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The Existing Homes Alliance | Scotland

campaigning for the transformation of Scotland's existing housing stock

Existing Homes Alliance Stage 1 Evidence – Fuel Poverty Bill

4 December 2018

The Existing Homes Alliance welcomes the Fuel Poverty (Target, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Bill as part of a long-term strategy to eradicate fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency. There is a focus on all four drivers of fuel poverty (energy efficiency, income, energy price and how energy is used in the home) and we particularly welcome the commitment to remove poor energy performance as a driver of fuel poverty.

While the focus on fuel poverty is welcome, we fear that the scope is too narrow and misses a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to tackle energy efficiency as well and end the scandal of Scotland’s cold, damp homes. This Bill should support the achievement of warm, affordable to heat and low carbon homes for everyone in Scotland, so no one is at risk of being in fuel poverty.

We provided both written and oral evidence to the Local Government and Communities Committee and also written evidence on the Financial Memorandum to the Finance and Constitution Committee.

ExHA_stage 1 evidence FPBill_FINAL

EXHA_FM evidence_FPBill_2Nov2018_FINAL

Filed Under: Policy

10 Key Recommendations

1 The Energy Efficient Scotland Programme, the cornerstone of the National Infrastructure Priority for energy efficiency, should have a statutory underpinning, including a target for the vast majority of housing (where technically feasible and appropriate) to reach the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band C by 2030.

2 The introduction of new regulation and planning controls, backed by market incentives, to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes.

3 Scotland-wide area-based schemes to deliver retrofit of existing homes, neighbourhood by neighbourhood, street by street, alongside a national, demand led programme.

4 A range of financial incentives to encourage investment in energy efficiency and micro-generation.

5 New service offerings, products and packages for retrofit.

6 Better information on household energy use and its carbon emissions for consumers.

7 Better energy performance data on existing housing.

8 Reliable quality control and up-skilling on low and zero-carbon technologies.

9 A major programme to catalogue and showcase existing and ongoing exemplar low energy refurbishments.

10 Maximise use of devolved powers and influence UK policy to improve energy efficiency.

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About us

The Existing Homes Alliance Scotland is a coalition calling for urgent action to transform Scotland's existing housing stock and make it fit for the 21st century. Too many of Scotland's homes are in a poor condition meaning unnecessarily high fuel use.

We gratefully acknowledge funding support from the William Grant Foundation.

Recent Updates

  • Alliance welcomes ambitious climate plan but awaits detail on delivery
  • Calls for doubling of funding as latest statistics show a quarter of households still living in fuel poverty
  • Warm homes and the Scottish Budget 2021/22

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Join our campaign to ensure there are no households in Scotland living in a hard-to-heat, draughty home by 2030. We urge the Scottish Government to use the once in a generation opportunity of the Energy Efficient Scotland programme and the Fuel Poverty Bill to transform Scotland’s homes for the better, put an end to fuel poverty and seize the opportunities of a low carbon future.

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