The strategy: Healthy safe and warm homes
A healthy home is not just a warm home, it's one that's secure and safe too. That's the theme of Manchester's Healthy Safe & Warm Homes strategy: a comprehensive, co-ordinated approach to reducing fuel poverty.
Fuel poverty is where people either put up with a cold, uncomfortable home; or heat their homes and get into debt. The strategy is about making sure that affordable warmth measures are included in things like repair and improvement schemes, home safety and burglary-protection.
We launched our first Affordable Warmth strategy in 1997. Since then thousands of Manchester residents have benefited from free or discounted insulation. The Healthy Safe & Warm Homes strategy goes a step further. It recognises that people's health is also influenced by the stress of living in threatening environments and areas of poor-quality housing.