Better homes ‘key to ending fuel poverty’

EFFORTS must be increased to end fuel poverty by focusing on improving people’s homes, according to an academic.

Dr Brenda Boardman, who coined the term “fuel poverty” in a 1991 book, said she had seen the trend – households spending at least 10 per cent of income on fuel – increase in recent years.

Dr Boardman, of Oxford University, spoke as a conference on the subject got under way in Edinburgh. She said: “It’s a combination of rising fuel prices and inefficient homes. There’s a limited amount the government can do about prices, but they can focus on energy efficiency.”