Warm Homes Plan Archives - End Fuel Poverty Coalition

Labour Party conference ends with focus on energy bills

The Energy Secretary has announced initiatives to try and bring down energy bills, boost green jobs and ban fracking at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

On the day that the average energy bill rose by 2.21% year-on-year rise (now 68% or £713 a year higher than in the winter of 2020-21), Government ministers have pointed to the work to deliver more renewables and “in the coming weeks” an announcement on the biggest home upgrade programme in British history.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented:
“The Government is right to fight for homegrown, clean energy. The North Sea is running dry – even with new fields, the UK won’t produce enough gas to heat our homes by 2027. What’s more, fracking is unsafe, unpopular and unable to meaningfully reduce energy bills.

“So ramping up clean power is the only way to bring our bills down in the long term while providing a secure energy future.

“But as we approach a fifth winter of the energy bills crisis, households are struggling to cope with bills which remain hundreds of pounds a year above where they were in winter 2020/21 and energy debt is now at record levels. Meanwhile, new analysis from the Common Wealth think tank suggests that around 24% of every household energy bill is taken as profit by the energy industry.

“This is why we need action to provide more support to those who need it the most alongside improved energy efficiency and lower bills for households now.”

Two million households won’t turn on their heating this winter

More than two million households say they won’t turn on their heating this winter, an increase on last year, reveals new Uswitch research.

Speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, a spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said:

“Not turning on your heating is an example of what we call dangerous behaviours. Being unable to heat your home properly is unsafe – it risks your health and leads to damp and mould, which make conditions even worse. Around 200,000 households in Scotland face this extreme form of fuel poverty, but the problem is far wider, with almost half a million Scottish households spending over 20% of their income on energy.”

Across the UK as a whole, over 12 million households spend more than 10% of their income on energy (43%) and around 5 million spend more than 20% on energy bills.

The spokesperson urged households to be alert to scams and to contact their energy supplier to check if they need to apply for the Warm Home Discount (see this Money Saving Expert advice) and other vital support with the cost of energy.

“While support such as the Warm Home Discount and winter heating or winter fuel payments can provide short-term relief, we cannot keep papering over the cracks each year. We need urgent investment in insulation and home upgrades, alongside reform of how energy is priced, so people can live in warm, safe homes without relying on volatile gas imports.”

Renters forced to ration gas and electricity

New research from Citizens Advice finds more than two in five private renters (41%, equivalent to 4.5 million people) in England and Wales had to ration gas and electricity to afford their energy bills last winter.

Meanwhile a third (32%, equivalent to 3.5 million) struggled to heat their home to a comfortable temperature. The charity says this forced people to take drastic measures like skip hot meals, wear gloves inside, and limit heating to just one room.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

“Millions of renters are being forced to ration energy, live in cold, damp homes, or even skip hot meals simply because landlords are not required to upgrade properties to a decent standard. At the same time, household energy debt has tripled in the last decade, with people falling behind on bills they can no longer afford.

“The government cannot continue to delay action.

“It must urgently deliver on its promises to raise minimum standards in the rented sector and provide greater protections for private renters through the Renters Reform Bill.

“Alongside that, we need targeted financial help for households with their energy costs, a national programme of area-based insulation upgrades and reforms to electricity pricing to bring down bills.

“Without these reforms tenants will remain trapped in cold, damp homes with devastating consequences for health, wellbeing and household finances.”

Home upgrade scheme take up rates show mixed picture

The Press Association Radar team have produced a series of articles examining the latest figures for the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) and Local Authority Delivery scheme (LAD). These are government schemes supporting energy efficiency upgrades of low-energy efficiency (EPC of D or lower) low-income (household income below £30k) households across England.

The figures show a mixed picture in terms of take up and delivery around the country for the programmes which are now closed to new applications. Overall data does show a clear increase in measures being delivered since the last General Election.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented:

“Every upgrade of a home in fuel poverty is a step in the right direction.

“But we need progress to be delivered at speed and with the urgency the energy bills crisis deserves. Every winter spent in a cold damp home causes misery and health complications for millions of households.

“This is why the Government’s Warm Homes Plan must be rooted in a ‘Warmth First’ principle, treating a warm, dry and affordable-to-heat home as a basic human right.

“And upgrades to homes must come alongside reform to electricity pricing and moves to secure our energy supply in the future, especially given that the North Sea will not be able to meet our gas heating needs from 2027.”

Government urged to prioritise warmth first in £13.2bn home upgrade plan

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition has written to the Minister for Energy Consumers, urging the Government to ensure its £13.2 billion Warm Homes Plan delivers real, lasting benefits for people living in cold, damp and unaffordable homes.

In a detailed briefing also shared with key departments across Whitehall, the Coalition outlines a series of reforms to ensure the landmark retrofit scheme improves lives, protects health and cuts bills for those who need it most.

The Coalition says the success of the scheme should be judged not by how many insulation measures are installed or homes moved to EPC band C, but by how far it goes in ending fuel poverty.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said:

“This is a huge opportunity to fix a scandal that’s been hurting millions of households for years and years.

“Cold homes cause suffering, cost lives and drive up costs for the NHS. The Warm Homes Plan can be the solution – but only if it’s designed around the real needs of people, not just technical targets.”

The Coalition is calling for the Plan to be rooted in a “Warmth First” principle, treating a warm, dry and affordable-to-heat home as a basic human right.

It says the programme must include a “Warm Home Guarantee” to track actual comfort and bill savings, and ensure high-quality installations delivered by skilled local workers.

It also urges the government to fund trusted, face-to-face advice services to help residents through the retrofit journey and access benefits, energy support and legal protections.

The briefing also warns ministers against diverting Warm Homes Plan money into existing schemes, or using it to cut electricity prices for wealthier households. Instead, it argues affordability reforms like levy rebalancing should be funded separately, to avoid punishing low-income households who still rely on gas heating.

In its recommendations, the Coalition draws on lessons from successful past initiatives like the Warm Zones scheme, which provided hands-on support, repeated outreach, and direct help accessing income top-ups—going beyond simple insulation measures to ensure long-term impact.

The spokesperson continued:

“If we’re serious about reducing child poverty, pressure on the NHS, and energy insecurity, this Plan must be more than just insulation. It must be about giving people back control, comfort and dignity in their homes.”

ENDS

To read the full letter and briefing, visit

https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Warm-Homes-Plan-letter-priorities-1.pdf

Victory for Warm Homes Plan campaign as £13.2bn investment confirmed

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition has welcomed the Government’s decision to honour its full £13.2 billion manifesto commitment to fund the Warm Homes Plan.

The announcement in the Comprehensive Spending Review comes after sustained pressure from health experts, anti-poverty campaigners and public polling that showed strong voter support for keeping the pledge.

The funding will go towards improving energy efficiency in five million homes through grants and low-interest loans for insulation, solar panels, battery storage, and clean heating systems.

An End Fuel Poverty Coalition spokesperson said:

“Today’s £13.2bn warm homes boost to insulation and energy efficiency funding is a huge step forward for households suffering in cold damp homes.

“It also comes on top of recent announcements that every new home will benefit from inbuilt renewable energy generation via the Future Homes Standard and millions of pensioners will have their Winter Fuel Payments restored.

“But this is not the end of the crisis as energy bills are still too high – hundreds of pounds a year more than in 2020.

“The Government must now act to support all homes in fuel poverty through a ‘social tariff’ and to bring down the cost of electricity in a fair way for everybody.

“That means implementing a proper plan for electricity pricing reform, including scrapping marginal pricing so that the expensive cost of gas no longer sets the electricity price for the whole market.

“We also need real reform of Standing Charges – a measure backed by all main parties ahead of the last election – so that vulnerable high energy users such as older and disabled people are not unfairly penalised by the system.”

The Coalition also welcomed the replacement of the Household Support Fund with a new multi-year Crisis and Resilience Fund for local authorities to draw on.

However, campaigners warned that deeper systemic reforms are still needed to fully end fuel poverty — especially for disabled people and carers, who continue to face the threat of looming cuts to social security that could plunge hundreds of thousands into hardship.

Jonathan Bean of Fuel Poverty Action said:

“The Warm Homes Plan sounds good but without affordable energy prices millions will still suffer in under-heated homes. The extra energy needs of disabled people are being ignored, whilst their incomes are being slashed.”

The funding breakdown of the Warm Homes Plan is expected to include support for social housing decarbonisation, home upgrade loans, insulation grants, and local authority-led retrofit schemes. Crucially, the Coalition has stressed that the £13.2bn must be additional to existing schemes like the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS), which should continue to run in parallel.

National Energy Action Chief Executive Adam Scorer said:

“The cost and suffering of cold homes and unaffordable energy bills will only be beaten in the long-term through investment in home energy efficiency. It’s welcome that the Warm Homes Plan will be receiving the full Labour manifesto funding commitment.

“£13.2 billion can support a Plan focused on those in the least efficient homes and on the lowest incomes. This can result in life-changing outcomes for the most vulnerable households, helping us drive economic growth, reduce pressure on health services and meet legal targets, in turn setting us on a path towards a fair and affordable transition to net zero.

“We now have the financial commitment; now comes the time to deliver for the most vulnerable households.”

Ministers face voter backlash if Warm Homes Plan is cut

Trust in Labour will be further threatened if the Chancellor scales back funding for home insulation and lowering energy bills, according to new polling released today, in echoes of the row over Winter Fuel Payments.

Recent media reports suggest that the Chancellor is considering reducing the funding available to insulate homes. [1]

The research by Opinium reveals that nearly half (46%) of Labour voters say that any backtracking from Labour’s manifesto commitment to invest in insulating the country’s poor housing stock would further reduce trust in Sir Keir Starmer’s government. [2]

Among those who voted for Labour in the last general election but aren’t currently planning on voting for them again, well over half (56%) say it would reduce their trust in Labour – damaging the party’s attempts to woo voters back from Reform, the Lib Dems, Greens and others. [3]

Almost half (48%) of Labour voters said the warm homes election promise was a factor in their decision to vote for the Labour Party.

Labour promised to invest £13.2bn in a Warm Homes Plan to help improve the country’s leaky housing, which is making people ill and driving up NHS demand. A recent Medact survey found that three-quarters of front-line clinicians regularly see patients made ill by poor housing conditions, and almost half have discharged patients into homes they knew would make them sick again.

In the run-up to the General Election, over half of prospective Labour voters (59%) said they supported a funded nationwide insulation programme to slash deaths caused by cold, damp houses. Meanwhile other researchers found that 59% of voters opposed stripping all pensioners of Winter Fuel Payments. [4]

In the new research, pollsters found that nearly all voters (87%) believe it is important for political parties to stand by their manifesto commitments.

Ed Matthew, UK Director for the climate change thinktank E3G said:

“Cutting a programme that will make immediate and direct improvements to people’s lives would backfire.

“The public is sick of wasting money trying to heat cold, leaky houses and want this government to honour its manifesto pledge. If they fail to do so it would demonstrate that Labour have not learned from the Winter Fuel debacle at all.”

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said:
“This polling clearly shows that it is now a case of heat or defeat for the Government.

“The Labour Manifesto said the promised funding will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation and other improvements such as solar panels, batteries and low carbon heating to cut bills.

“Either they back a Warm Homes Plan to the full extent promised in the manifesto, or they will be punished at the ballot box.

“The Chancellor must not be able to engineer another ‘Winter Fuel Payment’ disaster by refusing to help tackle fuel poverty and MPs should make that clear.”

The polling comes on the day that health workers will deliver an open letter to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting MP, endorsed by several royal colleges. The letter urges the Government to honour its election promise to reduce energy bills and allocate at least £13.2 billion to a nationwide insulation programme in the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.

Maria Carvalho, spokesperson for Medact, commented:

“It’s simple. All we want is what was promised in the election campaign. That means a fully funded Warm Homes Plan, investment in green jobs, skills, and training, stronger protections for renters after upgrades are completed and delivery of high-quality home retrofits.”

In recent days groups of businesses and over 50 senior figures from charities have written to the Treasury to express concerns that the Warm Homes Policy policy is facing severe cuts.

Deputy Director of Uplift, Robert Palmer, added: “The nearly nine million people up and down the country living in cold damp homes, desperately need the Government to commit to the Warm Homes Plan.

“It is so important to them that this research reveals 46% Labour voters will lose further trust in the party if it backtracks on this key pledge.

“There is now deep concern following reports that the Treasury is looking to trim the amount the government has pledged to spend on insulating homes

“We have some of the leakiest housing stock in Europe and the priority should be making those fit to live in through the promised £13.2 billion Warm Homes Plan announced in the 2024 manifesto.

“We’re calling on the Government to commit to this funding now, which is also crucial to their election promise to bring down energy bills. If they don’t it could be a broken promise too far for many of those who put their faith in voting for Labour last July.”

ENDS

[1] Sources: The Times (27.05.25), the FT (05.05.25), Politico MEC Bulletin (29.04.25)

[2] Opinium conducted a politically and nationally representative online poll of 2,050 UK adults from 14th – 16th May 2025.

[3] Of the Labour voters polled, the research suggests 54% would still vote for the party, but 12% would vote Reform, 7% would vote Lib Dem, 6% Lib Dem, 3% Conservative with the others choosing another party or now being unsure of their vote.

[4] “Over half of prospective Labour voters…” Opinium conducted a politically and nationally representative online poll of 2,185 UK adults from 29th – 31st May 2024.

Two thirds of people (67%) were also aware of the move to remove winter fuel allowance payments from pensioners, apart from those who receive means-tested benefits, and 59% opposed it, with only 28% in favour. YouGov / ECIU.

MPs warned of hidden pensioner poverty as Winter Fuel Payment u-turn confirmed

3.2 million pensioner households are facing unaffordable energy costs MPs heard today, with around 964,000 households in deep fuel poverty, meaning they spend more than 20% of their income on energy. [1]

On the day that the Prime Minister announced a potential u-turn on the decision to axe Winter Fuel Payments for millions of pensioners, MPs on the Work and Pensions Select Committee heard evidence on the tests any changes to the Payments need to pass.

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition commented:

“Any u-turn is welcome, but what matters now is the detail, especially if Winter Fuel Payments are not restored to all pensioners.

“There are three tests we will apply to any announcement based on thresholds, tapers and wider targeting to see if ministers are getting the message.

“We need to see the Pension Credit threshold raised significantly, a taper system introduced to stop people missing out on Winter Fuel Payments for being just £1 over the line, and wider targeting of this support, including for those on non-means tested disability benefits or Carer’s Allowance.

“Above all, ministers must learn lessons from this scandalous decision. Sadly, there are rumours that the Chancellor is planning to water down the Warm Homes Plan promised in the Labour manifesto and reduce the £13.2bn promised to it.

“Any dilution of the proposals will mean fewer older people can be helped to reduce their energy use in a safe way.

“Pensioner fuel poverty is often hidden away behind closed doors and ultimately pensioners need warm, energy-efficient homes, not more sticking plasters.”

The Committee’s evidence session also heard that health workers are also raising an alarm about pensioner poverty.

A recent Medact survey found that three-quarters of clinicians regularly see patients made ill by poor housing conditions, and almost half have discharged patients into homes they knew would make them sick again.

According to Age UK, 35% of pensioners earning less than £20,000 said their home was too cold most or all of the time this January, and nearly half said they were worried about the effect of energy prices on their health.

The Coalition is also urging MPs to accept the recommendations of the Future of Local Welfare Inquiry report and make the Household Support Fund permanent. Campaigners have also called MPs to back reform the Warm Home Discount, and modernise the Cold Weather Payment into an “Extreme Weather Payment” that reaches vulnerable households before temperatures drop dangerously low.

MPs also heard that it was vital that there is the introduction of a unit rate-based social tariff to permanently reduce bills for those on low incomes, with medical needs, or in energy-inefficient homes. The tariff must be automatically applied using data shared between the DWP, NHS, HMRC, and energy suppliers, and funded progressively—ideally through general taxation or a central industry levy.

ENDS

[1] Tables in Annex A and B [pdf]. Official government figures used a different, flawed, model of calculating fuel poverty. For more discussion on this issue, read the Coalition’s response to the Government’s fuel poverty strategy review. In 2023 [pdf], around a third of fuel-poor households don’t qualify for any benefits – and that was before the WFP cuts, so this figure is likely to have risen.

Report reveals scale of health crisis fuelled by poor housing

A new landmark report by health charity Medact reveals that three quarters of health workers regularly see patients whose poor housing is harming their health – with more than 1 in 10 witnessing this almost every day.

Drawing on an opinion poll of over 2,000 healthcare workers, Home Sick Home: Frontline views on the public health crisis of unhealthy homes explores the public health impacts of the UK’s housing crisis on patients, health workers, and the NHS. The study found that nearly half (45%) of health workers have had to send a patient home knowing their housing would make them ill again.

“We see the same issues time and again – families living in mould-ridden, insecure homes, children developing asthma and anxiety, elderly people afraid to turn on their heating,” said Sophia, a clinical psychologist quoted in the report. “We’re not treating patients. We’re sending them back into the very conditions that made them sick.”

Key findings:

70% regularly see mental health conditions caused or worsened by housing issues
65% see patients living in excessively cold homes; 61% hear of damp and mould; 63% see unaffordable rent driving ill-health
64% regularly treat children whose health problems are likely linked to insecure housing; 67% say damp and mould are causing children’s respiratory issues.

The report echoes previous findings of research by the Social Workers Union which revealed that over a fifth (21%) of social workers working with children, young people and families have seen their service remove a child or children from their family in the last three years where unsafe or inappropriate housing conditions was a key contributing factor.

The report says that the crisis is especially acute among vulnerable groups, with older adults, disabled people, and children experiencing housing-related illness. From mental health crises in new parents to chronic asthma in children, the testimonies included in the report reveal how unsafe housing is deepening health inequalities across the UK. The survey found that 66% of respondents see disabled people in unsuitable homes likely making them ill at least once a month.

“Given everything we know about the positives of good-quality housing, I never thought I’d see a rise in Victorian-age diseases,” said children’s doctor Krishnan in the report.

From cold, damp, overcrowded homes to skyrocketing rents and constant eviction threats, the report paints a picture of a housing system in collapse – and a public health crisis that is impacting both people’s health and the NHS.

It shows that health workers back political action to protect patient health and the NHS: 69% believe making renting more affordable would reduce the burden on the NHS, whilst 58% say increasing the supply of social housing would ease NHS pressures

More than two thirds (69%) agreed with the statements “I feel powerless to support my patients with their housing conditions” and “government spending to prevent illnesses created by cold homes is better for the NHS than having to spend money to nurse patients back to health”.

The report sets out ten recommendations, including rent controls, a national retrofitting programme, building more social housing, and a social energy guarantee to ensure no one has to choose between heating and eating.

Medact member and children’s doctor Dr Amaran Uthayakumar-Cumarasamy said:

“Colleagues feel a deep-seated sense of helplessness and feel redundant in their capacity to make meaningful health improvements in the lives of patients. Coupled with the existing pressures of working in a system that’s under-resourced, this leads to apathy. It’s tempting to think that the NHS alone can socially prescribe its way out of the housing crisis, but my experiences and those of colleagues suggest this simply will not scratch the surface let alone bring meaningful and lasting change. Yes, the NHS does need resourcing but if we’re serious about ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’, then that needs to be translated into policy.”

Laura Vicinanza, Senior Policy and Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Inclusion London said:

“It is no secret that disabled people are at the sharpest end of the housing crisis. Yet, this problem has been ignored for decades. Too many Disabled people are trapped in inaccessible homes, battling evictions, and facing skyrocketing rents – often forced to cut back on essentials just to afford their housing costs. Medact’s new report uncovers a very grim reality: poor and unaffordable housing doesn’t just worsen people’s existing health conditions—it creates new ones, with health professionals left to pick up the pieces of a broken housing system. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The Government has the power to solve this crisis. They can act now by making rents more affordable and kickstarting a revolution in accessible social homebuilding. We cannot afford to wait any longer.”

Dr Abi O’Connor, researcher at the New Economics Foundation, said:

“Private landlords have been allowed to increase rents to eye-watering levels and now we’re seeing the consequences – it’s making people and our economy sicker. If the government are interested in improving the economy for ordinary people, it is clear they must address the plague of unaffordable rents. In the short term they should introduce rent controls to give people stability, and in the long term they will need to build more social housing which is the only way to provide people with safe, affordable homes .”

A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented:

“Addressing the housing challenge is more than health workers can do themselves.

“Not only do we need to see investment in a £13.2bn Warm Homes Plan to help improve housing conditions, but we also need a full range of fully-functioning and well-resourced public services.”

Social workers report cold homes crisis for children

As millions of households struggled through last winter in cold damp homes, the impact on children has been revealed in newly released data.

Over a fifth (21%) of social workers working with children, young people and families have seen their service remove a child or children from their family in the last three years where unsafe or inappropriate housing conditions was a key contributing factor. [1]

Unsafe housing conditions can include maintenance issues, mould, damp, insect or vermin infestations or cramped conditions.

More broadly, 78% of all social workers strongly agree that housing conditions are a concern for people they support, with over a third (36%) strongly agreeing that over the last three years, the number of people they help live in unsafe or inappropriate housing conditions which has increased.

The research among social workers was conducted by the Social Workers Union and follows previous reports by ITV that the cost of living crisis has led to a third of UK social workers witnessing child removals in the past three years where poverty or financial poverty has been a key factor.

John McGowan, General Secretary of the Social Workers Union, commented:

“Removal of a child from their family is always a last resort, but sadly when conditions become dangerous action has to be taken.

“This data shows that the reality of life in modern day Britain is a struggle for many households. The country’s poor housing stock poses a danger to the wellbeing and development of children and poses a risk to the health of many adults with pre-existing health conditions.

“Social workers go above and beyond to help those at most risk in the country and are highlighting safeguarding concerns on a regular basis. However, addressing the housing challenge is more than social workers can do themselves.

“Not only do we need to see investment in a £13.2bn Warm Homes Plan to help improve housing conditions, but we also need a full range of fully-functioning and well-resourced public services.

“Ministers must own up to the fact that it is only the Government that can provide the funding to reverse the decline in public services and ensure the most vulnerable get the support they need.”

Among all social workers, housing conditions are a concern with large numbers strongly agreeing that ‘the number of people I work with who are living in unsafe or inappropriate housing conditions’ has increased over the last 3 years.

However, the results varied across the UK, with those in the North East of England, London and Wales most likely to report that housing was a major concern. [2]

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said:

“Millions of people from the youngest children to our oldest pensioners are living in cold damp homes, unable to heat their homes to a safe temperature or racking up massive debts – with some even turning to loan sharks.

“To add insult to injury, around a quarter of what is spent on heating our draughty properties is wasted, because the UK’s old housing stock is some of the worst insulated in Europe.

“Ministers are making the right noises when it comes to helping improve housing, but the Chancellor needs to put the money where their mouth is and commit the funding needed for a Wam Homes Plan which will help people improve the energy efficiency and insulation of their homes.

“And until these reforms are delivered, Ministers must not forget about the millions of people suffering in cold damp homes – they should provide enough support to ensure that everyone is able to stay warm every winter.”

Amaran Uthayakumar-Cumarasamy, an NHS Children’s Doctor based in South Yorkshire, commented:

“Some of the most acute harms of the UK’s unsafe, unaffordable and insecure housing are shouldered by our most disadvantaged children and young people.

“Whilst the findings of this report are shocking, they won’t come as a surprise to many of us working in the NHS. Increasingly, children’s health professionals across the UK are witnessing cases of respiratory illness, undernutrition and worsening mental health all linked to undignified housing circumstances.

“What’s more, rather than providing a foundation for their health, unfit, unsafe and expensive housing continues to severely impact their educational attainment, social health and life chances.

“Without radical change towards fairer policies that support affordability, energy efficiency, accessibility and security of tenure, housing will continue to entrench and reproduce childhood mass illness and stark disadvantage.”

Matthew Scott, senior policy officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing, added:

“Warm, safe homes are the cornerstone of our health, but this research demonstrates the life changing impact housing can have on children’s wellbeing.

“Local authorities’ Housing Revenue Accounts are stretched to their limit following decades of rent cuts and caps over the last ten years, and it is nearly three decades since the last significant central investment in upgrading homes, which came through the transformative Decent Homes Programme.

“The government should seize the opportunity to reverse the cycle of underinvesting in housing quality, so every child has a safe, secure home. In its forthcoming Spending Review, we urge the government to set out a new programme of investment in existing homes, including fully allocating the £13.2 billion promised for its Warm Homes Plan and taking steps to put the finances of housing providers on a more stable footing.”

ENDS

[1] 2,295 members of the Social Workers Union responded to a survey conducted online between 3 and 21 October 2024. Respondents were screened to ensure active employment in social work. ITV News broadcast a report with unique access behind the scenes with a social work team on 4 December 2024.

[2] Regional / National differences for this question:

North East 41%
London 41%
Wales 41%
South East 39%
Yorkshire & Humber 39%
North West 39%
East Midlands 38%
Northern Ireland 37%
West Midlands 32%
South West 28%
Scotland 24%
East of England 26%

Featured image posed by model. Signed model release on file with Shutterstock, Inc (asset ID 510078436).