As the government fails to order private landlords to upgrade houses, further legal action is imminent.

The government has conceded that it would review its plan for renovating the houses of fuel-poor households after ministers submitted evidence indicating that they may miss a legal deadline to raise millions of suffering people out of fuel poverty.

Responding to a Freedom of Information request from Greenpeace UK, the government admitted last month that current policies and schemes to improve the energy efficiency of homes could only reduce fuel poverty by 12% by 2030, despite a legal requirement to reduce fuel poverty by then significantly.

Lawyers for Greenpeace deemed the government’s inactivity on fuel poverty potentially unconstitutional, threatening legal action unless the government immediately assessed its policy for combating fuel poverty.

In a letter in response to Greenpeace UK, the Government’s Legal Department stated that the Secretary of State had “decided to begin a process of reviewing and assessing the measures taken under the 2021 Fuel Poverty Strategy to inform the development of a further revised strategy.”

Although the government has pledged to evaluate the current plan and conduct a public consultation on any recommended adjustments, it has yet to provide specific timeframes for when the review will be conducted, when the results will be released, and when other decisions will be made. 

Greenpeace United Kingdom has reserved the right to initiate legal action until the government offers specific timetables.

Mel Evans, the head of UK climate for Greenpeace UK, stated: “In the United Kingdom, fuel poverty has reached pandemic proportions, yet the government has turned its back, leaving millions in the cold. It should not have been necessary to resort to legal action to compel the government to provide a fundamental human need.

Ministers must now get down to business. We require policies and funding to implement a statewide insulation and green heating initiative with the same speed and scope as the Covid vaccination plan.”

This can raise millions out of fuel poverty, address the cost of living, energy, and climate challenges, create new jobs, reduce inflation, and stimulate the economy.

Greenpeace UK is currently evaluating whether to pursue additional legal action against the government for failing to oblige private rental landlords to raise the energy efficiency rating of their houses to at least EPC B and C to lift more renters out fuel poverty.

Any minimum energy efficiency criteria for the private leased sector must be accompanied by government assistance; otherwise, rents would likely increase, and expenses will be passed on to fuel poor renters who already struggle to pay their utility bills.