Fuel poverty - Adur & Worthing Councils

See also:

Fuel poverty data set - 2016

The Community Profiles of Adur and Worthing provide neighbourhood data and statistics across a range of different issues including: population, crime and health, mainly at District & Borough, Ward and LSOA (Lower Super Output Area) level.

The Profile is a combination of data and information. Past profiles are available below as downloadable documents and have been updated every few years, or when significant new data sets are released.

Further data is also available:

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What is fuel poverty?

Fuel poverty is a growing issue of concern in the UK, especially as it can have a number of serious negative effects on the health and wellbeing of people and properties.

Until 2013, a fuel poor household in the UK was defined simply as one that has to spend in excess of 10% of their disposable income on fuel use in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime.

Since 2013, following a Government review a new definition has been adopted which is referred to as the 'Low Income High Cost Indicator' (LIHC). The new LIHC definition finds a household to be fuel poor if their income is below the poverty line (taking into account their energy costs); and their energy costs are higher than is typical for their household type.

There are three main factors that cause fuel poverty:

poor energy efficiency of the home/building
expensive energy bills, and
low household incomes

When these factors are combined it often means that people vulnerable to fuel poverty can be regularly driven to make really hard decisions such as which room in the house to heat or whether to top up the energy meter or buy food for the family.

Being fuel poor also means that you are more likely to suffer from poor health, especially respiratory diseases such as asthma, but also mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

It was estimated in early 2015 by The Fuel Poverty Advisory Group that the impact of cold homes is costing the NHS some £1.36 billion every year.

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What is the local picture like?

Local fuel poverty data is captured within the:

Local Insight profile

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What are Adur & Worthing Councils doing to help tackle fuel poverty?

The councils' Fuel Poverty Action Plan and Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA) Report can be found below:

Adur & Worthing HECA (Housing Energy Conservation Act) Report 2021 (355KB)

Previous reports:

Current projects and initiatives:

Sompting Gas Project

Adur Homes have been involved in a Partnership project in Sompting around the Test Road area to help connect properties to the mains gas network. The council has committed to installing new gas central heating in the Adur Homes properties which lie within the project area. The project is being delivered across all tenures of properties in the area using a partnership involving Yorkshire Energy Solutions (YES Projects), other Social landlords, Your Energy Sussex and Communities Matter.

Adur and Worthing Big Energy Switch

A simple-to-use Community Energy Buying Scheme has been set up to enable people in Adur and Worthing and across the entire West Sussex area, to save money on energy bills through a collaborative approach.

To find out more and sign up, see:

Saving money on your energy bills

Adur and Worthing Fuel Poverty Network and Financial Inclusion Group

A network formed of people and organisations working on fuel poverty in Adur and Worthing was set up in 2014 to help strengthen connections, improve communication and share information on fuel poverty matters in the local area. The network has strong links into the Adur and Worthing Financial Inclusion Group (FIG) and the Adur and Worthing Health and Wellbeing Partnership for All Ages (HWPAA).

To make contact with the fuel poverty network please email: