Monday 12 December 2022

Getting warmth up and bills down

How can the UK insulate its housing stock?

The current energy crisis has highlighted the disaster that is Britain’s poorly insulated housing stock – costing millions of households hundreds of pounds this winter alone. And it is about time, with drastically improving the energy efficiency of our homes the biggest net zero challenge of the 2020s. But progress has been far too slow in recent years, on installing energy efficiency measures, or on answering some of the detailed policy questions this challenge brings with it.

What are the biggest barriers to bringing Britain’s Victorian housing stock into the 21st Century? Do households always have a financial incentive to do the right thing on energy efficiency measures? How should policy makers vary their approach across different tenures? And how can policymakers ensure that any incentives for installing insulation are distributed fairly, and drive change at a sufficient scale and pace to fulfil the UK’s net zero obligations?

The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from new research on the challenges of insulating the UK’s housing stock and our proposed policy solutions, we will hear from leading experts – including the Chair of the Government’s Net Zero Review Chris Skidmore MP – on the feasibility of putting these policies into practice.

The event will be open for people to physically attend, alongside being broadcast via YouTube and the Resolution Foundation website. Viewers will be able to submit questions to the panel before and during the event via Slido.