Warm Homes, Lower Bills: The UK’s Insulation Crisis and the £15 Billion Government Plan

Send us a topic important to you.12 million households across the country are currently struggling with fuel poverty. UK homes are among the least energy efficient in Europe, losing heat up to three times faster than homes elsewhere. This poor housing quality drives up energy debt, which currently totals over £4 billion, and causes severe public health issues, contributing to an estimated 5,000 excess winter deaths among older people in 2022-23. We examine the Government's plan to combat this by committing £15 billion to the Warm Homes Plan, aiming to upgrade 5 million homes. We also discuss the need to fix the consumer protection failures seen in past schemes, like ECO4, where oversight was poor and faulty work was widespread.Key TakeawaysWidespread Fuel Poverty: Approximately 12 million households in the UK are in fuel poverty, with almost 5 million spending over 20% of their income on energy.Inefficient Housing: UK housing stock is highly inefficient; almost a quarter of properties with cavity walls still lack insulation.Health and Financial Costs: Poor housing is linked to a public health emergency, and the cost to the NHS from non-decent conditions is estimated at £588 million per year in the North of England alone. Energy debt across millions of UK households exceeds £4 billion.Government Ambition: The Warm Homes Plan has committed £15 billion to improve home energy efficiency, with a goal to upgrade 5 million homes by the end of the current Parliament.Past Scheme Failures: Previous schemes, like ECO4, suffered from faulty workmanship; up to 98% of external wall insulation under that scheme was reportedly faulty. The government is now offering a free comprehensive on-site audit to households affected by faulty external wall insulation from ECO4 and other related schemes to ensure remediation.Source: Home InsulationVolume 776: debated on Wednesday 26 November 2025Follow and subscribe to 'The Bench Report' on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes daily: thebenchreport.co.ukSubscribe to our Substack Shape our next episode! Get in touch with an issue important to you - Producer Tom will grab another coffee and start the research!Email us: [email protected] us on YouTube,  X, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok! @benchreportUKSupport us for bonus and extended episodes + more.No outside chatter: source material only taken from Hansard and the Parliament UK website.  Contains Parliamentary information repurposed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0....