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Aberdeenshire Fuel Poverty Strategy

A household is said to be in fuel poverty if it has to spend more than 10% of its income to heat the home to an acceptable level.

The Scottish House Condition Survey and the Fuel Poverty in Scotland Report – both carried out in 2002 -estimated that around 15,000 – about 17% of Aberdeenshire households were in fuel poverty.

Although this is higher than the Scottish average of 13% it is similar to comparative councils such as Angus, Moray and Highland which indicates a strong link between fuel poverty and rural areas.

The Aberdeenshire Fuel Poverty Strategy has been developed in association with SCARF (Save Cash and Reduce Fuel) and other partners. It demonstrates Aberdeenshire Council’s commitment to eradicating fuel poverty in the area.

The aim for all Scottish local authorities is to eradicate fuel poverty as far as reasonably practicable by 2016 and reduce it by 30% by 2006.

The strategy sets out a series of actions to reduce fuel poverty. These come under six main headings which include:

  • Identifying fuel poor households so that actions can be targeted;
  • improving the energy efficiency of our houses;
  • maximising the income of poorer households;
  • enabling householders and housing providers to take action to reduce heating costs;
  • raising awareness of fuel poverty issues;
  • and providing advice and information to householders and housing providers.

The Aberdeenshire Fuel Poverty Strategy and a summary version of the strategy are available to download in pdf format here.