Scotland completed the consequential housing-law changes attached to its statutory fuel-poverty definition on Monday, bringing the last two subsections of the 2019 Act’s amendment provision into force.
Sections 18(3) and (4) of the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019 amend sections 89 and 95 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. The changes replace the older housing-law definition with the 2019 Act’s framework and remove reporting provisions superseded by the newer strategy and reporting system.
Under the 2019 Act, a household is in fuel poverty where required fuel costs exceed 10 per cent of adjusted net income and the income remaining after fuel, relevant disability or care benefits and childcare costs is insufficient for an acceptable standard of living. Extreme fuel poverty uses a 20 per cent fuel-cost threshold, with the same remaining-income test.
Most of the Act was commenced in 2019. Monday’s instrument is therefore a narrow completion measure, but it matters when older Housing Act duties and definitions are read alongside the current fuel-poverty targets.
Official commencement regulations
