Meeting energy costs for off-grid homes

A briefing note from the Countryside Alliance on energy support for off-grid homes, prepared in advance of the Westminster Hall debate on 19 October.

• Against the backdrop of spiralling energy costs sparked by Russia's war against Ukraine, the Chancellor of the Exchequer's 'Plan for Growth' statement set out expanded measures to support households with the costs of fuel.
• Plans announced under the previous Government earlier in the year had been criticised for failing to take full account of homes not connected to the gas grid and therefore reliant on alternative fuel sources for heating, which are not covered by Ofgem price caps and are likely to be more expensive. Many such homes are in rural areas.
• According to the latest fuel poverty statistics (based on 2020 data), 52.6% of rural homes are off the gas grid, compared to just 9.8% of urban properties.
• The figures also indicated that while urban and rural areas both have a fuel poverty rate of 13.5 per cent, rural households in fuel poverty have a far higher fuel poverty gap (the reduction in fuel costs that would be necessary for the household no longer to be in fuel poverty) at £501, which is more than double that experienced by fuel-poor urban homes.
• The 'Plan for Growth' measures sought to address the situation of these households through targeted support and will be given legal effect in the Energy Prices Bill, scheduled for all stages in the House of Commons on 17 October (before this debate but after the publication of this briefing).

To read the briefing in full, please click here.

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