This page provides fuel poverty statistics for constituencies in England and local authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Fuel poverty is a devolved policy area and is defined and measured very differently in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Estimates have also been produced at different times and sometimes with large gaps. Data for different nations therefore isn’t directly comparable.

In general, households in fuel poverty spend a high proportion of their household income to keep their home at a reasonable temperature.

Fuel poverty is affected by three key factors:

  • a household’s income,
  • their fuel costs,
  • their energy consumption (which in turn can be affected by the energy efficiency of the dwelling).

The latest local area fuel poverty estimates for England are for 2023, Scotland for 2017-19, Wales for 2018 and Northern Ireland for 2016. These earlier estimates do not take account of the increases in domestic energy prices in 2021 and 2022.

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Notes

Owing to insufficient data for small geographical areas (such as constituencies or MSOAs), these figures are modelled estimates based on housing survey data and other information about the characteristics of the households within each area. As such, these figures may be less reliable than national/regional estimates. Further details are available in the sources below.

The Library briefing paper, Fuel Poverty in the UK, discusses fuel poverty projections and non-official estimates in more detail. It also provides information on policies to address fuel poverty and stakeholder comment.

Scotland and Wales figures are rounded to the nearest thousand, whereas England and Northern Ireland publish unrounded estimates.

England’s definition

Fuel poverty in England is calculated using the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) indicator, compared to the 10% indicators used in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The LILEE definition uses a relative indicator with regards to income but an absolute measure regarding energy efficiency of the property. As such, the LILEE indicator is based on the efficiency of homes, which is not sensitive to changes in energy prices. In England a household in a property with an energy efficiency rating of C or better (around half of dwellings) cannot be defined as being in fuel poverty, regardless of their income or the level of energy prices.

The definition in England also treats energy rebates, such as the Warm Home Discount, as if they improve the energy efficiency of a dwelling. This reduces the numbers deemed to be in fuel poverty, without improving energy efficiency.

Table 2 of the annual fuel poverty statistics data tables shows the distribution of households in England by the different components of the LILEE definition (low/high income and low/high energy efficiency). More information can be found in the fuel poverty methodology handbook.

Since 2023, the UK government has also published affordability statistics on the number of households required to spend at least 10% of their income on energy costs, as seen in Annex E of the annual fuel poverty statistics report for 2025. This provides an alternative picture of the scale of fuel poverty, as 10% indicators are more responsive to energy price changes. The affordability statistics are not available at small area geographies.

Sources

Further reading

Data updates

We aim to update this dashboard in line with data releases from each administration, but the data shown here may not be the latest available. MPs and their staff can contact the Commons Library with queries about updates.

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