Research from the Institute for Government (IfG) found that the United Kingdom scores worse than countries across Europe in terms of the energy efficiency of its homes.
According to this analysis, the United Kingdom is set to continue facing high energy bills throughout 2023 as the government focuses on short-term financial support rather than long-term improvements to housing infrastructure.
Experts believe that an energy efficiency program is needed to extinguish the nation’s energy crisis, whereby improvements are made to leaky homes and insulation is provided.
Rising gas prices have also had a major impact on UK residents’ energy bills, with over four-fifths of UK homes being heated by gas boilers. Due to their age, most homes in the UK have older and less-efficient electricity and heating systems. 52% of UK homes were built before 1965, while 20% were built before 1919.
“Borrowing huge sums to freeze energy bills only makes sense if we also have a plan to reduce demand,” Tom Sasse, associate director at the IfG said of the UK government’s plan to tackle the energy crisis. “Announcing a national mission to boost energy efficiency – learning from successes abroad – could make a real difference in reducing the pain coming for households and businesses.”