As we enter the coldest months of the year once again, millions of people across the UK face a stark reality, cold homes and rising energy bills. According to data from the Department for Energy and Net Zero, over 3 million households in England are currently living in fuel poverty, and nearly 5 million people are spending more than 20% of their income on energy costs.
Cold homes disproportionately affect the most disadvantaged areas of the country, trapping families in a cycle of poverty and poor health. This Labour Government is committed to addressing the cost of living crisis, improving public health, and speeding up our transition to net-zero. In its first 18 months in office, the government has made substantial progress on these fronts. In last week’s Budget, for example, the Chancellor announced the scrapping of energy levies for the Tories’ disastrous ECO-4 scheme, which will save households an average of £150 on their energy bills from next April. However, to achieve lasting change, we must focus on improving the quality of the homes we live in.
The UK’s housing stock is among the least energy-efficient in Europe. Research from Imperial College London shows that our homes lose heat up to three times faster than those elsewhere on the continent. This issue can be traced to various factors, but a major reason is poor insulation. And in the UK, poor insulation is widespread, with more than a quarter of British houses with cavity walls lacking cavity wall insulation.
Poor quality housing in colder temperatures has serious consequences. Cold and damp homes contribute to respiratory illnesses, mental health problems, and, in extreme cases, cold homes kill. It has been estimated that they contributed to 5,000 excess winter deaths among older people in 2022-23. The cost to the NHS of those non-decent housing conditions is estimated at £588 million per year, with the wider societal cost rising to £7.77 billion, according to the Northern Health Science Alliance.
The cost of poor quality housing is colossal. It affects the health and wealth of individuals, the country’s prosperity, and exacerbates existing inequalities. We can no longer consider mitigations like home insulation a luxury; they are an absolute necessity for millions of people.
Effective government action is therefore vital, and, because of the previous Conservative Government’s complete inaction on this issue, it is urgent. It is deeply concerning that under the Tories, energy efficiency installations went down, even as energy bills were skyrocketing. At the same time, between 2020-2024, UK-based energy companies raked in a record £420 billion in profits. In my view, an indefensible record. I am proud that this Labour Government has responded by imposing a windfall tax on oil and gas companies and implementing the Warm Homes Plan, a £13.2 billion commitment designed to improve home energy efficiency.
The benefits of energy-efficient homes are clear. It helps us put money in the pockets of working people by bringing down energy bills, but also allows us to tackle the climate crisis, perhaps the biggest challenge of our age. According to the Northern Health Science Alliance, if all homes had an EPC standard of C or higher, emissions could be reduced by an estimated 97 million tonnes of CO2.
We can find excellent examples of how to support home insulation locally. In my constituency of Shipley, the charity Groundwork runs a fantastic program called “Warm Homes Healthy People,” which installs energy-saving measures and offers advice on reducing bills. Additionally, Saltaire Retrofit Reimagined has worked with homeowners, tenants, and landlords to gather their views on what a successful energy and insulation retrofit should look like in homes that are at the heart of the World Heritage Site. As a result, they have created customised, heritage-sensitive guidelines for upgrading listed homes. These efforts show that with the right support, communities can lead the way in delivering energy efficiency.
National leadership, however, remains key. Home insulation would help us tackle several of the major challenges facing our country today, simultaneously reducing energy bills, alleviating poverty, improving health outcomes, and combating climate change. I believe the choice we face is clear, we must move away from the temporary fixes of the Conservatives and invest in genuine long-term solutions.
We must ditch the temporary fixes of the Conservatives and invest in better home insulation to help cut energy bills
