Our asks: an emergency programme to insulate our homes

In England and Wales there are 5.7 million homes that'd benefit from loft insulation and 3.8 million homes that could be fitted with cavity wall insulation. This is equal to approximately 18% of homes, and is based on analysing the Energy Performance Certificates Database. 

Analysis of the numbers of homes needing this basic insulation in each local authority area can be downloaded on Friends of the Earth's Policy site. 

Similar data isn't available for Northern Ireland. The latest data on Northern Ireland is from the 2016 Housing Condition survey, which found that 98% of homes had loft insulation but only 54% had an adequate quantity. Only 65% of homes that could have cavity wall insulation had it. 

The immediate focus during the energy crisis should be to roll out basic insulation rapidly to the homes that need it. But by 2030, we need all homes to achieve a good standard of insulation – Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C. This'll require most homes built before 1920 to have some form of solid wall insulation, either internally or externally, which is a much more expensive measure than cavity wall and loft insulation. 

Some types of insulation can't be fitted to certain types of homes. These are often referred to as "hard-to-treat homes", and instead these'll need to be heated using higher-powered eco-heating options such as high-temperature heat pumps.  

Check the proportion of homes that are well insulated in your local authority by visiting Friends of the Earth's Near You data tool.

United for Warm Homes is calling for the UK government to fund councils to co-ordinate street-by-street energy-efficiency programmes.  

In practice, this means every home in a particular street is offered free loft and cavity wall insulation and help with draught-proofing if they need it, and every home is also offered an energy audit with advice on what else they could do to reduce energy use.

It takes 2 professionals less than 1 day to fit loft and cavity wall insulation on 1 home. A team can fit multiple homes in 1 day, and multiple teams could start in different streets. Once 1 street is done, the workers move to the next street and so on, until at least all neighbourhoods most at risk of fuel poverty are covered.   

A significant advantage of street-by-street programmes is that costs are a lot lower (eg less need for workers to travel between jobs, bulk purchasing etc) and household participation is higher. 

We don’t have a precise cost for a national programme of insulation, because there are a lot of variables and slightly different approaches will be needed in each of the UK’s 4 nations. However, we estimate the cost for England and Wales to be at least £6 billion a year over the next 10 years.

Right now, people on low incomes won’t have the cash to pay for the measures needed. We’re therefore calling for this programme to be paid for by the government and co-ordinated by councils. We’re also suggesting avoiding means testing for the programme as this’ll just add extra bureaucracy and slow things down, and may also discourage some low-income homes from participating.

Although this scheme may sound expensive, insulating homes will also save us money. Cold homes have serious physical and mental health consequences and lead to high costs for the NHS every year. A recent report by the Institute of Health Equity and Friends of the Earth found that cold homes are costing our society billions per year, through increased costs to the NHS, higher caring costs, bigger energy bills, lost productivity from ill health and larger carbon emissions. We estimate that £4.6 billion a year in avoided climate impacts would be saved by insulating our homes (using figures on the costs of carbon emissions from the US Environmental Protection Agency). An insulation programme would also have other benefits such as job creation and increased tax revenue, and free up household spending by reducing energy bills.  

Through reduced health costs, carbon impacts and the economic benefits it brings, a national insultation programme can easily pay for itself in the long term. However, some upfront money will still be needed to pay for it. Existing government commitments and schemes like the Great British Insulation scheme and the Energy Company Obligation scheme currently provide about £2 billion a year for domestic energy efficiency projects.  

This means another £4 billion a year is needed to reach the £6 billion a year we're calling for. This could be funded by the Energy Profits Levy (a windfall tax on oil and gas companies), which is expected to raise £26 billion between 2022 and 2028, or £4.3 billion a year. Although the levy is set to end in 2029, we're calling for it to be extended and for the loopholes that reduce the taxes fossil fuel companies have to pay if they invest in new oil and gas to be removed. The New Economics Foundation has calculated that these loopholes are worth £10.5 billion to the industry over 3 years (£3.5 billion a year). This would take the annual total raised by the levy to £7.8 billion, more than enough to pay for a national insulation scheme and ensure warm homes for all.  

It depends on the measures installed and the cost of energy. But even basic measures can save people significant money. Loft or cavity wall insulation, for example, will each save a household around 20% on its bills and pay for themselves in a few years.

In 2023 it cost £320 more per year to heat a home rated Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) D than a home rated EPC C, and £560 more for a home rated EPC E. Bringing all homes up to EPC C standard in England and Wales would have saved householders £5.3 billion in energy costs each year.

With energy costs currently so high, even expensive measures such as installing solar panels may pay themselves back within a handful of years. The Energy Saving Trust has useful content and price estimates for different measures, including estimated cost savings.

The private-rented sector has the highest level of fuel poverty, with 1 in 4 households struggling to heat their homes, according to the government. Energy efficiency standards in the social housing sector are higher, but a third still live in homes below Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C. It's been estimated that bringing private-rented homes up to EPC C would save tenants an average of £570 per year.  

However, there are limits on what renters or leasehold owners can do without permission, and tenants can struggle to get landlords to take action to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. 

Currently, rented accommodation must have a minimum level of insulation, but the standard is incredibly low: EPC E or above. Councils have a duty to police these standards, so if the property is particularly poor then tenants can contact them. Most councils don’t proactively regulate, but councils such as Liverpool are an exception and show what can be done.  

We're calling for the minimum energy efficiency standards for private-rented properties to be strengthened, so that all are at least EPC C by the end of 2028. We also want to see the same requirement for the social housing sector. Proper regulation should be brought in for the private-rented sector alongside this, with councils required and funded to inspect homes and mandate work needed to bring them up to a decent standard.

Private-rented properties should also be included in a street-by-street insulation programme because, while the property owner may benefit in terms of house value, bill-paying renters will experience an even greater benefit. 

Including these properties in a nationwide insulation programme, as well as making the costs of upgrading homes tax-deductible for landlords (as repairs currently are), will ensure insulation measures don't result in higher rents or large numbers of properties being removed from the rental market. 

We're also calling for policies such as a compulsory register of landlords and the outlawing of no-fault evictions, to ensure that private-rented properties can be properly regulated and that tenants are able to report sub-standard housing without the risk of being threatened with eviction.  

Most homes that’ll be lived in are already built, which is why United for Warm Homes is primarily concerned with improving existing homes. Standards for new homes will increase by 2025, but many people have been calling for this date to be brought forward, and for local councils to be able to require better homes. Some councils are already doing good work in this area, for example Reading and York. 

We’ve identified 8,927 "energy crisis hotspots" in England and Wales. These are neighbourhoods with lower than average income but higher than average energy use (according to data, including from smart meters). These neighbourhoods have a higher proportion of children and twice the proportion of people of colour living in them than other neighbourhoods.

They should be prioritised in a street-by-street insulation programme to ensure those most affected by fuel poverty are able to benefit from an efficient, warm home as quickly as possible.