A hidden fuel poverty epidemic in Scotland’s rural areas has been exposed in a shocking new report.
Pensioners told how they only heat one room in their home and stay in bed all morning to keep warm in harrowing interviews for researchers.
The study, commissioned by local housing groups and Highland and Islands Enterprise, spoke to people with lived experience of fuel poverty and frontline advisors who revealed the toll on people’s physical and mental health
These include cases of pneumonia and worsening respiratory conditions as well as social isolation.
Staggeringly, one in three households in remote rural parts of Scotland are classed as living in “extreme fuel poverty” - compared to a national rate of 12 per cent.
Overall, 40 per cent homes in remote rural areas are in some kind of fuel poverty, while for Scotland more widely it’s 24 per cent, according to 2019 stats.
A greater proportion of rural homes are not connected to the mains gas grid and are reliant on electric heating or fuels like heating oil, LPG, wood and coal.
The analysis by energy experts Changeworks compared three regions – Caithness and Sutherland, Highlands and Islands and remote rural areas.
Speaking to researchers, a Highland householder said: “My daughter has to spend time in bed and put loads of layers on - hats, mittens, everything.
“Because my son has diabetes, he has to be careful with his feet and has to layer up.
“I’ve had severe Covid and pneumonia and I have diabetes as well, it’s pretty serious here.”
An energy adviser, from Caithness, told the study: “I have a lot of pensioners saying they stay in bed till 12, then they get up to have a can of soup and then they go back to bed.
“It’s dreadful to hear.”
Discussing fuel costs, an islander householder said: “You wake up worrying about it and fall asleep worrying about it. It’s not a normal life constantly worrying about the figures.”
The report also set out a range of potential solutions, including better targeted support for rural fuel poverty, “warm home prescriptions” for people with health conditions and accelerating the smart meter rollout.
Di Alexander, chair of the Highlands and Islands Housing Associations Affordable Warmth group (HIHAAW), said: “This forensically considered report should be required reading for Ofgem and both governments, each of whom shares direct responsibility for allowing the curse of fuel poverty to reach by far its highest recorded UK levels in rural and remote Scotland, especially in predominantly off-gas areas like the Highlands and Islands.”
Bryan Leask, Secretary of the Rural and Islands Housing Associations Forum (RIHAF), added: “The analysis confirms that fuel poverty affects proportionately more households in these areas compared to the rest of Scotland, and that the depth of fuel poverty is significantly worse.”
Josiah Lockhart, Changeworks CEO, said: “We need to listen to people in these communities who have been given a platform in this research.”
