Fuel poverty – living on a lower income in a home which cannot be kept warm at a reasonable cost –  is a big issue for local government. According to the Annual Fuel Poverty Statistics Report 2017 (2015 ONS Data) currently, over 2.5 million households have to choose between heating their house and other essential costs, which leads to a multitude of health and societal issues.

Identifying households that are in fuel poverty is difficult and expensive. This often means local government and other organisations (utility providers, charities, third sector) spend vital money in both identifying which households are experiencing fuel poverty and inaccurately target communications or interventions on the wrong household.

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