Radical insulation programme would pay for itself and achieve huge economic benefits to UK.
A new report published today, Building the Future, has piled pressure on Ministers to act to fix Britain’s badly insulated homes. The report from Cambridge Econometrics and Verco shows that a much more ambitious energy efficiency investment programme would pay for itself and significantly boost the UK economy.
The programme would add £13.9 billion annually to the UK economy by 2030, with GDP boosted by £3.20 for every £1 invested by the Government. A national scheme to make homes super-energy efficient would result in £8.6 billion in energy savings per year by 2030, an average energy saving of £372 per household. After taking into account loan repayments this would result in £4.95 billion in financial savings per year for Britain’s households.
Today’s research, commissioned by the Energy Bill Revolution, also finds that as well as helping Britain’s households to save hundreds annually from their heating bills, the scheme would pay for itself within the decade. The Treasury would receive £1.27 in tax revenue for every £1 they invested. And as an infrastructure investment it would be classified as delivering ‘high’ value for money.
The scheme would create up to 108,000 new jobs, rescuing the struggling building insulation market, which contracted by 22% in 2013. It would also reduce the UKs reliance on natural gas imports and make the UK less vulnerable to volatile energy markets. The research reveals that the programme would result in a 26% reduction in imports of natural gas in 2030 worth £2.7bn in that year, helping to create a more resilient UK economy.
The programme would also cut carbon emissions from homes by 23.6 million tonnes per year by 2030 – roughly equivalent to cutting the CO2 emissions of the UK’s entire transport fleet by one third.
The Energy Bill Revolution, the world’s largest anti-fuel poverty coalition, is calling for energy efficiency to be made a UK infrastructure investment priority. As part of this programme they are calling for 2 million UK low income households to receive grants to help make them highly energy efficient (Band C on an Energy Performance Certificate) by 2020; all 6 million low income households treated to this standard by 2025 and all other households offered 0% interest loans to help them reach this standard by 2035.
Director of the Energy Bill Revolution, Ed Matthew, said:
“We have one of the most badly insulated housing stocks in Europe and as a result a truly woeful record on winter deaths and fuel poverty. Fixing Britain’s badly-insulated homes won’t just save lives, it will provide a massive economic boost to the UK economy and it pays for itself. There is now an overwhelming case for it to be made a top UK infrastructure investment priority.”
ENDS
Notes to editors: