Delays on home insulation costs energy bill payers £3.2bn a year

DESNZ states that insulation scheme should make 300,000 homes more energy efficient but expert says current programmes deliver “a tiny fraction of what could be achieved.” 

An analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) suggests that a lack of progress on insulating Britain’s homes is costing energy bill payers £3.2 billion a year under the new price cap.

The independent, non-profit body argued that if the rate of insulating homes hadn’t fallen over the past decade, an additional 11 million homes could have benefitted from energy efficiency improvements by now.

It adds that the UK has some of the least energy efficient homes in Europe, which contributed to British households facing high bills during the gas crisis.

Dr Simon Cran-McGreehin, Head of Analysis at ECIU said: “Millions of British bill payers are still counting the cost of inaction and low investment in insulating homes over the past decade. Renters are in a particularly difficult situation given they don’t have any control over improving the warmth of their homes.

“Bills may have dropped slightly, but they are due to rise again ahead of winter when having a properly insulated home is the difference between affordable and astronomical energy bills.

“The UK has been particularly badly hit by the crisis because we’re so dependent on gas for electricity and home heating. Shifting to net zero means building more British renewables and insulating more homes and so becoming less dependent on foreign gas imports.”

Ofgem and the Department for Energy Security and Net-Zero (DESNZ) were unable to comment due to impartiality rules relating to the general election but clarified that the Great British Insulation Scheme introduced last year should make around 300,000 homes more energy efficient.

“The [Great British Insulation Scheme] builds momentum towards government’s new ambition to reduce total UK energy demand by 15% from 2021 levels by 2030.”

Lord Callanan, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance said at the scheme’s launch: “Improving the energy efficiency of our homes is the best long-term solution to reducing energy bills and, therefore, tackling fuel poverty.

“The scheme will make homes more energy efficient, primarily through the installation of insulation measures such as cavity wall insulation. A minimum of 20% of the support provided through the scheme will go towards boosting support for low-income and vulnerable households. 

“The scheme also builds momentum towards government’s new ambition to reduce total UK energy demand by 15% from 2021 levels by 2030.”

Professor Nick Eyre, Professor of Energy and Climate Policy at the University of Oxford agreed with the ECIU findings. He said: “The estimate of £3.2 billion in missed energy savings is well within our estimates of what a programme of cost-effective energy efficiency would have delivered since the axing of major programmes in 2012. Current government programmes deliver a tiny fraction of what could be achieved.”

Professor Eyre called for a range of initiatives, including minimum standards for heat pumps and the phasing out of fossil-fuel boiler installations. He also said he would like to see “duties, powers and resources for local authorities to develop and deliver local area energy plans, including a duty to plan for a zero-carbon housing stock in their area”.