This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Fuel poverty
29/11/2006
The latest statistics on fuel poverty Scottish House Condition Survey: Fuel Poverty Report - 2003-04 were published today.
Some of the main findings are:
- There were around 328,000 households in fuel poverty in 2003/04. This represents 14.5percent of all households in Scotland
- This is a slight increase on the figure for 2002 of 286,000 households (13percent), although it is not a statistically significant change
- There has been a large fall in the number of households in fuel poverty since 1996, the first year in which the Scottish House Condition Survey included fuel poverty figures. This is down from around 738,000 (35 percent of all households)
- Nearly one third of households (105,000) in fuel poverty could be described as suffering extreme fuel poverty, that is having to spend more than 20percent of their income in order to maintain the standard heating regime. This is up from around 69,000 households in 2002
Types of household in fuel poverty
- The main factor affecting fuel poverty is low income. 92percent of households with a weekly household income of less than £100 were estimated to be in fuel poverty. 38percent of those with an income of £100-£200 a week were also in fuel poverty
- Elderly households are much more vulnerable to fuel poverty than younger ones. 35 per cent of single pensioner households and 27 per cent of pensioner couples were estimated to be in fuel poverty. This compares to 17 per cent of single (non-pensioner) adults and 10 per cent or less of other household types
- Of non-eldery households, that is, those households which did not have one or more persons aged 60 or over, those claiming welfare benefits were more likely to be in fuel poverty than others, with 13 per cent of claimant households in fuel poverty, compared to 5 per cent of non-claimants
- A higher proportion of private renters were in fuel poverty than those with other forms of tenure: 22 per cent of households in the private rented sector were in fuel poverty, compared to 15 per cent or less of owner-occupiers and social renters
- 43 per cent of households living in dwellings rated 'poor' in terms of energy efficiency were in fuel poverty, compared to 18 per cent of households living in dwellings with a 'moderate' rating and 8 per cent living in dwellings with a 'good' rating. However, this is one area where significant improvements have been made. Only 6 per cent of households lived in dwellings rated 'poor' in 2003-04, and 40 per cent in dwellings rated 'good'. In 2002, 8 per cent of households lived in dwellings rated 'poor' and 31 per cent in dwellings rated 'good'
Marginal fuel poverty
- 155,000 households fall just below the fuel poverty threshold, being required to spend 8-10 per cent of their income on fuel in order to maintain the standard heating regime. These households would be vulnerable to fuel poverty if their circumstances were to change
- Similarly 103,000 households fall just above the threshold, being required to spend 10-13 per cent of their income on fuel. A change in circumstances could lift them out of fuel poverty