A total of 10 organisations have written to Ed Davey MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, calling for action to tackle fuel poverty.

Scottish Housing News has said the organisations include Scottish Renewables, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, Energy Action Scotland, World Wildlife Fund and the Chartered Institute of Housing.

In Scotland, approximately half of all the energy used is for heating, but with around 900,000 properties estimated to be in fuel poverty, the need for more innovative, cost-effective means of heating homes has become an even greater priority.

The alliance has therefore written to Mr Davey with an urgent call to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to ensure the forthcoming domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) makes renewable technologies part of the solution to tackle fuel poverty by opening up access to financial support to registered social landlords.

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It recognises the success of the Renewable Heat Premium Payment competition scheme but feels that much more can be done by allowing social landlords access to domestic RHI.

Current draft proposals would see individual homeowners and private landlords being given the opportunity to access funds from spring 2014 that would enable them to install renewable heat technologies, including biomass boilers, solar thermal technologies and ground source heat pumps, to heat their properties.

In an open letter to Energy Minister Ed Davey, the alliance said: "As a diverse group of individual organisations, we have a shared belief that every effort should be made to tackle fuel poverty and that renewable technologies should play its part in helping reduce energy bills.

"In Scotland there are many communities, particularly in rural locations, living without a mains gas supply and are therefore relying on more expensive fossil fuels such as heating oil. We would urge DECC to ensure tariff levels are set higher for those homes off the gas grid.

"The domestic RHI therefore has the potential to play a crucial role in allowing people to benefit financially from developing their own renewable energy; something which will not only further the development of the Scottish renewable heat sector, but also provide a welcome boost to the country's efforts to improve energy security and tackle fuel poverty."

(JP/MH)