Tory delay on energy efficient housing is set to cost £45bn

22nd February, 2021

The Tories have wasted over £45 billion by delaying the roll-out of low-carbon building standards by almost a decade, according to new analysis Labour put out last month.

In 2015, the Government cancelled Labour’s Zero Carbon Homes standard, which was due to come into force in 2016. The Tories own version, the so-called Future Homes Standard, isn’t set to come into effect before 2025.

My team calculated that retrofitting the 2.1 million homes built over a ‘lost decade’ of inaction will come with a high cost, as retrofitting homes is roughly five times more expensive than building them to a low carbon standard from the start.