You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Liberal Democrats outline £15bn home insulation upgrade plans
The Liberal Democrats have announced plans to spend £15bn in the next parliament on insulating up to 26 million homes.
According to the party, the plans could save the average household up to £550 on energy bills and would mean every home in the UK is upgraded to energy performance certificate (EPC) rating B.
Approximately half of all UK homes are rated EPC band D, according to data from the English Housing Survey for 2018.
All fuel-poor homes would be prioritised to be upgraded first in the scheme, with a target date of 2025.
The scheme would last five years with an annual cost of £3bn per year.
The plans also include leveraging an extra £4.3bn from private sources.
READ MORE
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the climate emergency, said: “The climate crisis is doing irreversible damage to our planet. The Liberal Democrats are committed to Climate Action Now so we can protect our planet for future generations.
“The Tories have banned on-shore wind, slashed support for solar power and cancelled the Green Deal. They are persistently hindering and delaying climate action. That is no better than climate change denial.
“The Liberal Democrats are the only party who have a clear, ambitious plan to cut harmful emissions by 2030 and get to net zero by 2045.
“We would raise efficiency standards of every home and more than double the amount of electricity we generate from renewables.”
Earlier this week the Labour Party announced plans to spend a total of £250bn, of which £60bn would come from central government, on upgrading the energy efficiency of all homes by 2030 and mandate to have all new homes zero carbon by 2022.
Last month housing secretary Robert Jenrick unveiled new plans for the creation of a new Future Homes Standard, which aims to see fuel heating systems such as gas boilers banned from new homes and replaced by technology such as air source heat pumps and solar panels.
A consultation for the plans is currently out and will run until January 2020.
