Fuel poverty and financing methods for energy efficiency measures

Present-day, fuel poverty is increasingly gaining political importance due to its impact on society and human health. Prices on the rental housing market continue to rise so that affordable and decent housing is hard to find. In order to increase ownership for vulnerable groups, policy makers aim to facilitate access to buyer’s markets. Examples are Community Land Trust, Social housing buyer’s market, etc. The downside of these initiatives is that houses are often in poor state and need retrofitting. In this paper, we will examine strategies for vulnerable groups to refurbish their homes, taking into account a limited budget. Focus will be on energy efficiency. Moreover, we will examine how implementing these measures influences the total energy efficiency of the dwelling, making use of applied EPB software. Furthermore, this paper provides financial insight with regards to the cash flows resulting from these measures. Finally, the main challenges for implementing these measures are discussed and best practices from North-West European countries are presented.status: accepte