‘Wake-up call’: government needs to act fast to upgrade UK’s draughty homes as energy price rises loom

The 10% increase in the energy price cap will be causing anxiety for people across the UK. But the high prices will hit one group particularly hard – people living in uninsulated, poorly constructed homes who may very well be at the bottom end of the income scale.

This group will now have to pay even more to maintain their home’s warmth and keep their heating on for longer.

Energy experts are asking the government to roll out a serious plan to insulate Britain’s leaky homes.

Under the new price cap, the average annual energy bill will rise to £1,717 a year for gas and electricity, up £149 from its current level of £1,568, which has been in place since July.

The majority of British homes – about 80% – are heated by natural gas. The country’s housing stock is also in poor shape: here in the UK we have the least insulated homes in western Europe. This means the price of keeping Britons warm goes up when gas prices rise. So we buy expensive gas to heat our houses, and then lose a lot of that heat through our walls and roofs.

Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said: “A lack of progress on energy efficiency and heat pumps means that our reliance on gas hasn’t fallen much in recent years, despite the volatility in the international markets forcing bills to skyrocket. The new government has made steps on renewables, but not confirmed its plans for home heating or insulation yet, and there is clearly no time to waste.”

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Much of the blame can be laid at former prime minister David Cameron’s feet; his decision to scrap compulsory home improvement schemes means the country is very behind on making houses more efficient to heat. The number of energy efficiency annual installations reached a peak in 2012 at 2.3m because of government subsidies. Now, it has sharply fallen to about 100,000 upgrades a year.

Rishi Sunak last year abandoned plans to force landlords to upgrade homes to have an energy performance certificate rating of C or above, and disbanded an energy efficiency taskforce. Labour could make a difference to private renters languishing in draughty homes by bringing these back.

Emma Pinchbeck, the CEO of the industry group Energy UK, said: “It would be good to see government plans on heat,” adding: “Our best tool, to protect the economy and all our customers from these high prices, is to reduce demand for imported gas. This is where the new government is right to focus on building more renewables and investing in insulation.”

A spokesperson for Ed Miliband, the energy, security and net zero secretary, said: “Doubling the warm homes plan from £6.6bn over parliament to £13.2bn is the single biggest capital investment we will make and the biggest in British history.” This will insulate 5m extra homes. It’s a start, but politicians and energy experts argue it is not enough.

The blueprint for new homes has also not yet been revealed by the government: will housebuilders be forced to build houses with heat pumps installed, solar on the roof or tighter rules on insulation? Labour will be facing intense lobbying from the housebuilding industry, who will be arguing that it will be harder and more expensive to meet building targets if faced with stricter regulations.

And finally, we’re still in the dark about how the government thinks homes should be heated, although Miliband said before the election that the Conservative government’s ban on installing new gas boilers by 2035 would be scrapped. This means the party needs to come up with alternative ways to encourage uptake of non-fossil fuel home heating.

This is critical if the country is to meet net zero; heating the UK’s 28m homes accounted for 18% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2021.

The government is facing pressure on all these issues from the Green party. Co-leader Carla Denyer said: “The government has said that establishing GB Energy will reduce bills in the future, which would be welcome. However, that aim will be achieved only if the government invests in improving the energy efficiency of homes too.

“We need a nationwide programme of government-backed, council-delivered home insulation starting immediately to help people keep their bills down for good.

“We could reduce bills for the long term and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by building new homes that are easier and cheaper to heat and boosting insulation in existing homes. Insulating people’s homes means they can stay warm while using less energy, save money and produce fewer harmful carbon emissions.”

Greenpeace UK’s policy director, Doug Parr, added: “Unless the government rolls out a nationwide home insulation scheme, boosts renewables, and introduces a social tariff for energy bills, this crisis will persist winter after winter. Let this be a wake-up call for the new government to start delivering on its promises, which will cut bills.”