Lib Dems take on Labour over energy efficiency

The Liberal Democrats have set out plans to nearly match Labour’s programme to retrofit the UK’s housing stock.

As part of the party’s ‘Plan for a Brighter Future’, announced yesterday (6 November) by party leader Jo Swinson, the Lib Dems have committed to investing £15 billion over the next parliament to upgrade 26 million homes.

The blueprint sets out the party’s goal to upgrade the EPC (energy performance certificate) rating of every house in the UK to Band B by 2030, prioritising all fuel poor homes by 2025.

Liberal Democrats would allocate £3 billion worth of capital spending per annum on home insulation during the next parliament, equating to a total of £15 billion.

This would be used to fully subsidise home upgrades for those in fuel poverty and provide incentives for other households to upgrade their dwellings, leveraging an estimated £4.3 billion extra of private money.

The Lib Dems say the upgrade would save the 50 per cent of household, who are currently living in a Band D rated property, around £550 per annum on their fuel bills.

Labour announced plans last weekend to spend up to £60 billion on a Warm Homes for All programme to upgrade the energy efficiency of “almost all” of the nation’s 27 million homes.

The Liberal Democrat plan also includes proposals to develop tidal power by creating a specific pot of contracts to support the technology.

While tidal power generated just 0.02GW in 2018, it could generate up to 10 per cent of predictable long-term power, the Lib Dems claim.

As part of a wider plan to generate 80 per cent of electricity from renewables source by 2030, the party plans to more than double the amount of both wind and solar power by 2030 to 53GW and 30GW respectively.

Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the climate emergency, said: “The Tories have banned on-shore wind, slashed support for solar power and cancelled the Green Deal. They are persistently hindering and delaying Climate Action delay. That is no better than Climate Change denial.

“The Liberal Democrats are the only party who have a clear, ambitious plan to cut harmful emissions by 2030 and get to net zero by 2045. We would raise efficiency standards of every home and more than double the amount of electricity we generate from renewables.

“Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for a Prime Minister that will deliver a bold green plan to build a brighter future.”