the government would be better insulating everyones homes

[ivykaty44]

thus reducing the fuel bills year on year and effectively giving everyone ££££ every year than just once

There have been government grants for decades for insulation. They are still available and open to quite a lot of people. Landlords need to take them up on behalf of tenants. @flirtygirl

bit strange that the levels of insulation up take dropped of in 2012 as shown in the link I put up?

kittensinthekitchen id rather have £400 for each and every year than just one year, but understand that for some they'll not get through this winter without it, as this government have stripped everything back for the last 10 years and now knee jerk rather than plan properly

Op do you know how much and how long it would take?

It will be our taxes that pay so I’m interested in what the reality is

A Labour MP was talking about it on R4 the other day but when asked could not answer

It seems a crucial piece of info - how much, how many years and how will it be paid for?

It would be great if the government provided grants for people to insulate their homes. However, it's not a practical solution to the problem that the £400 is supposed to fix- the work to do that will take decades.

www.thegreenage.co.uk/what-can-other-countries-teach-us-about-insulation/

other colder and warmer countries seem to do it so much better

MarshaBradyo

how long will it be before the government change the rules for new builds to make them carbon zero?

Only the government that is in can answer the time frame and money to be spent, as they are in charge

the longer it is delayed the longer it will take to reverse the building that is going up now to fall in line

thats apart from the building that would need changing

this government already stopped/stalled on the insulation front in 2012 so we are 10 years behind already, back in 2012 no-one really cared as gas and electric was cheap, some of the cheapest in Europe but now its not and we are really paying the price

Yea the government should do every thing to solve your problems
The entitled society

Op I really think it’s up to the home owner to insulate their home, it’s not the role of government and the tax payers to do it for them and I say that as a home owner.

helping people with the increased energy prices is a huge positive. I understand there will always be people like you who put their hand out and want more. But the cost to the tax payer of what you are suggesting would be enormous, with huge waiting times, no immediate relief in this period when people need it.

the complexity is huge, from the staff required to manage such a program, through to the staff required to under take it, from assessments through to the actual work, and then issue resolution. And for many people it wouldn’t solve the issue in any way,

yes, we can all always ask for more. Why four hundred, why not four thousand, why not provide a new build house to every family. Why not insulate everyone’s house for free.

becayse it costs money, it costs the tax payer money and the money the tax payer pays, goes on many different things, from paying benefits, Inc this four hundred pounds, through to schools, hospitals and police. The list is endless. We can’t tax everyone uo the wazoo becayse soneone like yourself always wants more for free.

Yea the government should do every thing to solve your problems
The entitled society

its not a your problem, it is also very much a climate change issue. By changing legislation so housing has to be built to a higher standard - as it is in other European countries this would create a solution, how many houses have been built since 2012 that could be passive and not costing the occupants utility bills, or very minimal. As a society that is not an entitled way to live, entitled is when its just about me, this is about looking after everyone and especially the more vulnerable in society

I understand there will always be people like you who put their hand out and want more.

is that really how you see it? I don't need the insulation as its bought and paid for - this isn't about me. This is about long term benefits of having people not having to choose between heating and eating - not just this winter but for many more to come. This is about long term planning instead of knee jerk reaction to a problem

id rather have £400 for each and every year than just one year

@ivykaty44

Eh? Where did this option come from?

kittensinthekitchen by stopping homes leaking energy

And renters? How do we solve the insulation problem?

Do we just sit back whilst people die of the cold? Going “oh well, didn’t try hard enough did you”.

climate change is everyone’s problem, extremes are the new norm. We are ill prepared for them. There will be more migration, more famine. We need to adapt, it’s too late to stop or reverse it. We need to help everyone adapt.

INSULATE BRITAIN

MAKR BRITAIN GREAT AGAIN

I’d have no issue with higher taxes.
IF they are implemented well. The Nordic countries seem to spend theirs very well. It’s about value and returns for it.

i wouldn’t trust this lot not to keep putting up their own wages though.

What about those who still have high heating costs despite insulation?

I received government grants to both replace my 30 plus year old boiler and for solar panels. The boiler I got a partial grant which covered about 50% of the cost of the new boiler but the solar panels were completely covered by the grant. They also offered insulation for the loft but I already had this.
These schemes are already out there but you have to actively look for them and apply.

What about those who still have high heating costs despite insulation?

its about changing homes to be as energy efficient possible

a new boiler can reduce energy bills by £350 each year for example

there are 6 million home without roof insulation that could save £300 per year

solar energy is used for many social housing in my area, this reduces the cost of energy bills as they provide their own electric energy, and can heat the home throughout the day with electric heater powered by the solar

And renters? How do we solve the insulation problem?

Campaign for the measures which should start to come into effect in 2025 to be brought forward? (See my link upthread). Hopefully at least some landlords will start upgrading properties sooner, eg as they fall vacant, else there's going to be a problem if they all have to do it at once.

@Proudboomer. could you point me in the direction of a grant for solar please - Ive been told there aren't any by people in the industry

@standoctor @Begoniasforever any government in the last thirty years could have improved the building regulations to require both new build and retrofit insulation improvements at little or no cost to the government.

There seem to be two parts to this?

Legislation on new build which seems on the face of it a good idea although I don’t have the insight in what it entails

and this part

thats apart from the building that would need changing

which could be say 20 million homes, £30k each and 30 years. I’m just putting figures up - which were from a BBC article but what is the reality?

I hear Labour MPs say do it, and see posts on here but as we will be paying tax to cover it I do think it’s crucial to know what it is and how we’d pay for it

I spend £200/year on space heating, £300 on electricity (cooker and washing machine being the worst offenders), and £300 on non-heating gas (hot water and the hob).

Loft insulation might save me £40/year, and cost a few hundred pounds. Not bad. But I'm still spending £760/year.

Where next? The bathroom (1980s single storey extension) needs insulation all around, then the cost of actually fitting a new bathroom when the existing one is serviceable. Cost? Must be at least £5k. Savings? Given that it is currently unheated save for a towel rail, there's nothing to save, though at least I won't be risking frostbite any more. Would quite possibly cost more to run given that I'd install heating as part of the work. Still paying £760/year then.

Walls? Forget them, asking for trouble with an 1830s house.

Floor. Certainly needs doing, and limecrete would help with keeping the damp issues at bay; but digging up the floor slab, putting crushed glass insultation down, laying UFH pipes, pouring limecrete down, new floor surface and reinstate the kitchen will involve months of disruption and cost something like £20k. All to save around £40/year though at a considerable improvement in comfort, plus an increase in house value (not that increasing the value is of any use when I'm not selling).

After all that though, I'm still spending £700+/year on energy. Insulating my house has done nothing to make my cooker/fridge/washing machine/hot water any cheaper. Now solar panels would achieve that...

Its not a very great article. I like the optimism that temperatures in Norway only go as low as -20 though

One of my family members actually has a Norwegian kit house. it is extremely well insulated, well designed and comfortable. It arrived by the now cancelled ferry service from Norway as a kit. Unfortunately, no-one can get these kit houses any more because the ferry service has been cancelled...they aren't made in the UK and anyway you would need a self build plot to put them up on, which in this country don't come cheap because mass housebuilders buy up most of the building land through the zoning system.

I think we also have to be wary of making older properties uninhabitable because they don't meet standards designed for modern houses. Obviously its far less polluting to keep using a house which is already built than to build an entirely new one to start with, and then older properties aren't really catered for that well in the EPC checklist while they might actually be better than newer properties in some regards, such as having thicker walls or better placed ventilation. Or smaller windows.

Higher taxes in Norway but not in all cases. We were thinking of buying a rental property/holiday home and worked out that we would pay less tax and licensing costs as landlords in Norway than in the UK. Well, when compared to Scotland at least. I believe you also get deductions from your tax bill in Norway for energy efficiency.

Its difficult to plan ahead in this country though because the government keeps changing the goalposts. In Germany, many of the rules on renting have remained much the same for donkey's years. Its common in apartment buildings to have a communal central heating boiler and washing machine and tumble dryer. Thats also not unusual in some other European countries such as Switzerland and The Netherlands. We also have things like giant staircases required by building regulations in the UK, which take up a lot of space and use a lot of resources, whereas in most European countries, staircases can be smaller.

Its difficult for landlords here because the government wants exceptionally high standards (at least in Scotland at any rate) which cost a lot of money and many different annual inspections and licenses, but that leaves less money for landlords to actually carry out improvements.

MarshaBradyo It’s going to be somewhere between £600/700 billion then cost will also increase during that time