Hunt urged to commit extra £6bn a year to making UK homes energy efficient
A coalition of charities and campaigners have demanded the chancellor funnel more funds into making Britain’s leaky housing stock energy efficient at next week’s budget to help cut bills and protect the environment.
In a letter to Jeremy Hunt, more than 20 organisations asked the government to set aside at least £6bn a year over the next decade to support an acceleration in insulating home and installations of heat pumps.
The coalition, which includes the charities National Energy Action, Age UK and Greenpeace UK, said Hunt needed to kickstart a renewed drive to improve efficiency to “insulate the whole country against energy price shocks”.
The surge in wholesale gas prices, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, has led to soaring energy bills and pushed two million more people into fuel poverty.
Campaigners said ensuring heat was not lost through poorly insulated housing would cut domestic costs and reduce emissions. Housing is directly responsible for about 14% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
In the letter, seen by the Guardian, the groups said about 7 million UK households were experiencing “preventable fuel poverty” and that reducing the reliance on gas could help drive down inflation.
In his autumn statement in November, Hunt pledged to spend £6.6bn during this parliament on energy efficiency, and announced a further £6bn of funding from 2025, “doubling annual investment”.
However, the groups called on the government to commit to spending at least £6bn annually to help upgrade homes, and improve training and supply chains to support the rollout of heat pumps. They want the chancellor to set aside in next week’s budget an initial £5bn for home insulation and £3bn for the installation of heat pumps.
A report by a House of
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