ECR presentation by Jon Morris

1. FUEL POVERTY AND
STUDENTS:THE
NEGLECTED
DEMOGRAPHIC
Dr Jon Morris
University of Sheffield Management School

2. PURPOSE
■ Expansion in Higher Education in the UK since 1992 – increased demand
for student accommodation
■ Universities and Local Authorities seek to ‘contain’ student populations
in order to minimise disruption on local communities
■ Under-investment in maintaining housing stocks and in energy
efficiency measures from Local Authorities and private landlords
■ Short term tennancies and lack of incentives
■ Popular public expectation for students to live in poor quality housing

3. METHOD
■ Questionnaire survey emailed to students at University of Sheffield
(Undergraduate through to PhD/MBA)
■ 286 completed responses (11.44% response rate)
■ Survey covered two areas:
– Energy usage in the home and energy experiences
– Knowledge, experience and perception of fuel poverty
■ Responses measured on a 5-point likert scale

4. FINDINGS (1)
■ 78% of students rent University provided accommodation or from
private landlords
■ The cost of rent is the most important consideration when choosing a
house (86% rated as important or very important) followed by proximity
to university
■ 58% of respondents rate energy efficiency measures as important or
very important
■ 66% of respondents would prefer a warmer house during winter months
■ Rises to 72% when filtering for private renters only

5. FINDINGS (2)
■ Majority of students (85%) do not consider themselves to be fuel poor
■ Despite this, 63% reported problems paying energy bills
■ 58% employed strategies to keep warm, including:
– Wearing additional layers of clothing
– Going to bed early
– Cutting back on other spending
– Using hot water bottles
– Using University facilities

6. FUTUREWORK
■ Address the issue of perception vs reality
■ Extend research to other Universities
■ Engage with student bodies through interviews and workshops on fuel
poverty awareness
■ Work with local authorities, universities, landlords, and resident groups