The hidden but essential partner in our battle to solve the climate emergency

In the battle to solve the climate emergency and safeguard the future of our planet, a hidden but essential partner is insulation. Why, because UK homes are some of the worst insulated in Europe.

The UK's poor insulation results in the average home with an indoor temperature of 20°c and an outside temperature of 0°c losing 3°c after five hours. This of course means that not only is more energy required to keep the home at a constant temperature but also that the resident is losing money in the process.

In fact families in Guildford are paying up to £1,000 more on their energy bills due to Government failure to invest in insulation. With gas bills already rocketing, these residents are paying the price of years of Conservative inaction on insulating homes.

New figures from the Liberal Democrats (see below) show that 30,576 people across Guildford are living in draughty, hard-to-heat homes. The result is a total of £21 million extra on their energy bills compared to those living in well-insulated properties.

The Conservative Government refuses to make home insulation part of their plan to tackle rising bills. Their refusal to take this seriously has left people across our community struggling to heat their homes and put food on the table.

In contrast, the Liberal Democrats are committed to upgrading insulation in all existing homes by 2030 and require all new homes to be eco-friendly. Doing so will cut people's energy bills, save lives and reduce energy consumption.

Zöe Franklin
Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Guildford, Cranleigh and our villages

14th April 2022

Full data on the number of poorly insulated homes (EPC Bands D-G) is available here, based on EPCs lodged between 2008-2021.

• Analysis of statistics by the Liberal Democrats shows that homes that currently have a Band F EPC rating, which are often poorly insulated, are paying on average £961 more than those in the EPC band C. Full analysis is available here.
• The Government's current target is for all homes to be of at least EPC Band C rating by 2035.
• If a family remains in a Band F home until the government's 2035 deadline, they will be paying almost £12,500 more than those in Band C over the course of that period
• The figures also reveal the areas with the highest proportion of leaky homes. People living in the Isles of Scilly have some of the worst insulated homes, with 85% of homes being in Band D-G. Four in five families in Pembrokeshire and Gwynedd are in poorly insulated homes, paying an estimated £45.7 million more a year, while three-quarters of Blackpool residents are paying around £40 million more for their draughty homes.

Last year, the government scrapped the Green Homes Grant which offered households vouchers towards the costs of retrofitting homes, in order to improve energy efficiency and slash energy bills.