Making the UK’s homes more energy efficient will reduce energy bills, tackle the scourge of fuel poverty and help address the climate crisis, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), in response to the speech by the Leader of the Liberal Democrats at its party conference.
Sarah McMonagle from the FMB said: “The UK’s housing stock represents a significant contribution to our net carbon emissions and therefore the government must invest in making our homes more energy efficient, as pledged by Jo Swinson in her Leader’s speech today. The buildings in this country are some of the oldest and leakiest in the world and therefore a programme of energy efficient upgrades would be a major step forward in cutting carbon emissions overall. What’s more, the Lib Dem Leader rightly points out that this would boost jobs in the construction sector and reduce the burden of energy bills on the very poorest residents. However, given that 60% of builders already can’t hire bricklayers and more than half can’t get their hands on a carpenter, any retrofit campaign must be underpinned by a robust construction skills strategy.”
