Sluggish government could take 100 years to insulate homes

Scottish Liberal Democrat communities spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP has today questioned why the Scottish Government’s home insulation and energy efficiency scheme is so limited in ambition, as he revealed that at the present rate, it will take almost 100 years to insulate eligible homes.

In response to a parliamentary question from Mr Rennie, Scottish Government minister Patrick Harvie revealed that Warmer Homes Scotland, the Scottish Government’s fuel poverty scheme, has helped just 36,275 households since it launched eight years ago.

On average 4,482 households were helped in each year of the scheme (excluding partial-year figures). That means if progress continues at the same rate, it will take around 97 years for the scheme to help the 433,000 households who are estimated to be eligible for support during phase 2. 

The Scottish Government’s own estimates suggest that as of October 2022, 860,000 households were in fuel poverty.

Mr Rennie said: 

“Improving home insulation can be a win-win, cutting emissions and bringing down bills but getting your property up to scratch can be complicated and expensive. 

“At the moment, the Scottish Government support scheme is a complete failure. There is little point in having a programme that will take almost 100 years to get the job done. 

“Many of those who this could benefit now, will never see it. What’s even worse is that half the households in fuel poverty aren’t even eligible. 

“Ministers seem content to plod along but climate change will not wait. We need more engineers, more tradespeople and more ambition if we are to achieve our climate goals. The SNP-Green government need to explain why they are so slow to insulate people’s homes.”