National Traveller Mabs

Our report ‘Accommodating Ethnicity, Addressing Energy Poverty Among Travellers Living in Mobile Homes and Trailers: An exploratory study’ was launched, on June 19th 2019 by Angela Black, Chief Executive, Citizens Information Board. The report, written by Stuart Stamp and supported by staff of National Traveller MABS and Traveller primary health care groups, highlights the high levels of energy poverty among Travellers living in mobile homes and trailers.

The report found:

• Travellers living in mobile homes or trailers are nine times more likely to go without heat than the general population.
• Travellers living in mobile homes are fourteen times more likely to be unable to keep their household warm than the general population.
• Travellers living in mobile homes spend on average between 26.1% (median) and 28% (mean) of their income on energy this is around five to six times higher than the corresponding figure of 4.6% of the population.
• The report also found that 80% of this group experienced condensation in their home and 84.6% experienced damp.
• The report has a number of recommendations including among others, exploration of a mobile home rent/rent to buy scheme and extension of payments of fuel allowance to households sharing bays on halting sites. The full report is available here.

The Key findings are included in this Factsheet.