A new report today (21 February 2019) warns that UK homes are “not fit for purpose” either against the threat of climate change or in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and makes recommendations in line with those in the UK’s first-ever National Infrastructure Assessment.

The study, from the Committee on Climate Change, recommends steps including using low-carbon sources of heating to replace gas while installing measures to protect properties from the risk of flooding; increasing energy efficiency measures and ramping up the use of green finance options to encourage households to take action.

The National Infrastructure Commission also made recommendations for tackling emissions and improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s homes in the National Infrastructure Assessment  – these include setting a target for the rate of installation of energy-efficiency measures in the building stock to reach 21,000 a week by 2020, backed by £3.8bn funding for social housing; setting a national standard of resilience against the risk of flooding, and trialling alternative fuels like hydrogen and heat pumps to make progress towards zero carbon heat.

Today’s report also highlights the need for water companies beyond water-stressed areas to have the ability to introduce metering as a means of reducing demand – something the National Infrastructure Assessment also recommends.

Responding to the study from the Committee on Climate Change, a spokesperson for the National Infrastructure Commission said: “Today’s report highlights the real need for measures to tackle carbon emissions from our homes, whilst making them resilient to climate change.  

“Like the Committee on Climate Change, we’ve been clear of the need to enable water companies beyond water-stressed areas to introduce metering as a way of managing demand and improving resilience. We’ve also made recommendations to improve the energy efficiency of properties and switch to greener fuels, while at the same time mitigating the effects of climate change by managing future flood risks.

“It’s essential that the forthcoming National Infrastructure Strategy addresses these issues, by adopting the recommendations in the National Infrastructure Assessment.”