New Research Reveals a North-south Divide As Millions Struggle With Bills

Areas in the North of England and Scotland are the worst hit by mounting energy debt, new analysis has revealed, as arrears owed nationwide continue to reach record highs. Debt to energy suppliers hit £4.79bn last quarter, the latest data from Ofgem shows, up five per cent on the quarter before. Looking at the government’s latest Family Resources Survey, researchers from the University of York have shown that this debt is most concentrated in Scotland, Yorkshire and the North East.

These regions all recorded at least 4.8 percent of households as being in arrears with their gas or electricity in the year to March 2025. The next highest was London, at 4.5 per cent of households. Researchers also reveal that single parent households are the hardest hit, at 14.3 per cent falling into fuel arrears – more than three times the national average of 3.9 per cent. The figures also show 9.5 per cent of Black British, African and Caribbean households had fallen into arrears, alongside 6.6 per cent of families with a disabled member.

Families with children were also significantly more likely to be in debt than those without. The data was collected before the energy shock prompted by the US-Iran war caused costs to spike worldwide. In the UK, Ofgem ’s energy price cap rose £221 a year to £1,862 in July – the highest level in over two years.

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: This new analysis lays bare who is paying the price for our broken energy system and should remind policy makers and regulators that this is a can’t-pay crisis, not a won’t-pay one. And this is a picture from last year. The number of households under strain is growing, not shrinking as the price shock profiteers extracting and selling the gas that drives our bills continue to post billions in profit.

The group is calling for the government to introduce an energy debt relief scheme to reduce the burden on bill payers. Last year, Ofgem announced a consultation on a scheme to tackle debt built up between 2022 and 2024 to help 195,000 customers write off up to £500m. This would increase the average yearly bill by between £3 and £5 per household, the regulator has explained. Campaigners have called for a more comprehensive scheme to tackle the amount of debt accrued, which would instead be funded by taxing windfall energy company profits.