Fuel poverty now affects one in five households

Fuel poverty affects one in five households

More than a fifth of all households in the UK were affected by fuel poverty in 2009, government figures have shown.Higher fuel bills meant the number of homes affected rose by one million, or 22%, to 5.5 million, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said.

A household is described as being in fuel poverty when it has to spend more than 10% of its income keeping warm. DECC predicts that the numbers for 2010 and 2011 will have increased because of further rises in the price of energy.

DECC stated that "between 2004 and 2009, energy prices increased: domestic electricity prices increased by over 75%, while gas prices increased by over 122% over the same period...and this led to the rise in fuel poverty seen over this period," it added.

The following links are to news stories that feature related stories to this article:

British Gas, owned by Centrica, is putting up its domestic gas and electricity prices from 18 August.
Gas bills will rise by an average of 18% and electricity bills by an average of 16% - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14077651

Read how Chris Huhne set out the government's plan for cutting the UK's carbon emissions, while keeping the lights on, at a price people can afford. Plus: all the reaction with Damian Carrington's live blog -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2011/jul/12/electricity-reform-energy-nuclear-carbon

Big changes in the way Britain organises its electricity production were announced yesterday to meet the triple challenge of climate change, high bills for householders, and security of energy supply -

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/government-unveils-plan-to-cut-fuel-bills-2312643.html