Older homeowners need financial support to boost property EPCs – warning

The Government is being urged to provide financial support to retrofit 12m homes and make them more energy efficient.

It comes as the Government is set to release a Warm Homes Plan this spring, setting out how it will improve the energy efficiency of the UK’s housing stock.

Consultancy brand the Building Research Establishment (BRE) has warned that while progress has been made in the social housing sector, large-scale, targeted action in private sector properties – both rented and owner-occupied – is needed to deliver healthy, low-carbon and low-cost homes.

BRE’s analysis of the latest official data reveals a wide range of households that will require some form of support if the UK is to achieve its net zero goals in the built environment.

This includes wealthier households in the owner occupier sector that might not struggle to pay fuel bills but can still have difficulty in heating their home effectively due to poor insulation or inadequate heating systems and can face health risks, especially where residents are elderly or susceptible to illness.

Progress on retrofitting private rental properties also remains slower than needed, with this tenure having the highest proportion of the very least efficient, energy performance certificate (EPC) F and G banded homes compared to owner-occupied and social housing, BRE said.

BRE is therefore calling for the Government’s full Warm Homes Plan to include targeted offers of retrofit advice to groups such as the over-65s who it said owns more than 40% of owner-occupied homes below EPC C. The Warm Homes Plan should also involve help with accessing financing for households that need it.

Jane Goddard, deputy chief executive of BRE, said:

“We have made encouraging progress to date on retrofitting our existing housing stock, with over half of English homes now meeting the reasonable EPC C standard.

“However, our approach to the remaining energy inefficient homes will require consideration to ensure the Warm Homes Plan can target a much wider group of households with effective support.

“Local authorities will be crucial in this journey and require the necessary data, capacity, funding and powers to deliver energy efficiency improvements to homes most in need. The upcoming English Devolution Bill will hopefully mark a welcome step in this process.”

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