Fuel poverty rates in London and the rest of England (2021)
Last updated: October 2024
Next estimated update: October 2025
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the proportions of households in fuel poverty by age. Households are split by the age of the oldest person in the household.
A household in England is defined as being in fuel poverty if it is in a property rated D or worse for energy efficiency, and its disposable income (that is, its remaining income after housing and energy costs are paid) is below the poverty line (60% of the national median income).
What does it tell us?
Just over one in ten London households (10.8%) are considered to be living in fuel poverty. This is slightly lower than 13.5% in the rest of England. This is likely to be due to a combination of factors. For example, houses in London tend to have smaller floor areas. This is likely to contribute to lower fuel costs overall and higher average incomes mean that fewer households fall below the poverty line after energy costs are taken into account.
There are differences in fuel poverty rates for households of different age groups. Fuel poverty rates are highest for younger households and lowest for older households. 23.2% of households aged 16-24 were in fuel poverty, compared to 6.3% of those where the oldest person was over 75 years old. This is lower than the equivalent age groups in the rest of England, where fuel poverty rates were 28.5% and 10.2%, respectively.
One exception is the 50-59 age group whose poverty rates were slightly higher for London than the rest of England (16.1% and 15.6% respectively).
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