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The cost of living · problem

Keeping warm: energy costs and fuel poverty

Households on low incomes in homes that are expensive to heat cannot afford to keep warm without cutting back elsewhere.

Who is affected: Low-income households in poorly insulated homes, including private renters and older people.

Get help now

Where to get help

Older homes cost more to heat. See the energy ratings, the retrofit work under way and how it could keep the work local: Older homes and heating bills →

1 · The evidence

What the figures show

10.9%

Households in fuel poverty City 2024 Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ↗ · retrieved 9 Nov 2026

1 percentage point higher than England (9.9%).

Households in fuel poverty

2019 to 2024

Portsmouth · %

Reviewed figures: 2019 to 2024.

Shown on this chart: From 2019 to 2024, households in fuel poverty rose by 0.2 percentage points in Portsmouth and fell by 3.5 percentage points in England.

Both places compared over 2019 to 2024, using matching published dates.

Compared areas: Portsmouth; England.

Actual values

PortsmouthEngland

Each line joins consecutive published observations for that place. Missing dates remain gaps.

Source: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ↗ · retrieved 9 Nov 2026

These are modelled estimates, published as official statistics in development. DESNZ says they should be used for general patterns and to spot areas of particularly high or low fuel poverty, not for detailed year-to-year trends.

2 · Who is acting

What’s being done

Official work and other organisations’ projects that address this problem, each with why it is linked. A shared action is the same record shown under each problem it addresses.

Why it’s linked: Pays for insulation, heat pumps and other energy upgrades for eligible low-income homes, which lowers the cost of keeping warm.

Committed by Portsmouth City Council In progress

Warm Homes: Local Grant

Lead the Warm Homes: Local Grant for Portsmouth and 31 other councils, paying for home energy improvements, delivered locally by Switched On Portsmouth.

ApprovedFundedUnder wayCompleted

Status evidence, 10 November 2026: Warm Homes Local Grant ↗

Who pays, key dates and what is missing
Funded by
  • Funded by Department for Energy Security and Net Zero £34,807,254 · Whole 32-council consortium, not Portsmouth alone

Made 2 July 2026 · £34,807,254 (Award to the whole consortium (government list updated 2 July 2026); no Portsmouth-only figure is published) · Warm Homes: Local Grant – successful local authorities ↗

1 dated record
  1. 10 November 2026 milestone Switched On Portsmouth: the scheme is oversubscribed and no longer taking applications; a waiting list is open while a further government funding decision is awaited. source ↗

Why it’s linked: Crisis Payments can help keep warm; the fund’s resilience services include energy support.

Committed by Portsmouth City Council In progress

Crisis and Resilience Fund

Run the Crisis and Resilience Fund from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029: crisis payments, housing payments, grants to local resilience services and community coordination.

ApprovedFundedUnder wayCompleted

Status evidence, 13 October 2026: Crisis and Resilience Fund ↗

Who pays, key dates and what is missing
Funded by
  • Funded by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government £3,691,344 · Revenue grant, 2026/27 (year one of three)

Made 1 April 2026 · due 31 March 2029 · Crisis and Resilience Fund ↗

6 dated records
  1. 1 April 2026 milestone Crisis and Resilience Fund began, running to 31 March 2029. source ↗
  2. 8 May 2026 milestone Government grant determination allocated £3,691,344 to Portsmouth for 2026/27, paid in monthly instalments. source ↗
  3. 31 August 2026 output 1,012 crisis payment applications received and 428 awards made, totalling £139,707; 323 applications were declined as ineligible. source ↗
  4. 23 September 2026 output 33 resilience grants awarded, worth £748,392, from 47 applications; 90% of the money falls in the fund’s first year. source ↗
  5. 13 October 2026 milestone Council states it has allocated over £1.5 million to local resilience services and over £400,000 to community coordination; funded services not yet listed. source ↗
  6. 13 October 2026 milestone The council reports allocating over £1.5 million to resilience services (food, advice, energy, wellbeing, housing and homelessness help) and over £400,000 to community coordination, which funds the Cost of Living Hub and helpline. These are parts of the fund, not additions to it; the funded services had not yet been listed. source ↗

Why it’s linked: Energy upgrades to council homes, aimed at lower bills for tenants.

In the city · housingFunded

Portsmouth Homes: social housing energy retrofit (Wave 3)

Insulation and energy upgrades to council homes under the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund.

Whose project
Run by Portsmouth City Council
Stage
Grant offered and accepted, listed by the government on 27 November 2025. (27 November 2025, Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3: successful social housing landlords ↗)
Where, funding and what would show it worked
Where
Council homes across the city · Council housing stock in Portsmouth.
Funding
  • Funded by Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant: £1.12m · Wave 3 grant; council co-funding not stated here source ↗
What would show it worked
Output: Homes upgraded. Outcome: Energy ratings and bills of upgraded homes.
Next check
Homes completed and council co-funding (the council report giving up to 200 homes and a £1.7m bid could not be read).

Why it’s linked: Upgrade of a council heat network serving tenants’ heating.

In the city · housingApproved

Portsmouth Homes heat network upgrade

New heat interface units, heat meters and radiator valves in four pairs of council blocks, plus energy centre works.

Whose project
Run by Portsmouth City Council
Stage
Planned: contractor appointment from August 2026, works from December 2026, estimated completion May 2028. No record yet that the contractor was appointed. (10 November 2026, Heat network upgrade project ↗)
Where, funding and what would show it worked
Where
Four pairs of council blocks and the energy centre · Council housing in the city.
Funding
No funding published.
Next check
Contractor appointment and start of works.

Why it’s linked: Trains people in refrigeration, air-conditioning and construction skills that retrofit work needs, so upgrades can be done by local people.

In the city · educationFunded

City of Portsmouth College: construction and engineering training at North Harbour

More refrigeration and air-conditioning training, better Level 1 construction multiskills facilities, and a new Engineering T Level from September 2027.

Whose project
Run by City of Portsmouth College
Stage
The Department for Education lists the college among successful construction projects (28 July 2026); the college announced a £1.2m award and its own further investment on 1 September 2026. First T Level students due September 2027. (1 September 2026, City of Portsmouth College strengthens its position as a leading construction training provider with £1.2m government investment ↗)
Where, funding and what would show it worked
Where
North Harbour campus · In the city.
Funding
  • Funded by Department for Education (Post-16 and Construction Skills Capacity Fund) Award: £1.2m · As announced by the college; the government list gives no amounts source ↗
  • Funded by City of Portsmouth College Amount not stated · College’s own further investment, amount not disclosed source ↗
What would show it worked
Output: Workshops ready, funded places, starts and qualifications. Outcome: Learners entering skilled jobs.
Next check
Workshop completion and first-year starts.

How we’ll know

Measuring progress

The share of households in fuel poverty compared with England each year. These are modelled estimates: the government advises using them for broad patterns, not small year-to-year changes.

A change in these figures does not by itself show that any one action worked.

3 · What is still missing

Not yet published

  • A Portsmouth-only amount and the number of Portsmouth homes improved under Warm Homes: Local Grant (the award covers 32 councils).
  • How many Crisis Payments are made for energy costs.

More

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