More than half of UK homes only meet the insulation standards of the 1970s or earlier

More than half of UK homes still only meet the insulation standards of the 1970s or earlier, according to new research from EDF and the property data platform Sprift.

The study compared the insulation fitted in more than 25 million houses on the Sprift platform with historical building regulations to calculate the “insulation age” of each property and found the average for British homes is more than 48 years old.

More than 13.9 million houses (55%) only met the insulation requirements of the 1976 Building Regulations or earlier standards. EDF said these properties lack features required by more modern regulations such as sufficient floor and loft insulation, wall cavity insultation and double glazing.

The study is a rerun of similar research conducted two years ago. It found there has been a small improvement in insulation levels in the intervening period, with 18% of properties now meeting building standards from 2002 and onwards, compared to a figure of just 8% in 2022. However, most of this improvement came from new properties built within the last two years.

EDF also commissioned polling of 2,000 homeowners to support the study. Among those who had not upgraded their insulation, nearly a third (32%) said they were deterred by cost, 17% said they would prefer to spend their money on other things and 14% said they were unsure about what measures they needed. Of those who had made improvements since 2020, more than three quarters (76%) attributed their actions to the volatility of energy prices over the last three years and concerns over future price spikes.

Of those surveyed, 61% said they were unaware of the Energy Performance Certificate rating of their home and nearly one in five (18%) said they had no knowledge about the various insulation methods available.

Philippe Commaret, managing director for customers at EDF, said: “It’s clear from this research that, despite the energy crisis, little progress has been made in improving the energy efficiency of older British homes in the past two years, meaning millions of homeowners are missing out on significant savings on their energy bills.

“Our ongoing efforts to support and improve crucial initiatives such as the Great British Insulation Scheme will help empower customers to embrace energy efficiency so they can save both cash and carbon.”

EDF has urged the government to extend the Great British Insulation Scheme by allowing the installation of more than one measure in each home and allowing all households to install heating controls, not just those classified as having a low income.

It said eligibility should also be extended to homes in England in council tax band E – bringing another 2.4 million properties in scope. Eligibility is currently limited to homes in bands A to D.