New Home Buyers May Need to Fork Out £20,000 to Make Them More Energy Efficient

Those purchasing brand new homes within the next four years may need to retrofit their new build with low-carbon technology and energy efficiency measures. The changes could cost homeowners over £20,000.

If the government meets its target of building 300,000 new homes a year, the UK on the whole will have to pay up to £20bn more to make the changes to their homes.

The revelation has seen the government has come under fire, with critics saying that bringing in low-carbon standards sooner could have avoided the situation altogether.

It would cost around £4800 more to build houses to higher efficiency standards than are currently in force.

However, analysis of data from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) shows that retrofitting a house with the same technology would cost £26,300 on average.

The chair of the CCC, John Gummer (Lord Deben), has repeatedly warned that at least 1m recently built homes would need to be refurbished to bring them in line with the new standards.

Shadow housing secretary, Thangam Debbonaire, said: “The Tories’ short-term approach to the climate is hitting families and the economy. Their irresponsible decision to scrap the zero carbon homes policy will have wasted £45bn by the time the Tories have scrambled to catch up with Labour’s policy.

“Families will spend years in homes [that] are colder and more expensive to heat. Every year of delay is costing billions of pounds and pumping millions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. The government needs to wake up to the importance of warmer, more efficient and sustainable homes,” she added.

A Friends of the Earth spokesperson said: “Saving money and combating the climate crisis should merrily go hand in hand but the government seems to think otherwise. We would have already been building low-carbon homes if it weren’t for the Conservative government scrapping the standards and capitulating to the lobbying of the profit-hungry high-volume house-builders. Delaying the future homes standards will lead to money being wasted while homes continue to run on planet-wrecking gas heating.”

A government spokesperson said: “We are improving the quality of housing across the country by ensuring new homes adhere to strict energy efficiency standards, which will help us meet our target of net zero emissions by 2050. Retrofitting homes can have a positive impact on both jobs and the climate, which is why we are investing £2bn in the green homes grant scheme. This will help with the costs of energy efficiency upgrades in 600,000 English homes, so households can cut their bills and emissions.”