Downing Street is considering investing billions of pounds a year to improve the energy efficiency of low-value homes.
Officials in Number 10 and the Treasury are understood to be receptive to recommendations made by some of Britain’s biggest housing bosses, who have called for a “retrofit revolution”.
A report by the Building Back Britain Commission, an independent group which includes Sir Nigel Wilson, chief executive of Legal & General, and David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt Developments, says 2.8m homes across Britain are valued at less than £162,000 and have an energy performance certificate rating below band C.
The cost of retrofitting most homes to make them more energy efficient is exceeded by the benefit in increased home value and energy savings, but in homes valued at less than £162,000 the average £10,000 cost of getting them to a band C is a major disincentive, the report adds.
