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Government must maximise public interest in home improvements to green UK housing stock

Now is the moment for UK government to push for retrofit of British homes to make them more energy efficient, argues Patrice Cairns

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Government must maximise public interest in home improvements to green the UK housing stock, says @PatriceCairns from @RICSnews

"Committing to a more sustainable stock of housing provides the government with an opportunity both to kickstart business activity and focus on the green agenda," says@PatriceCairns from @RICSnews

For many people lockdown has meant that their home has become not only their shelter but also a place of work, home schooling, a social and respite space, and it can be assumed that there is undoubtedly a greater appreciation of the intrinsic link between well-being and improved indoor health.

However, the more time we spend at home, the more energy we will typically use.

“Committing to a more sustainable stock of housing provides the government with an opportunity both to kick-start business activity and focus on the green agenda”

The built environment sector contributes significantly to national energy use and carbon emissions, yet progress in the decarbonisation of buildings has been limited and the challenge going forward even greater.

As new housing accounts for only 1% to 2% of total building stock each year, addressing the energy efficiency of the UK’s existing housing stock is a crucial milestone on the path to achieving net zero ambitions.

Given that approximately 15% of the UK’s total emissions comes from heating homes alone, an overhaul to the energy performance of the existing housing stock is required. While decarbonisation of the heat network ultimately remains one of the toughest challenges, an energy-efficient building fabric is needed to be both effective in cost savings and emissions reductions.


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This requires a significant scaling up of retrofitting homes, which not only provides an opportunity to achieve both operational carbon and significant embodied carbon savings through reuse rather than rebuild, but can also improve indoor conditions and support skilled job creation.

The task is formidable, and the UK will need to take immediate action to close the widening gap.

While the UK government’s ambitions in decarbonising housing stock have been stated, the policy route is uncertain. The government must use this unique opportunity to review their existing policies, working with the expertise of industry, and implement a holistic approach to retrofitting. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has published a new paper calling on government to make a step-change in policies for decarbonising existing UK housing.

Retrofitting to decarbonise UK existing housing stock examines the existing policy landscape across retrofitting and provides a blueprint for government to take forward as part of a resilient recovery from COVID-19. The paper highlights how government incentives can promote positive consumer behaviour as well as entice and support more people to consider making their homes energy efficient.

The suite of policy recommendations are encapsulated in a package of regulatory measures, industry standards, fiscal levels and market insight. Recommendations include:

  • A uniform VAT rate of 5% for home improvement and repair to houses to enhance energy efficiency, to be carried out by an accredited installer or contractor with a recognised quality mark.
  • A review of the impact of the Minimum Energy Efficient Standards at point of sale as part of the regulatory ambitions to bring all dwellings to an Energy Performance Certificate rating of C by 2035.
  • Government to support industry in the growth and regulation of the PropTech sector to fully exploit the value of property-based data in aiding greening homes.
  • Government must engage with industry to improve public awareness of standards and professional competency-based advice and training regarding energy efficiency retrofits and wider home improvement works, especially for heritage buildings which are more complex and present a skills gap in the market.
  • Government must create long-term policy and regulatory energy efficiency roadmaps to bring confidence to the financial sector, encouraging mortgage lenders to invest and develop products to support these ambitions.

Committing to a more sustainable stock of housing provides the government with an opportunity both to kick-start business activity and focus on the green agenda.

Although the incentive to encourage retrofitting will carry an initial cost, it will be at least in part offset by the benefits associated with job creation, which will be much needed in the wake of the likely rise in unemployment as the furlough scheme begins to wind down over the summer. It will also provide tangible long-term rewards both for the wider economy and individual households.

Dr Patrice Cairns, policy manager, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

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