Fuel Poverty and a Just Transition with Alex Warren of The Wise Group

It's easy sometimes to forget the human element of fuel poverty, and whilst recent energy cost rises are an annoyance to the vast majority reading this post, they are nothing more than that. However, we need to understand the human cost to over three million households in the United Kingdom who can't afford to heat their home and the misery and despair that fuel poverty can bring. This week we hear from Alex Warren, at the Wise Group, on the great work they are doing in supporting people who are unemployed or in fuel poverty. Work that supports those who are vulnerable and helps them navigate a system that can often present a challenge to those who need help the most. However, we hear about the report that they have commissioned Light Off to Lights On detailing the suffering faced by too many households in Scotland and the West. It's difficult reading, but it is necessary as we often talk about design or the retrofit of buildings in the abstract of those humans we'll ask to live in them. Warm, healthy, comfortable homes are critical to how we develop a housing system that is fit for purpose within the context of a just transition over the coming decade. We can use cheap red top headlines such as national disgrace, but that won't help the 600,000 families in Scotland who live in fuel poverty in cold, damp, and unhealthy homes.