BRE has long argued that we urgently require a clear, long-term plan to transition our homes and buildings away from fossil fuel boilers and on to clean heat, and the announcements made by the Prime Minister could set us back substantially on this ambition.
Nearly a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions come from heating buildings – and tackling this will be crucial to achieving net zero by 2050. Heat pumps are likely to be the technology that will dominate the transition to net zero, but today’s delay to the phase out of gas boilers will discourage the public and industry from supporting this drive over the long-run.
The Government’s U-turn on introducing tighter energy efficiency targets for landlords is similarly concerning. Our recent analysis shows that the privately rented homes represent a quarter of all poor housing in England: excess cold caused by poor heating and low energy efficiency is the number one health and safety hazard in these properties. Failing to address this hazard head-on will have an immediate impact on the health of householders and pressure on our public services.
The Government’s U-turn on introducing tighter energy efficiency targets for landlords is similarly concerning. Our recent analysis shows that the privately rented homes represent a quarter of all poor housing in England: excess cold caused by poor heating and low energy efficiency is the number one health and safety hazard in these properties. Failing to address this hazard head-on will have an immediate impact on the health of householders and pressure on our public services.
We hope that today’s announcements are not a sign that the Government will water down the forthcoming Future Homes Standard as we need ambitious standards for new homes.
BRE has been analysing and reporting on the state of housing, using data from the English Housing Survey for the last 50 years. Our most recent report in 2023, “The Cost of Ignoring Poor Housing” revealed that without urgent action, poor housing will cost the UK over £135.5bn over the next 30 years. BRE also recently produced a report on the urgent need to decarbonise how we heat our buildings.