The failure to insulate British homes is costing thousands of lives every year, the report says
The government’s failure to insulate Britain’s cold and leaky homes is costing thousands of lives every year, according to a new analysis.
Greenpeace’s report shows that an average of 58 people have died every day in winter due to cold homes since David Cameron’s Conservative government decided to “cut green litter” in 2013 – drastically cutting back on support for home insulation .
Paul Morozzo, fuel poverty campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “Thousands of people are literally freezing to death in their own homes during the winter. And not only have successive governments failed to prevent this unnecessary and shocking loss of life, but they have fueled this silent public health crisis by cutting insulation funding and failing to come up with a proper plan to address our cold, damp, modernize draughty houses.”
Morozzo said tackling cold and damp homes would not only save lives but also cut bills, tackle fuel poverty and the cost of living and reduce carbon emissions.
The Labor Party had pledged to invest the £6 billion a year that experts including Greenpeace say is needed to tackle Britain’s housing stock. But it recently cut its spending plans for insulating homes by more than 70%.
To mark the launch of the report, Greenpeace activists turned a royal park outside the Houses of Parliament in London into a mock cemetery on Wednesday morning, erecting hundreds of gravestones made from insulation boards.
Activists pointed out that Britain has some of the least energy efficient homes in Western Europe. Government figures released last month show that this is the case 3.17 million households live in fuel poverty in the United Kingdom. Poorly insulated homes are also estimated to contribute to poor health costs the NHS more than £850 million a year in England.
Housing is immediate responsible for approximately 14% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions, partly driven by the high proportion of uninsulated or poorly insulated homes in the country.
Stuart Bretherton of Fuel Poverty Action said: “The next government must set its ambitions high in delivering safe, non-toxic, non-flammable insulation suitable for our homes, installed by properly trained workers.
“Repairing and modernizing the UK’s housing stock could prevent further loss of life, create thousands of skilled jobs and massively reduce energy waste for households, cutting emissions and our bills.”