Scottish House Condition Survey Local Authority Tables 2022-2024

Fuel Poverty Gap

Where a household is in fuel poverty, the fuel poverty gap is the annual amount that would be required to move the household out of fuel poverty. The median fuel poverty gap before adjustment presents the actual amount that fuel poor households require to move out of fuel poverty. The adjusted median gap figures, adjusted to 2015 prices, have also been presented in order to assess progress against the 2040 fuel poverty gap target of £250 (in 2015 prices). The adjustment has been made in alignment with the increases or decreases in the annual average Consumer Price Index (CPI).

In the period 2022-2024, the median fuel poverty gap was generally higher in island and rural local authorities and, across all local authorities, ranged from £920 (Glasgow City) to £2,890 (Shetland Islands) with a national average of £1,180.

The median fuel poverty gap adjusted for 2015 prices varied from £710 (Midlothian) to £2,240 (Shetland Islands) with a national average of £920 (Figure 7). As with the actual median fuel poverty gap, the adjusted median fuel poverty gap was generally higher in island and rural local authorities.

Margins of error are wide for some local authorities due to a variety of reasons. The sample sizes are limited as they are restricted to fuel poor households responding to the survey, ranging from 48 households in Stirling to 217 households in Glasgow across the three-year period of 2022-2024. In addition, variations in fuel bills and/or household income across different household characteristics can influence the median gap distribution. This is especially relevant in remote rural and island areas where the range of uplifts applied to the UK Minimum Income Standard (MIS), dependent on household size, can lead to a wider range in median fuel poverty gap.

The median fuel poverty gap across 2022-2024 was £1,180.

Figure 7: Median fuel poverty gap (£) adjusted for 2015 prices, by local authority, compared to the Scotland average. SHCS 2022-2024. [Note 1] [Note 2]