Revealed: the area with “mountain to climb” over EPCs

The north of England has a home energy efficiency mountain to climb, with poorly insulated homes costing tenants at least £680 more this year than they would if properly insulated. 

That’s the finding from The Northern Housing Consortium’s annual Northern Housing Monitor report, which reveals that 3.8m homes across the North fall beneath the key energy efficiency standard of EPC rate C. 

The NHC is calling on the government to use next week’s Autumn Statement to boost investment in existing homes. 

The organisation is urging Jeremy Hunt to commit the balance of energy efficiency investment pledged in the Conservative Manifesto, investing a further £4 billion to create a long-term programme of investment for homes across the North of England that are hit hardest by fuel poverty.

The NHC report indicates a continued need to prioritise retrofitting existing homes with effective insulation measures so that they use less energy: controlling bills for the long term and contributing to the UK’s energy security.  

According to the findings of the report, achieving energy efficiency now presents a critical Northern housing challenge, with the NHC report revealing:

- One in six Northern households were in fuel poverty before the latest energy price rises, with the region home to a third of England’s fuel-poor households;

- Reaching Band C by 2035 requires retrofitting one home every two minutes;

- Going into this winter the average Band D household will pay £680 more for energy, compared to an EPC Band C home, this cost rises to £1,249 for Band E and a staggering £1,765 for Band F.

The report claims fuel poverty is an extensive problem across the North, especially in rural areas. The government’s statutory fuel poverty target for England is to ensure that as many fuel-poor households as reasonably practicable achieve a minimum energy efficiency rating of Band C by 2030, with a D target by 2025.

The statistic of one in six Northern households estimated to be in fuel poverty in 2020 is likely to have increased sharply in the past 12 months, with the Committee for Climate Change suggesting that an additional two to four million households may be pushed into fuel poverty.

The NHC’s chief executive, Tracy Harrison, says: “It’s very clear that energy efficiency is now as much a social challenge as a climate challenge. Whilst the introduction of the Energy Price Guarantee offers some relief and short-term support, it is also expensive for Government and will now be reduced in April. A long-term solution is required, not a temporary sticking plaster – ramping up existing programmes will build on the North’s emerging retrofit success stories, cutting energy use and waste for good.”

Bringing homes in the North up to Band C energy efficiency standard requires retrofitting at least 270,000 homes annually to 2035. 

According to the NHC, achieving the target of decarbonising the North’s homes by 2035 could generate 77,000 direct jobs in the North and 111,000 indirect jobs across the UK.

Harrison adds: “The only way to get to the root of the problem is to tackle it head-on, and our recommendation is that at next week’s Autumn Statement, the Government should accelerate the remaining £4.3 billion of manifesto energy efficiency commitments to create a long-term programme of investment in the North’s homes. 

“The cost of the energy price guarantee this year is estimated at £100bn. So, if firming up a commitment of £4.3 billion towards maximising energy efficiency in homes that need it the most represents less than five per cent of that, it has to make sound economic and environmental sense to do so?”

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