New fuel poverty figures released by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero show that an estimated 3.26 million households were living in energy poverty last year.

This compares to 3.16 million households in 2021.

It is projected that in 2023, fuel poor households will increase to 3.53 million, with an estimated 53.5% of all low income households predicted to live in a property with a fuel poverty energy efficiency rating of band C or better.

The fuel poverty report also shows that the number of households in England that spend more than 10% of their income on their energy has also increased from 4.93 million in 2021 to 7.39 million in 2022.

The report underlined the case for charities and other campaigners calling for the Chancellor to extend the Energy Price Guarantee, the government’s flagship energy bill support scheme which aims to limit household bills to £2,500.