
Table of contents
1. Energy efficiency of UK homes
Improving the energy efficiency of domestic properties has been identified as an important means of reducing the UK’s carbon emissions, as well as reducing energy bills for consumers.[1] In 2022, residential properties were responsible for 17% of the UK’s carbon emissions.[2] The Conservative Party’s 2019 general election manifesto included a commitment to invest £9.2bn in improving the energy efficiency of domestic and public buildings.[3]
The energy efficiency of homes is measured using the standard assessment procedure (SAP), which measures the energy efficiency of a property on a scale of 1 to 100.[4] Properties are also ranked into bands of A to G using this 1–100 score, with properties in band A scoring 92 or more and properties in band G scoring 20 or less.[5] The median energy efficiency rating for dwellings in England and Wales is band D, with homes in England scoring 68 and homes in Wales scoring 66.[6] Newer properties tend to be more energy efficient than existing properties. For example, in the first quarter of 2023, new dwellings in England received an average SAP rating of 84 while existing properties had an average rating of 68.[7]
2. Insulating existing properties
One means by which the energy efficiency of existing dwellings can be increased is improving their insulation. In 2019, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) recommended the government should increase the uptake of energy efficiency measures in existing dwellings, including by installing loft and wall insulation.[8] In its 2023 report to Parliament on the UK’s progress in reducing carbon emissions, the CCC argued there remained a “significant policy gap” in the government’s efforts to improve the energy efficiency of non-fuel-poor properties.[9] The House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee recommended the government should focus on supporting home insulation as a means of delivering emissions reductions.[10] The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee has also recommended the government should increase the pace of home insulation and other measures to improve home energy efficiency.[11]
In the spring of 2023, the government introduced the Great British insulation scheme.[12] It is available to properties that are in council tax bands A–D and have an energy performance of band D or lower. The government has said this scheme would run until March 2026 and would help around 300,000 households with the cost of installing new home insulation.[13] At the end of December 2023, insulation measures had been installed in 2,979 households through this scheme.[14] The opposition has criticised the rate at which existing properties are being insulated, arguing not enough properties are receiving government support.[15]
A survey conducted by the Social Market Foundation in October 2022 found one of the most popular reasons why households had not insulated their homes was concerns about cost, with over a quarter saying they could not afford it.[16] The Committee on Fuel Poverty is a public body which advises the government on reducing fuel poverty.[17] During an interview with Utility Week, published in March 2023, the chair of the Committee on Fuel Poverty, Caroline Flint, said the government needed to do more to address the energy efficiency of private rented sector housing.[18] Specifically, she said the government needed to do more to improve the take up of home insulation schemes amongst poorer households, which she argued were often “harder to reach”. Speaking to the British Medical Journal on the health impact of cold homes, Dr Neil Simcock at Liverpool John Moores University also noted some vulnerable people who might be eligible for schemes to improve the insulation of their homes often did not come forward to access this support.[19]
One further issue identified as affecting the rate at which existing properties can be insulated is the capacity of the existing supply chain. Alexander Stafford (Conservative MP for Rother Valley), a member of the House of Commons Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, argued one of the barriers to improving the energy efficiency of homes was ensuring there are enough people available in the supply chain to meet demand.[20]
The House of Commons Energy Security and Net Zero Committee is currently conducting an inquiry on the energy efficiency of houses in the UK.[21] During an evidence session with the committee on 8 November 2023, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Claire Coutinho was asked how the government intended to encourage more people to improve the insulation of their homes.[22] Ms Coutinho said the government was spending £20bn over the previous and the current parliament to provide support for improving home insulation.[23]
3. Replacing the standard assessment procedure and introducing the future homes and buildings standards
The government is currently developing the home energy model (HEM), a new methodology for assessing the energy efficiency of homes that is intended to replace the SAP. This followed criticism of the SAP by the CCC which argued the existing methodology could be distorted by changes in energy costs and undervalues the benefits of low-carbon technologies.[24] The government launched a consultation on the HEM in December 2023.[25] The government has said the HEM would be more accurate and robust than the SAP.[26] This consultation is scheduled to remain open until 6 March 2024. The government has said the HEM would be introduced in 2025.[27]
4. Read more
- House of Lords Library, ‘Home insulation and the net zero target’, 17 June 2020
- House of Commons Library, ‘Energy efficiency of UK homes’, 9 February 2024
Cover image by kjpargeter on Freepik.
References
- House of Lords Library, ‘Home insulation and the net zero target’, 17 June 2020. Return to text
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, ‘2022 UK greenhouse gas emissions, provisional figures’, 30 March 2023, p 13. This includes emissions from heating homes and cooking but does not include emissions from the generation of electricity consumed by households. Return to text
- Conservative Party, ‘Conservative Party manifesto 2019’, November 2019, p 55. Return to text
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, ‘Guidance: Standard assessment procedure’, 13 December 2023. Return to text
- Office for National Statistics, ‘Energy efficiency of housing in England and Wales: 2023’, 1 November 2023. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- Office for National Statistics, ‘Energy efficiency of housing, England and Wales, country and region, all records, five rolling years up to Q2 2018 to Q1 2023’, 1 November 2023. Return to text
- Committee on Climate Change, ‘UK housing: Fit for the future?’, February 2019, p 9. Return to text
- Committee on Climate Change, ‘Progress in reducing emissions: 2023 report to Parliament’, June 2023, p 155. Return to text
- House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee, ‘In our hands: Behaviour change for climate and environmental goals’, 12 October 2022, HL Paper 64 of session 2022–23, p 68. Return to text
- House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, ‘Investing in energy: Price, security, and the transition to net zero’, 21 July 2022, HL Paper 49 of session 2022–23. Return to text
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, ‘Powering up Britain: Energy security plan’, 4 April 2023. Return to text
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, ‘Summary of the Great British insulation scheme statistics: January 2024’, 18 January 2024. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- Jillian Ambrose, ‘UK insulation scheme would take 300 years to meet government targets, say critics’, Guardian, 9 April 2023. Return to text
- Social Market Foundation, ‘Lagging behind: New insights into the barriers to energy efficiency uptake’, p 8. Return to text
- HM Government, ‘Committee on Fuel Poverty home page’, accessed 18 January 2024. Return to text
- Utility Week (£), ‘Flint’s challenging first year chairing fuel poverty committee’, 13 March 2023. Return to text
- British Medical Journal, ‘How the world is tackling the cold homes health crisis’, 22 November 2023. Return to text
- Politico, ‘Insulating Britain’s drafty homes will take over a century on current plans’, 5 December 2023. Return to text
- House of Commons Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, ‘Heating our homes: Inquiry’, accessed 18 January 2024. Return to text
- House of Commons Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, ‘Oral evidence: The work of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’, 8 November 2023, HC 114 of session 2023–24, Q238. Return to text
- As above. Return to text
- Committee on Climate Change, ‘UK housing: Fit for the future?’, February 2019, pp 55 and 117. Return to text
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, ‘Home energy model: Replacement for the standard assessment procedure (SAP)’, 13 December 2023. Return to text
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, ‘Guidance: Standard assessment procedure’, 13 December 2023. Return to text
- As above. Return to text