Two years on and still just over half of homes only meet insulation standards of the 1970s or earlier

• Britain's ageing homes are in urgent need of energy efficiency updates – a new study of 21 million homes finds just over half of English and Welsh homes only meet insulation standards of the 1970s or earlier
• The average ‘Insulation Age’ of homes across the countries is at least 48 years old, according to the study
• Energy efficiency measures offer the biggest opportunity to cut household bills, yet despite the energy crisis, only one fifth (19%) of households have updated their insulation measures in the past two years
• EDF is calling for changes to the Great British Insulation Scheme to help more customers insulate their homes and save cash and carbon.

Britain's ageing housing stock faces an urgent need for energy efficiency upgrades. A new study of over 21 million homes¹, in England and Wales, the latest iteration of research first conducted two years ago, revealed that millions still only meet insulation standards of  1976 or earlier, potentially costing their owners hundreds of pounds in wasted energy².

The study, conducted by EDF in partnership with property data platform Sprift, analysed the current levels of home insulation (including floor, roof, window and wall insulation) against building regulations across different time periods to calculate the nation’s ‘Home Insulation Age’.

Experts analysing 21 million homes found 13,916,843 million properties in England and Wales (55%) only meet the insulation standards of 1976 Building Regulations or earlier. These homes predominantly lose heat through inadequate wall cavity insulation, lack of double glazing, insufficient loft insulation and poor floor insulation; all features that modern regulations specify today.

The study found there has been a small improvement in the nation’s home insulation standards over the past two years, with 18% of properties now having an insulation age of 2002 or younger compared to 8% in 2022. However, most of this improvement comes from newer properties, built since 2022 which are required to meet new regulatory insulation standards.

Despite the overall improvement, the average household is living with insulation standards dating back 48 years, with 41% (6,291,448 homes) living in properties that meet the insulation standards set in 1976.

Whilst prices are coming down, energy bills remain on average 56% higher than they were pre-energy crisis, so improving energy efficiency through insulation measures offers one of the biggest opportunities to cut household bills. Yet, two thirds (61%) of respondents are unaware of the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of their home and nearly a fifth (18%) of homeowners have no knowledge about the various insulation methods available to enhance energy efficiency.

The desire to reduce energy bills is the main driver for almost two thirds (69%) of those that have thought about updating, or have already updated, their home insulation, whilst one third (34%) have improved their home energy efficiency because they feel it is better for the environment.

The average semi-detached homeowner could save up to £235 a year⁴ if they upgraded their cavity-wall insulation, £225⁵ by having a well-insulated loft, or £315⁶ a year if they updated their solid wall insulation. 

The Great British Insulation Scheme and ECO schemes both help eligible customers insulate their homes and bring down their energy bills permanently. EDF is playing a leading role in the Government's Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS), having installed over 50% of measures across all suppliers as part of the scheme.  

Philippe Commaret, Managing Director for Customers at EDF commented: “It’s clear from this research that, despite the energy crisis, little progress has been made in improving the energy efficiency of older 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.”

With three-quarters (74%) of the population stating that they would welcome government support schemes to help improve the energy efficiency of their properties, EDF is seeking to extend the benefits of the GBIS scheme to more households by calling on the Government for improvements, such as:

• Allowing the installation of more than one measure. Currently only one measure per home is allowed. Allowing multiple measures in homes that require them would help customers lower customers energy bills and carbon footprint, as well as reducing the costs of delivering the scheme.
• Including heating control measures e.g. room thermostats, as a secondary measure for all customer groups (currently only delivered within the ‘low income group’). Heating controls are cost effective to install and can bring a big benefit on bill and usage reduction for households. 
• Extending the scheme eligibility to include Council Tax Band E homes in England, which would bring in scope an additional 2.4 million homes – representing an extra 10% of all homes in England. Currently the eligibility criteria is Council Tax Bands A-D. This could open up much needed support to customers, including those on low incomes, struggling with the cost of heating a larger home.

For further information about how EDF is helping insulate British homes, and to see if you’re eligible to apply for ECO4 or The Great British Insulation Scheme, please visit: https://www.edfenergy.com/heating/advice/what-is-insulation-how-does-work

A breakdown of the Home Insulation Ages across England and Wales can be found in an interactive infographic here: 

For more information contact:

EDF Press Office: media@edfenergy.com

Notes to Editors

1. Data:
   • The Sprift Insulation Age looks at many aspects of a property and applies insights to determine an overall score and insulation age for each property. The insulation age bands reflect significant changes in UK building regulations over the past half-century and more.
   • This full data set considers all properties with a valid EPC in England and Wales at 31/01/24, a total of 25,167,420 properties.
   • To note there is no data for 254,472 properties - homes where there no data is where the home age has not been entered into the EPC rating.
2. https://www.heatforce.co.uk/how-reducing-home-energy-consumption-saves-money/#:~:text=Proper%20Insulation%3A%20The%20Key%20to%20Energy%20Efficiency&text=This%20increased%20heat%20loss%20leads,insulation%20will%20maximise%20heat%20retention.
3. Research conducted by OnePoll of 2,000 UK Adults who own their home, rent, or live in social housing between 14th and 19th March 2024
4. https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/cavity-wall-insulation/
5. https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/roof-and-loft-insulation/
6. https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/solid-wall-insulation/