Poverty leading people to live with failing household appliances

National poverty charity Turn2us says that many of those seeking its help are living with failing household appliances. 

A survey of those seeking its help found that not only did high numbers of people not have certain household appliances such as a cooker, fridge, freezer or washing machine, many of the household appliances that people did have were no longer functioning properly.  

It found that one in three of those surveyed had a household appliance that needed to be replaced, with respondents saying that they had an appliance that was faulty, broken or old.

Anxiety about failing appliances

Several reported being very concerned about this, with those surveyed saying:

• “I am living in fear, stress, anxiety and afraid of fire and loss of even more goods”
• “The cooker is rusty and seems dangerous”
• “The cooker is not working properly and is overheating, I'm scared it could cause a fire”
• “It is a worry, possible fire hazard and is totally inefficient”

Why people aren’t replacing failing appliances

Asked why they hadn’t replaced the appliance:

• 88% of people said that they didn’t have the money to purchase a new appliance
• 22% were not able to access credit to replace it
• 13% didn’t want to access credit.

Emphasising the charity’s concern about people living with failing household appliances, Simon Hopkins, Chief Executive of Turn2us, said:

“It is truly worrying that so many people are living with faulty, and potentially dangerous, household appliances simply because they can’t afford to replace them.

“The lack of basic household appliances can have a huge impact on a person’s wellbeing and make it even harder to manage on a limited budget. And living with a faulty appliance can be very dangerous. It underlines the importance of making sure that people are aware of the help available to purchase household appliances.”

Turn2us is urging anyone who is struggling to purchase household appliances to seek its help at Turn2us.org.uk. The charity can help people understand and access the support that they are eligible for and entitled to, particularly eligibility for hardship grants that can help with the purchase of household appliances as there is £300 million in charitable grants available in the UK.