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Energy Efficiency

Answer

There is no official ““recommended standard”” for insulation in existing buildings (only new builds require certain minimum standards for insulation to be met via the Building Regulations, part L). However, general advice is to install all cost-effective insulation measures, which in most cases means cavity wall insulation and loft insulation. Although it is not so cost-effective, double glazing would also normally be considered essential by modern standards (for new dwellings it is required by the Building Regulations) and it is a popular measure. The following table shows the estimated number of installations of cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and double glazing in existing homes in each of the years 2000-05 (note that in addition about 180,000 new homes are built each year and these will also automatically incorporate these measures where relevant).

Insulation measures in existing homes in Great Britain
Households (thousand)
	Cavity wall insulation	Cavity wall insulation (alternative source¹)	Loft insulation	Double glazing
2000	211	149	415	2,002
2001	226	218	440	2,030
2002	201	212	258	1,928
2003	171	213	289	1,765
2004	205	248	303	1,731
2005	240	342	280	1,340
¹ The alternative figures are based on sales data from the Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency (CIGC) and they refer to the UK rather than Great Britain.
Source:
GfK Marketing Services Ltd. Home Audit

At the end of 2004, 16 per cent. of households (about 3.9 million) in Great Britain (and 16 per cent., or about 3.4 million in England) had already installed all the above mentioned measures where appropriate. About 3 million of these properties are in the private sector and 0.9 million in the public/social housing sector. This is equivalent to 16 per cent. of the stock in the private sector and 14 per cent. of the stock in the public/social sector being fully insulated. The detailed figures are shown in the following table (note that the percentages are rounded to whole numbers).

	With full insulation	All households	Percentage
All households (England)	3,389	21,370	16
All households (GB)	3,895	24,825	16
Owner occupied households (GB)	2,948	17,103	17
Private rented households (GB)	93	1,590	6
All private households (GB)	3,041	18,693	16
Local authority households (GB)	351	3,575	10
RSL households (GB)	506	2,556	20
All public/social households (GB)	857	6,131	14
Sources:
1. Domestic Energy Fact File (2006): Owner occupies, local authority, private rented and registered social landlord homes. BRE 2005.
(http://www.projects.bre.co.uk/factfile/)
2. Domestic Energy Fact File (2007): England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. (Still in preparation—publication planned for mid-2007).

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

107025; 454 c582-3W;454 c584-5W

Session

2006-07

Subjects

Housing Energy Insulation

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk