The End Fuel Poverty Coalition tracks the human end of what assessors measure in letters and numbers: households unable to keep warm at a cost they can afford, and the illness, debt and harm that follows.
It is worth being explicit about the link, because it is often lost. An EPC band is not a bureaucratic category. It is, roughly, a statement of how much energy a building needs to stay at a healthy temperature — and therefore how large the bill is before anyone has made a single choice about their thermostat.
Why London is not exempt
Fuel poverty is often framed as a problem of colder regions and older housing elsewhere. London has its own version, driven by three things:
- Solid-walled stock. Large parts of inner London cannot take the cheap insulation measures that lifted bands elsewhere.
- Electric heating in flats. Old storage heaters in ex-local-authority blocks combine high running costs with poor controllability, and the band reflects that harshly.
- A large private rented sector. Renters cannot fix the fabric of a building they do not own, which is exactly why the C standard for rented homes matters.
The Warm Homes Plan's stated aim is to lift one million families out of fuel poverty by 2030, and its new standards for rented homes are the mechanism most directly aimed at that.
If you are struggling now
Some things are worth knowing regardless of scheme changes:
- Your supplier has obligations around affordability and should be the first call, not the last.
- The Warm Homes Local Grant — up to £15,000 for low-income households — runs through your council.
- ECO4 remains open to qualifying households until 31 December 2026 and is the deepest support available if you are eligible.
- If someone knocks on your door offering free insulation and wants a signature there and then, close the door. Legitimate schemes never work that way.
Knowing your current band and what specifically drags it down is the first practical step, and it is a small one. We assess across London — book online or ask us first.