Section 7: Fuel Poverty

Fuel Poverty Low Income Low Energy Efficiency Definition

A new definition of fuel poverty was introduced in 2021. This is the ‘Low Income Low Energy Efficiency’ (LILEE) definition of fuel poverty stating that a household is fuel poor if:

• They are living in a property with an energy efficiency rating of band D, E, F or G
• Their disposable income (income after housing costs and energy needs) is below the poverty line.

Fuel poverty is affected by a household’s income, their fuel costs, and their energy consumption which can be affected, in return, by the energy-efficiency of the household’s dwelling.

Poor energy efficiency dwellings will require more fuel for heating purposes, and, as a consequence, more CO2 emissions will be produced. Energy efficiency improvements are key as they reduce energy and fuel consumption and, as a result, fuel poverty.

There is a two year time lag with Fuel Poverty Data which means for the local authority level estimates for Leeds, data under this new definition, released annually from 2021 starts from 2019.

Fuel Poverty in Leeds

Table 7.1

In 2020, the estimated number of households in fuel poverty in Leeds was 60,802 under the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) metric.  This affects 17.6% of all Leeds households.  Fuel poverty increased in Leeds by 3,310 households in the last year.  Nationally, the number of households in fuel poverty was estimated at around 3.16 million, representing approximately 13.2% of all English households and has fallen from 13.4% of households in 2019.

The average fuel poverty gap for England in 2020 (the reduction in fuel costs needed for a household to not be in fuel poverty) was estimated at £223, down by 2.3 per cent since 2019 (£229).