UK must hasten insulation of homes

Chris Stark, head of the UK’s Climate Change Committee, told the BBC he categorizes the government policy on insulation as “very poor”.

He says that insulation, together with renewable power, is the way out of the current energy crisis.

According to government data, two-thirds of homes, or 19 million, need better insulation.

Britain is frequently described as having some of the oldest and least energy-efficient housing in Europe.

Retrofitting – adding insulation to existing homes – can be very expensive and Mr Stark says the government isn’t doing enough to help fund this work.

The government needs to provide “A sharper incentive for most people to make these investments in improving the energy efficiency of the home that they live in,”

“It’s just not financially viable,” says John Donnellon, the CEO of Blackpool Coastal Housing

“There needs to be grant aid to make it happen,”

The government highlighted the importance of improving energy performance in buildings in its delayed Heat and Buildings Strategy published in October last year.

Mr. Stark believes the government will need a new scheme because most homeowners cannot afford to insulate their homes.

“We need to scale that up to something more like half a million a year and to do that quickly over the next four or five years.”.

The Government has only showcased a £3.9b fund to help insulate homes, The total is well below the £9.2bn the Conservative Party said it would spend on energy efficiency by 2030 in its 2019 election manifesto.