How is fuel poverty defined in Wales?
A household is regarded as being in fuel poverty if they are unable to keep their home warm at a reasonable cost. This is measured as any household needing to pay more than 10% of their full household income to maintain a satisfactory heating regime. Households needing to pay more than 20% of their full household income to maintain a satisfactory heating regime are defined as being in severe fuel poverty.
How many people in Wales are in fuel poverty?
According to the Welsh Government’s latest estimates, 25% (340,000) of all households in Wales were in fuel poverty in October 2024.
Furthermore, 83% (195,000) of all Wales’ lower-income households were estimated to be in fuel poverty at that time, almost a quarter of whom (56,000) were in severe fuel poverty.
These latest modelled projections were not broken down to local authority level. The latest local authority estimates in Wales date back to 2018 and can be found here.
What is the Welsh Government doing to tackle fuel poverty?
The Welsh Government published its latest Tackling Fuel Poverty Plan in March 2021. The latest update to the priority actions in the plan were made in June 2025 and can be viewed here.
The plan includes three, non-statutory fuel poverty targets, alongside a series of actions. The targets are that by 2035:
- No households are estimated to be living in severe or persistent fuel poverty as far as reasonably practicable;
- Not more than 5% of households are estimated to be living in fuel poverty at any one time as far as reasonably practicable;
- The number of all households “at risk” of falling into fuel poverty will be more than halved based on the 2018 estimate.
What support is the Welsh Government providing?
In Wales, the Welsh Government is continuing to provide targeted support to help tackle fuel poverty and to support households in need.
The Welsh Government’s flagship prorgramme to tackle fuel poverty is called the Warm Homes Programme. It is currently made up of a demand-led scheme called Nest which provides free, impartial advice, as well as free home energy efficiency improvements for eligible households. Visit gov.wales/nest-warm-homes-programme for more information, including eligibility.
Emergency crisis support is also available to help top up prepayment meters and off-gas fuels such as oil and LPG. This is available via the Welsh Government’s Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF) as well as its partnership with the Fuel Bank Foundation.
Households in financial hardship can apply for emergency assistance payments under the Welsh Government’s Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF). This includes help to top-up prepayment meters and off-gas fuels, such as oil and LPG. Visit gov.wales/discretionary-assistance-fund-daf for more details.
A Wales-wide Fuel Voucher Scheme to help households in crisis who must pay for their energy in advance (on or off-grid fuels) has also been made available in partnership with the Fuel Bank Foundation. Households can contact Advicelink Cymru on 0800 702 2020 to find out more.
For more information, go to www.nea.org.uk/energy-crisis.