Starmer promises £6bn annually to upgrade homes

This plan would form part of a 'green new deal', which would also aim to create thousands of jobs in the construction industry.

Starmer promises £6bn annually to upgrade homes

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has revealed plans to improve energy efficiency of 19 million UK properties by pledging £6bn a year to upgrade homes.

 

Starmer said that if Labour were to win the next election, it would work to retrofit the UK’s inefficient housing stock in order to prepare the country for net zero.

This plan would form part of a 'green new deal', which would also aim to create thousands of jobs in the construction industry.

As well as this, the Labour Party leader attacked the government’s decision to scrap Labour’s zero carbon housing target for 2016.

This follows Shadow Housing Secretary Lucy Powell's pledge that if in power, Labour would set up a building works agency to drive repairs post-Grenfell.

David Adams, spokesperson for the Green Stamp Duty Incentive, said: “I welcome the proposal from Keir Starmer today for a retrofit programme to tackle the climate crisis.

"Emissions from homes have increased over the past six years, with 29 million homes accounting for 20% of UK carbon emissions.

"To meet our ambitious emissions reduction target by 2035, a holistic and long-term home retrofit programme, which provides a verifiable reduction in housing emissions is needed.

“At EEIG, we strongly back the need for a Green Stamp Duty Land Tax to incentivise homeowners to reduce their carbon emissions.

"A Green Stamp Duty Land Tax will make energy efficient homes cheaper to buy and, crucially, it does not increase energy bills for homeowners.

"Furthermore, it reminds homebuyers considering a lower-performing home, of the improvements that are likely to be necessary during their tenure.

"It is critical that we find and support new solutions that will help tackle one of the greatest challenges of our lifetime, especially ahead of the upcoming COP26.”