Industry bodies have joined forces to urge government to commit to a target of upgrading the energy efficiency of existing homes at a rate of 1 million a year by 2020. In an open letter to Lord Deighton, commercial secretary to the Treasury, the heads of environmental groups, charities, membership organisations and trade associations warn that the UK’s homes are among the “coldest and draughtiest in Europe” resulting in high energy bills and “one of the worst records on fuel poverty and preventable winter deaths”.
A report “A housing stock fit for the future: Making home energy efficiency a national infrastructure priority” accompanies the open letter. It sets out the economic case for improving home energy efficiency.
Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Paul King, chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, said: “Making home energy efficiency a national infrastructure priority – and offering it significant support alongside transport, energy generation or communications projects – would not only cut households’ rocketing energy bills and help tackle climate change, but would create thousands of new jobs and strengthen the UK’s energy security”.
Download the full report.
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