First word

The dismal economic climate and the coalition government’s severe austerity measures make this a particularly challenging time for housing. Proposed changes to housing benefit are causing a great deal of concern among my constituents in Brighton, with charities warning that we face a homelessness epidemic.

Add to that the 60 per cent budget cut for new social housing unveiled by chancellor George Osborne in last year’s comprehensive spending review, and I’d say the future is very uncertain indeed for those seeking affordable accommodation. Furthermore, when it comes to improving the quality and sustainability of our homes, the coalition’s efforts have so far fallen way short of what you might expect from a government calling itself the ‘greenest ever’.

One of my top priorities as an MP is to get a stronger commitment from ministers to urgently improve the energy efficiency of the buildings we live in. Through retrofitting and insulating properties, we can help reduce energy bills and ensure warmer homes, as well as cut our climate emissions.

Sadly, the measures within the government’s Energy Act, which became law last month and introduces a ‘green deal’ designed to help deliver these home improvements, are simply not strong enough.

This is a shame, because I believe the legislation - which I worked closely on as a member of the energy bill committee - has the potential to transform the efficiency of our homes, improve energy security and set us on the right track towards a low carbon economy. But as it stands, it looks highly unlikely to deliver the ‘game changing’ improvement to cutting carbon emissions from homes that ministers have promised.

At the heart of the issue is the urgent need to reduce fuel poverty. The numbers are staggering: in my constituency alone, it affects 5,000 households. In England, around 20 per cent of the 3.4 million private tenants are trapped in fuel poverty; 42 per cent of tenants in the worst-insulated properties can’t afford to heat their homes properly.

So, ensuring strong provisions for minimum energy-efficiency standards in the private rented sector were included in the act was a central concern. On the committee, I called on ministers to bring forward the dates for compliance with minimum efficiency standards by the private rented sector to 2016 from 2020 at the very least, as well as set out an ambitious timetable for further improvements. While the government’s eventual decision to bring this deadline forward to 2018 was a welcome improvement - indeed, it was the only significant amendment to the act - it doesn’t go far enough.

The big challenge now is to secure greater financial support to supplement the energy company obligation to provide funding for energy-efficiency measures. This could be channelled either through direct public funding, through a properly capitalised green investment bank with actual borrowing powers, or from the UK’s receipts from the EU emissions trading system auctions.

Only if the scheme is properly resourced can it stand any chance of being a success, so I will continue to push in parliament for those funding streams to be opened up. If the green deal is to deliver the major improvements our housing needs - for the social benefit of tenants and the environmental benefit of reduced housing emissions - the government must be willing to put its money where its mouth is.

Caroline Lucas is lead of the Green Party and MP for Brighton Pavilion