Since 1997, carbon dioxide emissions coming from UK households have increased by 5% and at the moment those emissions make up over 27% of the total carbon footprint of the UK. Over a quarter of all carbon emissions are coming from UK houses and this is something the Conservative Party wishes to eradicate by making nearly all homes in the UK much more energy efficient. In doing so, utility bills will be reduced drastically and energy efficient properties will look more attractive when they are put on the market.
The Conservatives intend to carry out this plan, if elected, through energy efficiency retrofitting. This process involves replacing currently inefficient essential items in the house (e.g. boilers) and ensuring that the entire house is fully insulated in the walls and ceilings to prevent any unnecessary heat loss. Despite the obvious rewards of taking these measures, such as lower energy bills, many households are put off by the initial expense of retrofitting even though the money saved on bills would pay off the initial expense within five years. Many people are also put off by the extra hassle involved in going through this process and often landlords cannot see the incentive to update their property even though it would appeal to renters.
All of these problems present a very dissuading argument to retrofit your home, however, the Conservative Party is planning to introduce a scheme which will allow all homes in the UK to be retrofitted for free.
If elected in the 2010 General Election, the Conservatives will grant all households up to £6500 to retrofit their houses with energy saving technologies. By offering to green up over 25 million homes, the initial expense seems huge on the government but it would be paid for over a period of 25 years through the energy bills of each household. After being retrofitted, each property in the UK would instantly start paying much lower utility bills and in doing so could increase the value of their property as well as making it more attractive to potential buyers. Saving energy is an essential step the UK needs to take and through retrofitting and the EPC scheme the Conservative Party is hoping to make some significant changes to our energy consumption.