Despite the government’s promise to wage war on fuel poverty across the housing market in England via the implementation of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) initiative back in January 2013, research by estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, has found just 7% of properties are in receipt of ECO measures.

GetAgent.co.uk analysed data on households in receipt of ECO measures since the scheme launched and what this equates to as a percentage of total dwellings across each area of England.

The ECO was a government initiative introduced in January 2013 to help improve energy efficiency and support those at the sharp end of fuel poverty in England.

The ECO set obligations for the big energy providers to install insulation and heating measures and to help reduce heating costs and energy usage.

The research by GetAgent.co.uk shows that 1,794,601 households across England are in receipt of ECO measures, just 7.4% of the total 24,413,501 dwellings.

The North West has seen the biggest benefit from the scheme, with 11.5% of all homes in receipt of ECO measures, with the North East (10.1%) and West Midlands (10%) also seeing a double-digit percentage of dwellings benefit.

London has seen the lowest level of homes in receipt of ECO measures at just 4.5%, followed by the South East (5%).

At local authority level, Blackpool has seen the highest impact with 21.2% of all homes benefitting from the ECO initiative. Other areas to see in excess of 20% of properties benefit include Bradford (21.1%) and Blackburn with Darwen (20.8%).

Oldham (19.5%) and Burnley (18.6%) have also seen some of the biggest impact from the scheme.

In contrast, London accounts for the top five areas with the lowest receipts of ECO measures, with Wandsworth seeing the least with just 1.2% of homes in the borough benefitting from the scheme.

Outside of London, Mole Valley (2.4%), South Lakeland, Cambridge and Vale of White Horse have seen the lowest receipts of ECO measures since launch in 2013.

Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented:

“We could all benefit from making our homes as energy efficient as possible, but it’s important to remember that the ECO initiative is very much focussed on eradicating fuel poverty, rather than knocking a few quid off the average homeowner’s energy bills.

So it’s only natural that there has been a greater focus on areas of the market where this help is needed most and so there is always going to be a regional disparity in terms of the number of households in receipt of these measures.

In the same context, not every home will require this help and the near 1.8m households to have benefitted are no doubt very grateful for this helping hand from the government.

However, while 7% of all households is a strong start, let’s hope the government continues to build on these foundations and use this initiative to further remedy the issue of fuel poverty from those suffering across the nation.”