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It will not be cheap – but, as is being discussed on the HS2 thread, what if we spent that bazillion pounds on insulating existing properties, building super efficient new ones, covering every roof with solar, changing some conservation area rules, making progress with tidal and wave power etc.
I think there's a balance. I agree on some aspects, get rid of the planning rules that stop people retrofitting energy efficient insulation and heating systems, oh and adding solar to the roof. But there is an environmental cost to demolishing old buildings and rebuilding them in the extraction and processing of building material. Bricks and cement have an enormous carbon cost vs. domestic heating using gas and/or electricity. Timber frames are great, but then the amount of wood required would have it's own environmental cost.
If I could fit a modern, super insulated UPVC doors and triple glazed windows, add solar to the roof and electric hot water run off the solar, my gas consumption for heating would be miniscule. But since I'm not allowed to do the former, the latter is pointless.
This is timely I think.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/free-cavity-loft-insulation
If you're in council tax band A-D (A-E in Scotland/Wales) and your EPC rating is D or worse, you get free stuff like loft insulation. There's a checker for both on gov.uk, stick your postcode in and it'll give you all the ratings for you and your neighbours. (Various benefits remove the council tax banding requirement.)
At what point do we priorities conservation of older properties over energy consumption / use?
A neighbouring house is The Old Something-or-other, it has a round plaque on the wall from the local 'conservation area' stating that it dates back to "at least" the 1600s. But aside from the residents, would anyone really care if the block was knocked down? It's just a row of terraces in a mundane town in the North-West, it's hardly a tourist attraction.
If I could fit a modern, super insulated UPVC doors and triple glazed windows,
I find it strange (but not wholly unsurprising) that you can't change it internally. It's a house, not a stately home. No-one walking past is going to even notice let alone care if you were to fit double glazing behind the existing period windows.
If you’re in council tax band A-D (A-E in Scotland/Wales) and your EPC rating is D or worse, you get free stuff like loft insulation
If you have NO insulation.
If like us you have 25 year old dust instead of cavity foam insulation, they you 'have' it and don't qualify (and need to spend £7k 'removing' said dusty remnants).
If like us you have (had) 5omm of collapsed loft insulation from 25 years ago then you already 'have' it and don't qualify.
These schemes are right to focus on those who have NOTHING energy saving at all and lowest income - but we also need to look at the 'hard to treat' houses and get some support for that going...
Local Income tax: At least that is linked to ability to pay & can be as progressive as you like.
It's almost always going to end up regressive though on a larger scale.
e.g. Reading is statistically poorer than Wokingham next door. So in order to have the same services would need to pay much higher tax rates. Or the more likely outcome is that poor towns spiral into a decline while rich towns benefit from the opposite getting new schools, libraries, sports facilities etc whilst their middle class residents pay lower tax rates.
Addressing inequalities is better done over much larger populations.
I find it strange (but not wholly unsurprising) that you can’t change it internally. It’s a house, not a stately home. No-one walking past is going to even notice let alone care if you were to fit double glazing behind the existing period windows.
You can, I used to live in a Grade 1 listed house complete with 20ft ceilings. The (enormous) sash windows all had secondary sash windows behind them.