
In 2024 around 9.9 per cent of households in England were in fuel poverty, about 2.47 million homes, on the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency measure. For those households the average fuel poverty gap, the amount by which their required fuel bill exceeds what they could afford and still be above the line, was about 368 pounds, and the gap added up to around 910 million pounds across England. The measure combines two things: a low income and a home that is expensive to heat.
Across the regions
Highest in the Midlands and the North
By region the rate is highest in the West Midlands at 12.1 per cent and lowest in the South East at 8.2 per cent. The Midlands, the North and Yorkshire sit above the England average of 9.9 per cent, reflecting older and less efficient housing stock alongside lower incomes.
England average: 9.9%. 2024 data. Source: DESNZ.
Place matters
From one in eighteen to almost one in seven
Where a household is shapes the odds. Among the 296 lower tier local authorities the rate runs from 5.6 per cent in Wokingham to 14.8 per cent in Stoke-on-Trent. The highest rates cluster in older industrial towns and cities with ageing housing; the lowest are mostly in the prosperous commuter belts of the South East.
Highest rates
Lowest rates
Households in fuel poverty as a share of all households, by lower tier local authority, 2024. Isles of Scilly records a higher rate of 17.3 per cent but has only about 1,010 households, so it is set aside as a small sample outlier. Source: DESNZ.
Since 2010
A falling measure, but read it with care
On the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency measure, fuel poverty in England has fallen from 22.1 per cent in 2010 to 9.4 per cent in 2025. Most of that fall reflects how the measure works: a home stops counting as fuel poor once its energy efficiency reaches band C, so the rate drops as homes are insulated and upgraded, even in years when energy bills rose sharply. It does not mean energy became more affordable. The depth of fuel poverty, the average gap, in fact widened during the energy crisis of 2022 and 2023.
Fuel poverty rate in England on the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency measure, 2010 (22.1%) to 2025 (9.4%). Source: DESNZ.
Questions this raises
For fuel poverty policy
- About one in ten English households cannot keep warm at a reasonable cost. How far can home insulation and upgrades go before low incomes become the binding constraint?
- The statistics do not model that limit, so the page cannot say where it lies. What they show is that the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency measure needs both conditions at once: a low income and a home rated below band C. In 2024 about 9.9 per cent of households in England, around 2.47 million, met both, with an average fuel poverty gap of about 368 pounds and an aggregate gap of around 910 million pounds. Because a home stops counting as fuel poor once it reaches band C, upgrades reduce the headline count directly, while the income side of the measure is not addressed by insulation.
- The rate runs from under 6 per cent in some areas to almost 15 per cent in others. How much of the difference is housing stock and how much is income?
- The sub-regional statistics do not split the rate into a housing stock share and an income share, so the page cannot apportion it. Among the 296 lower tier local authorities the 2024 rate runs from 5.6 per cent in Wokingham to 14.8 per cent in Stoke-on-Trent, with Blackpool at 13.9 per cent and Birmingham at 13.8 per cent close behind. The highest rates cluster in older industrial towns and cities with ageing housing; the lowest are mostly in the prosperous commuter belts of the South East, where Bracknell Forest and Surrey Heath both record 5.8 per cent. Local figures are modelled estimates constrained to the national totals, so small differences between neighbouring areas should be read with care.
- The headline measure falls as homes reach efficiency band C, yet bills rose sharply over the same period. Is the right target the count of fuel poor households, or the depth of the gap they face?
- The page presents both figures rather than choosing between them. The headline rate fell from 22.1 per cent in 2010 to 9.4 per cent in 2025, and most of that fall reflects how the measure works: a home stops counting as fuel poor once it reaches band C, so the rate drops as homes are upgraded even in years when bills rose sharply. The depth of fuel poverty, the average gap, in fact widened during the energy crisis of 2022 and 2023; in 2024 it stood at about 368 pounds per fuel poor household, or around 910 million pounds in total. A falling count therefore does not by itself mean energy became more affordable.
- The Midlands and the North carry the highest rates. Is fuel poverty support reaching the places and the housing that need it most?
- These statistics count fuel poor households; they do not record where support schemes spend, so the page cannot answer whether help is reaching them. It can say where the need sits. In 2024 the West Midlands had the highest regional rate at 12.1 per cent, followed by Yorkshire and The Humber at 11.3 per cent and the East Midlands at 10.6 per cent, against 8.2 per cent in the South East and an England average of 9.9 per cent. In household numbers the picture shifts: London, with a rate of 9.6 per cent, holds around 359,488 fuel poor households, the largest count of any region.
Sources & method
Data provenance
- Sub-regional fuel poverty data 2026 (2024 data), DESNZ ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
- Fuel poverty trends 2026 (2010 to 2025 data), DESNZ ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
- Annual fuel poverty statistics report 2026 (2024 data), DESNZ ↗· Open Government Licence v3.0
Caveats & data notes
- Fuel poverty here is the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency measure used in England. A household is fuel poor if it is on a low income and its home has an energy efficiency rating below band C. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland define fuel poverty differently, so the figures are not comparable across the four nations and are not summed to a UK total.
- Because the measure depends on energy efficiency band, the headline rate falls as homes are upgraded to band C, which can move independently of how affordable energy actually is in a given year.
- Local and regional figures are modelled estimates for 2024, constrained to the national totals. The national trend runs to 2025.
- Lower Super Output Area estimates are published but are not used here: the publisher advises they are too unstable to rank or to read as trends.
- Isles of Scilly is excluded from the local authority league as a small sample outlier (about 1,010 households).
- Source: DESNZ sub-regional and national fuel poverty statistics, 2026 releases.
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