Affordable warmth
Affordable Warmth in very simple terms is about being able to keep your home adequately warm without incurring excessive cost. A household is in fuel poverty if they are on a lower income and are unable to heat their home for a reasonable cost.
Fuel poverty usually results from a combination of three factors:
- Poor energy efficiency
- Low household income
- Unaffordable energy costs
Under-heating a property can contribute to poor health outcomes, especially for people with respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, mobility problems, and mental health problems.
People can also become isolated by not inviting people round to their cold homes, and children’s education can be affected by not being able to concentrate on homework if having to congregate in one heated room.
Swindon Borough Council and its partners have, for a number of years, been delivering initiatives to reduce the incidence of fuel poverty in the Swindon area.
The current Swindon Affordable Warmth Strategy gives details of the incidence of fuel poverty both nationally and in Swindon, along with the co-operative approaches being taken to combat fuel poverty locally.
This strategy can be viewed below:
Help and assistance for dealing with fuel poverty can be found in the Home Energy Efficiency pages.
Alternatively, contact:
David Miles
Public Health Practitioner - Affordable Warmth
Tel: 01793 463679
Email: dmiles3@swindon.gov.uk