Fuel poverty decreases in UK social housing
Data from smart thermostat provider Switchee shows that across the UK, the number of homes that went into fuel poverty in the past year fell, with warm weather likely to be playing a key role
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The proportion of the UK’s social homes that went into fuel poverty in the spring months of 2025 fell dramatically year on year, according to the latest data from smart thermostat provider Switchee, shared exclusively with Inside Housing.
Switchee’s Housing Fuel Poverty Index uses smart devices in social rented homes to track fuel poverty in real time. Any home that fails to reach 18°C at any point over a seven-day period is described as being in fuel poverty. In the three months between 1 April and 30 June this year, just 1.71% of social homes nationwide were deemed to be in fuel poverty according to this metric, down from 2.79% for the same period in 2024.
That means just one in 58 households in social rented homes were in fuel poverty in spring and early summer in the UK this year, compared to one in 36 for the same period last year. This is one of the most dramatic year-on-year changes in fuel poverty levels since Switchee began collating this data in September 2022.
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Warmer weather
There is some evidence that average electricity and gas bills have come down in 2025, with the energy cap reduced by around 7% in July. However, the main driver for the reduction in fuel poverty could also be an unusually warm start to the summer across the UK.
Across the three months covered here, the average temperature in the UK was nearly a whole degree higher in 2025 compared with 2024 (12.26°C vs 11.43°C). In April, when cold weather means heating a home is likely to be more expensive than in May or June, the average temperature in the UK reached 9.6°C, making it the third-warmest on record and 1.3°C higher than in 2024.
The data also shows an improvement in fuel poverty over a longer time period. On average, 4.2% of social homes were in fuel poverty on any given day between July 2024 and June 2025, compared to 4.44% during the same period from July 2023 to June 2024.
“While the drop in fuel poverty across social housing is encouraging, it coincides with one of the warmest springs on record, raising questions about whether the improvement is due to genuine progress or simply a reduced need for heating,” says Izzy Henry, data analysis lead at Switchee.
Record-low figures
Unusually, every region covered by Switchee’s data showed an improved fuel poverty performance in the three months to the end of June compared to 2024. Every region’s Housing Fuel Poverty Index was at least half a percentage point lower than in the same period last year.
1.71%
Percentage of social homes nationwide in fuel poverty between 1 April and 30 June 2025
12.3°C
Average temperature in UK from 1 April to 30 June 2025
In Greater London, on average just 1.11% of social homes failed to reach the 18°C threshold over a seven-day period during the quarter – the lowest proportion of homes in any region and an improvement on the 1.68% of homes on average that experienced fuel poverty in the capital in the same period last year.
The biggest year-on-year improvement in percentage points came in the South West of England, where 2.52% of homes on average were in fuel poverty, compared to 4.27% in 2024. Nevertheless, this region was still the most prone to fuel poverty during the period.
In Wales, the proportion of homes in fuel poverty was less than half what it was in the same period in 2024, falling to 1.30% from 2.91%. There was also a notable drop in the South East, where 1.84% of homes on average fell into fuel poverty during the quarter, compared to 3.11% in 2024.
During the second quarter, Yorkshire and the Humber (1.27%) and the East of England (1.4%) were two other regions to record their lowest proportion of fuel-poor social homes since the data started being collected. The West Midlands was one of the other most improved regions, with 2.09% of homes in fuel poverty on average compared to 3.69% the previous year.
In the North West the figure was 1.73% (down from 2.94%), while the East Midlands saw 1.94% of homes on average experience fuel poverty (down from 3.09%).
In Scotland, the index was at 2.10% for the period, down from 3.11%, while the North East saw 1.98% of homes experience fuel poverty, compared to 2.74% in 2024.
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