Call for action to insulate 7m historic houses

THE National Trust, Historic England and major property firms have called for a plan to insulate Britain’s historic buildings before next week’s Budget.

The organisations say in a report published today that an extra 105,000 workers, including plumbers, electricians and carpenters – more than double the number currently working on the issue – are needed to make historic buildings more energy efficient.

According to their report, around seven million properties are considered ‘historic’ and they tend to be the least energy-efficient buildings in the country.

Tor Burrows, executive director of sustainability and innovation at Grosvenor, one of the firms behind the report, said: ‘The UK needs a long-term national retrofit strategy, led by the Government, to sensitively decarbonise our historic buildings.’

The organisations claimed this would boost the economy by £35billion and slash Britain’s carbon emissions.

The call echoes one previously made by the Government’s net zero tsar, Chris Skidmore.