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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Nada Farhoud

Britain's 1,000 coldest neighbourhoods revealed - see if your town is in top 50 here

Britain's top 1,000 coldest neighbourhoods have been identified, energy crisis hotspots where people on the lowest incomes are living in the country’s most heat-leaking homes.

Birmingham, Blackpool, Bradford, Bristol, County Durham, Enfield, Luton, Rhonda Cynon Taf and Swale have the highest concentrations of coldest neighbourhoods in England and Wales.

All five of top coldest areas are in West Yorkshire with Oakworth Road and West Lane in Keighley the area suffering the most, followed by Kings Cross in Halifax, Keighley Central and East, Pellon East in Halifax and Girlington in west Bradford.

All of these areas have a population of at least 70% of people of colour and all fell way below the country’s average efficiency rating of 67.

The UK has some of the worst insulated homes in Europe, making them expensive to heat as warmth escapes through walls, windows, roofs and doors.

Birmingham is among the coldest neighbourhoods in the UK (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Last month, a coroner said that the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died after “chronic exposure” to mould created by damp in his home, should be a “defining moment” for the UK’s housing sector.

Friends of the Earth, who carried out the research, is calling on the UK government to commit to a street-by-street insulation programme to keep people warm and well, while cutting bills and harmful carbon emissions.

People of colour are more than twice as likely to live in some of England’s coldest neighbourhoods, according to their analysis.

Bradford also has a high concentration of cold homes (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Those with disabilities, the elderly, and households living on low incomes are also among those disproportionately impacted by the energy crisis.

Catriona Currie, warm homes campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “We’ve heard how people are making every adjustment they can to ease the enormous cost pressures they’re facing, and the cold is far from the only problem – damp issues are putting health and wellbeing at risk too.

“No one should have to live in a freezing home, just so they can afford to pay for food or meet other rising living costs.”

Photojournalist Grey Hutton visited some of the hardest-hit areas with a thermal imaging camera (Grey Hutton)

Friends of the Earth calculated the list first identifying energy crisis hotspots using statistics on consumption and fuel prices and then comparing with data on incomes.

To find the ‘coldest neighbourhoods’ within these hotspots Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) statistics, which show the average energy efficiency rating for homes (from A to G).

Oakworth Road in Keighley, which topped the list, had the highest number of homes rated just F and G at 12.6%. The average rating in England and Wales is D.

Areas of Bristol also made the list (Getty Images)

Photojournalist Grey Hutton visited some of the hardest-hit areas with a thermal imaging camera to illustrate the homes hardest to heat. These neighbourhoods are the coldest due to low energy efficiency ratings, making energy use and bills higher than average, and where most people are also living on low incomes.

He found families where poorly insulated, heat-leaking homes are proving not just impossible to keep warm but are often riddled with damp issues and putting health and wellbeing at risk too.

The camera illustrates the homes hardest to heat (Grey Hutton)

Iqra, a 21-year-old living with her family spoke of the difficulty of retaining heat in her poorly-insulated home. She lives in the Broomfields and East Bowling area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, where the majority of residents (over 90%) are people of colour and 59% are under 18.

She said: “Our insulation is terrible. Everything is just escaping. We do have radiators but they do nothing for us. We have to turn the kitchen one off and the bathroom window doesn’t close properly, so whatever heat is in there we just lose it.

“Our kitchen is absolutely horrible. We’ve stopped covering the damp up now.

The warmth from Houghton Towers looms over Halifax at night (Grey Hutton)

“My little sister’s asthma started last year. We went to the doctor’s and they gave her the inhalers, but how much can you do?”

78-year-old Audrey is a homeowner in Rhyl. She is disabled and has several health issues including arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and has recently had a triple heart bypass and hip replacement. She only heats one room in her house - her bedroom. Her neighbourhood in Rhyl is one of the top 10 coldest neighbourhoods in Wales.

Cold homes can be a problem for people's health (Stock photo) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

She said: “I live upstairs because I prefer to keep to one room in the winter, especially at my age. “It’s about £20 a night to have the heating on. I only had it on for about 2 hours the other night and it was £20. I’ve been having to use a[n electric] heater in my room which is a bit cheaper.

“Even when I put this heater on it’s still cold. I’ve got no circulation in my feet or my hands. “Living like this isn’t okay, because I get depressed in my bedroom.”

Many areas in the UK have heat-leaking homes (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Catriona Currie, warm homes campaigner at Friends of the Earth, added: “Harrowing stories like this are shamefully all too common right now. We have millions of people facing an incredibly bleak winter ahead, and with the festive season right around the corner.

“Rapidly rolling out a street-by-street scheme to insulate our heat-leaking homes, prioritising those in most need first, is one of the quickest and cheapest ways to bring down energy bills and cut harmful carbon emissions.

“The UK government must not delay this essential action to keep people warm and well.”

All five of top coldest areas are in West Yorkshire (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Neighbourhood Local authority Region Average energy efficiency of homes in neighbourhood (below 68 is poor)
Keighley Oakworth Road & West Lane Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 49.98
King Cross Calderdale Yorkshire and The Humber 50.45
Keighley Central & East Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 50.82
Pellon East Calderdale Yorkshire and The Humber 50.9
Girlington Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 51.39
Toller Lane & Infirmary Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 51.48
Manningham & Lister Park Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 51.49
Wainfleet All Saints East Lindsey East Midlands 51.53
Greet & Sparkhill South Birmingham West Midlands 51.82
Brown Royd Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 52.41
Nelson Bradley Pendle North West 52.47
Tinsley & Carbrook Sheffield Yorkshire and The Humber 52.5
Crabtree & Fir Vale Sheffield Yorkshire and The Humber 52.59
Shearbridge & University Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 52.73
Barkerend East Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 53.25
Nelson West Pendle North West 53.27
Bordesley Birmingham West Midlands 53.29
Canterbury Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 53.39
Scholemoor Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 53.49
Accrington West Hyndburn North West 53.53
Thornbury Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 53.54
Barkerend East Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 53.67
Small Heath Park Birmingham West Midlands 53.7
Sparkhill North Birmingham West Midlands 53.96
Shearbridge & University Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 54.01
Hay Mills & Tyseley Birmingham West Midlands 54.03
Handsworth South Birmingham West Midlands 54.12
Lockwood Kirklees Yorkshire and The Humber 54.19
Ward End & Bromford West Birmingham West Midlands 54.2
Sparkhill North Birmingham West Midlands 54.2
Small Heath Park Birmingham West Midlands 54.22
Birchfield East Birmingham West Midlands 54.28
Bordesley Birmingham West Midlands 54.31
Crabtree & Fir Vale Sheffield Yorkshire and The Humber 54.42
Bordesley Birmingham West Midlands 54.44
Bordesley Green North Birmingham West Midlands 54.5
Cross Flats Park & Garnets Leeds Yorkshire and The Humber 54.52
Belchers Lane & Eastfield Road Birmingham West Midlands 54.57
Bordesley Birmingham West Midlands 54.57
Handsworth South Birmingham West Midlands 54.65
King Cross Calderdale Yorkshire and The Humber 54.73
Saltley West Birmingham West Midlands 54.78
Belchers Lane & Eastfield Road Birmingham West Midlands 54.84
Accrington West Hyndburn North West 54.86
Manningham & Lister Park Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 55
Brown Royd Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 55.05
Handsworth South Birmingham West Midlands 55.08
Bankfoot Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 55.1
Wensley Fold Blackburn with Darwen North West 55.14
Gravelly Hill & South Erdington Birmingham West Midlands 55.17
Moor Green & Cannon Hill Birmingham West Midlands 55.19
Little Bromwich Birmingham West Midlands 55.23
Great Horton & Brackenhill Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 55.25
South Promenade & Seasiders Way Blackpool North West 55.27
Keighley Central & East Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 55.28
Highfields South Leicester East Midlands 55.3
Summerfield Birmingham West Midlands 55.3
Small Heath Park Birmingham West Midlands 55.4
Middlemore Birmingham West Midlands 55.44
Bordesley Birmingham West Midlands 55.45
Broomfields & East Bowling Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 55.45
Normanton North & Peartree Derby East Midlands 55.47
Nelson West Pendle North West 55.51
Little Bromwich Birmingham West Midlands 55.51
Balsall Heath East Birmingham West Midlands 55.52
Wolverhampton Central Wolverhampton West Midlands 55.53
Blakenhall Wolverhampton West Midlands 55.56
Bordesley Green North Birmingham West Midlands 55.62
Greet & Sparkhill South Birmingham West Midlands 55.62
Barclay Hills & Trinity Burnley North West 55.69
Sparkhill North Birmingham West Midlands 55.69
Clacton Central Tendring East of England 55.73
Handsworth West Birmingham West Midlands 55.74
Central Darlington Darlington North East 55.75
Pellon East Calderdale Yorkshire and The Humber 55.88
Small Heath Park Birmingham West Midlands 55.91
Brierfield & Reedley Pendle North West 55.98
Bromford Birmingham West Midlands 55.98
Florence Stoke-on-Trent West Midlands 56.01
Shearbridge & University Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 56.02
Nelson Bradley Pendle North West 56.05
Central Blackpool Blackpool North West 56.13
Normanton North & Peartree Derby East Midlands 56.13
Belchers Lane & Eastfield Road Birmingham West Midlands 56.15
Washwood Heath Birmingham West Midlands 56.16
Allenton & Osmaston Derby East Midlands 56.18
Gravelly Hill & South Erdington Birmingham West Midlands 56.18
Salem Oldham North West 56.24
Broomfields & East Bowling Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 56.25
Handsworth South Birmingham West Midlands 56.27
Stockland Green - Marsh Hill Birmingham West Midlands 56.33
Harehills North Leeds Yorkshire and The Humber 56.35
Druids Heath Birmingham West Midlands 56.42
Wolverhampton Central Wolverhampton West Midlands 56.42
Old Colwyn & Llanddulas Conwy Wales 56.43
North Shore Blackpool North West 56.48
Central Bradford & Barkerend West Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 56.52
Rose Hill & Castleward Derby East Midlands 56.53
Kingstanding South East Birmingham West Midlands 56.55
Manningham & Lister Park Bradford Yorkshire and The Humber 56.55

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