Hitting a brick wall

In this briefing note we consider how policy makers could square up to one of the hardest parts of the UK's transition to a net zero economy: insulating the nation's homes. Drawing on a new dataset that contains property-level efficiency information for two-thirds of England's homes, we show that policy makers and the public have ignored the hardest parts of the net zero housing challenge to date: insulating walls. As a result, many assume that improving home efficiency is more straightforward than it is.

But the barriers to action are significant. Upgrading homes does not always make economic sense at least in the short term, and involves considerable disruption too. We conclude the only way to deliver progress commensurate with the scale of the net zero challenge is to get tough, regulating homeowners to make changes in their properties, but dealing with the distributional impacts by supporting households with lower means.

For all research queries about this report, please contact Jonathan Marshall. For press queries, please contact the Resolution Foundation press office.

Jonathan MarshallSenior Economist,Resolution FoundationEmail Jonathan