How is fuel poverty defined in Northern Ireland?
Northern Ireland has used the same definition for fuel poverty since 2001: “A fuel poor household is one which needs to spend more than 10% of its income on all fuel use and to heat its home to an adequate standard of warmth. This is generally defined as 21°C in the living room and 18°C in the other occupied rooms – the temperatures recommended by the World Health Organisation” (Department for Communities, 2026).
A household is considered to be in severe fuel poverty it needs to spend more than 15% of its income on all fuel use.
The NI Executive’s new Warm Healthy Homes Strategy commits to supplementing the existing definition of fuel poverty with a basket of indicators on health, energy costs, damp homes and energy confidence to enhance fuel poverty reporting and monitoring.
How many people in Northern Ireland are in fuel poverty?
The most recent official estimate of fuel poverty was 27% in 2022, based on the 2016 House Condition Survey.
However, annual polling by LucidTalk for NEA NI has consistently found the rate to be much higher. In September 2025, this poll found that 39% of NI households were spending more than 10% of their income on their home energy costs.
Note that in NI, around 61% of all households are reliant on home heating oil, a non-regulated fuel (NISRA, 2025).
What is government doing to tackle fuel poverty?
On 5 February 2026, the NI Executive launched a long-awaited new fuel poverty strategy for NI: ‘Warm Healthy Homes 2026 – 2036’. This strategy sets out a long-term framework to deliver the vision of ‘a warm, healthy home for everyone’.
Key commitments in the Executive-wide strategy include increasing investment in domestic energy efficiency schemes for low-income, vulnerable households; raising housing standards across all tenures; improving energy wellbeing and consumer protections; and strengthening action to address the health risks of cold homes. A proposed, new Warm Healthy Homes Fund will aim to deliver £150 million of energy efficiency investment in its first five years. The strategy also commits to improved monitoring and reporting on fuel poverty and its impacts, including an annual Ministerial statement.
NEA NI welcomes the strategy and the direction of travel it sets out to deliver long-term action on fuel poverty, describing it as a significant milestone after years of campaigning. While we are disappointed that the strategy does not include a clear, overarching target for reducing fuel poverty, NEA NI believes its publication provides a vital opportunity to drive long-term change, if matched by political commitment and significant investment.
Excess winter deaths
The seasonal increase in mortality for winter 2023/24 was estimated to be 740.