After 2019, £15.4bn will be needed to stop fuel poverty

After 2019, £15.4 billion of funding will be required to pay for the energy efficiency measures needing to be installed in fuel poor households. MPs on the Parliamentary Committee on […]

After 2019, £15.4 billion of funding will be required to pay for the energy efficiency measures needing to be installed in fuel poor households.

MPs on the Parliamentary Committee on Fuel Poverty, say living in cold, damp homes currently contributes towards 25,000 excess winter deaths each year in England.

It estimates just £1 billion of funds could be made available for this when the Energy Company Obligation  (ECO) programme ends in 2022.

The committee recommends closing this funding gap by extending the current ECO programme through to 2030 and focusing it solely on reducing fuel poverty.

The MPs group says landlords should be required to fund energy efficiency improvements up to a cost cap of £5,000 for each rented property, in line with 2025 and 2030 fuel poverty targets.

It also calls for the Winter Fuel Payment budget to be used more effectively by integrating it with other budgets, such as healthcare, as well as suggesting government departments and energy suppliers work together to better identify and help people struggling to stay warm.

It says less than 10% of this money is currently received by fuel poor households and instead goes to wealthier pensioners.

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