More than three million low-income households struggled to pay their energy bills for draughty homes in 2023, according to official figures.
In England, a home is considered in fuel poverty if it has a poor energy efficiency rating of band D or below and the household's disposable income after housing and fuel costs falls below the poverty line.
Data from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero reveals that 13% of English households were in fuel poverty last year, a figure almost identical to the 13.1% recorded in 2022.
Without government support, including energy bill payments and cost-of-living income payments for those on low incomes, this number would have exceeded 3.5 million households. READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community The data also shows that more than a third of households (36.4%) or approximately 8.91 million, spent over 10% of their income on domestic energy bills after housing costs.
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