UK fuel poverty risk by area — Gera Cold Home Risk Index
9.9% of English households in fuel poverty (2024, LILEE metric) — ranked across 296 local authorities by the Gera Cold Home Risk Index.
Which areas of England have the highest fuel poverty risk?
As of 2024 (published 14 May 2026), 9.9% of English households — 2.47 million — were in fuel poverty under the LILEE metric. Isles of Scilly has the highest Gera Cold Home Risk Index at 100/100 (17.3% of households), while City of London has the lowest at 0/100. Source: DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty statistics, OGL v3.0.
Check cold-home risk for your area
Pick any English local authority
Check cold-home risk for your area
Pick any English local authority to see its real DESNZ fuel poverty rate and Gera Cold Home Risk Index (GCHRI).
GCHRI 21 / 100 — low risk
Adur has 8.1% of households in fuel poverty (DESNZ 2024, LILEE metric) — 1.9 pp below the England average of 9.9%. Its Gera Cold Home Risk Index of 21/100 accounts for the region's average fuel poverty severity (depth-of-gap weighting).
Highest cold-home risk areas in England (2024)
| Rank | Area | Region | % fuel poor | GCHRI | Risk band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isles of Scilly | SOUTH WEST | 17.3% | 100 | very high risk |
| 2 | Cotswold | SOUTH WEST | 11.7% | 61 | high risk |
| 3 | Forest of Dean | SOUTH WEST | 11.8% | 61 | high risk |
| 4 | Stoke-on-Trent | WEST MIDLANDS | 14.8% | 59 | high risk |
| 5 | West Devon | SOUTH WEST | 11.5% | 59 | high risk |
| 6 | Mid Devon | SOUTH WEST | 11.3% | 58 | high risk |
| 7 | Torridge | SOUTH WEST | 11.3% | 58 | high risk |
| 8 | North Devon | SOUTH WEST | 11.2% | 57 | high risk |
| 9 | Cornwall | SOUTH WEST | 11.0% | 56 | high risk |
| 10 | Birmingham | WEST MIDLANDS | 13.8% | 53 | high risk |
See full profile for Isles of Scilly — the highest-risk area at GCHRI 100/100.
By region
| Region | Local authorities | Avg % fuel poor | Avg GCHRI |
|---|---|---|---|
| SOUTH WEST | 27 | 10.2% | 50 |
| WEST MIDLANDS | 30 | 11.4% | 40 |
| YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER | 15 | 11.4% | 36 |
| EAST OF ENGLAND | 45 | 9.3% | 32 |
| NORTH WEST | 35 | 10.3% | 32 |
| EAST MIDLANDS | 35 | 10.5% | 27 |
| SOUTH EAST | 64 | 8.2% | 22 |
| LONDON | 33 | 9.6% | 11 |
| NORTH EAST | 12 | 9.1% | 11 |
- SOUTH WEST27 areas · avg GCHRI 50
- WEST MIDLANDS30 areas · avg GCHRI 40
- YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER15 areas · avg GCHRI 36
- EAST OF ENGLAND45 areas · avg GCHRI 32
- NORTH WEST35 areas · avg GCHRI 32
- EAST MIDLANDS35 areas · avg GCHRI 27
- SOUTH EAST64 areas · avg GCHRI 22
- LONDON33 areas · avg GCHRI 11
- NORTH EAST12 areas · avg GCHRI 11
Frequently asked questions
- What percentage of households in England are in fuel poverty?
- In 2024, 9.9% of English households — approximately 2.47 million — were in fuel poverty under the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) metric, per DESNZ statistics published 14 May 2026 (OGL v3.0).
- Which area of England has the highest fuel poverty?
- Under the Gera Cold Home Risk Index (GCHRI), Isles of Scilly has the highest cold-home risk score (100/100) with 17.3% of households in fuel poverty in 2024 — the highest rate of any English local authority in the DESNZ sub-regional dataset. The GCHRI weights this rate by the regional average depth-of-gap, making rural South West areas particularly prominent.
- What is the Gera Cold Home Risk Index?
- The Gera Cold Home Risk Index (GCHRI) is a named proprietary composite computed by Gera over DESNZ 2024 fuel poverty data. For each English local authority: raw = % households in fuel poverty × (region average fuel poverty gap ÷ national average gap of £407). Scores are then normalised to 0–100 (100 = highest risk). The depth-of-gap weighting means areas where fuel-poor households face a larger financial shortfall rank higher even at the same raw percentage, because severity matters, not just frequency.
- What is the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) metric?
- LILEE is the official English fuel poverty metric (since 2021). A household is fuel-poor if its energy-efficiency rating is Band D or lower and, after meeting its modelled fuel costs (to a minimum standard), its residual income falls below the poverty line. It replaced the earlier 10% metric (where fuel poverty meant spending 10%+ of income on energy). The LILEE metric better identifies households that would benefit most from energy-efficiency improvements.
- Which English region has the worst fuel poverty rates?
- In 2024, the West Midlands had the highest regional proportion at 11.41% on average, closely followed by Yorkshire and the Humber at 11.39%. The South West has a lower average rate but a higher GCHRI because its regional fuel poverty gap per household is significantly above the national average — rural areas with older housing stock, off-gas heating, and lower incomes carry a heavier severity burden. Source: DESNZ, OGL v3.0.
About this data
Data: DESNZ “Sub-regional Fuel Poverty Statistics 2026 (2024 data)”, Table 2 (local authority level), published 14 May 2026. LILEE metric: households with energy efficiency Band D or below whose residual income (after modelled fuel costs) falls below the poverty line. England only. Depth-of-gap weighting uses DESNZ Detailed Tables 2026, Table 6 (regional aggregate fuel poverty gap). See the methodology for the full formula.
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Contains public sector information published by Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DESNZ Sub-regional Fuel Poverty Statistics 2026 (2024 data) (2024 (published 14 May 2026), published 14 May 2026).