More energy-efficient homes and buildings in London

Did you know that the UK has some of the least well insulated homes in Europe? The energy used to heat and power London’s buildings produces two thirds of our city’s carbon emissions.

London is facing the increasing impacts of climate change, such as more storms, flooding and heatwaves. Without action, these will cause more disruption and damage to homes and businesses.

London needs to reduce the amount of energy and fossil fuels that buildings use. This could be achieved by things like better insulation, heat pumps and solar panels. Not only would this cut emissions, but energy bills as well.

What Londoners told us so far

City Hall’s Planning Team spent a day exploring how London’s buildings could use less energy with 40 Londoners representative of the city’s diversity. The group explored both upgrading existing homes to make them use less energy and setting standards for new buildings.

Here's what they said: 

• ‘It is important for the house to be energy efficient – as that makes it cost effective and more comfortable for us’
• ‘I think if the aim is to increase the number of energy efficient houses, I think logically you would target the least efficient houses first…’ 
• ‘You don’t know what anybody's individual circumstances are, right? …the larger responsibility is going to have to be on the government to fund it’
• ‘You're going to have all these fantastic things that are great, but it would raise the cost of these new buildings. It will make them more expensive’
• ‘It should be based on what is good for the environment and for the housing. The cost shouldn't be an excuse not to do something to a particular standard’

Join the conversation

With this challenge in mind, please share your views on the questions below.

• Installing measures like insulation, heat pumps and solar panels in older homes can be costly. Who should pay for these improvements?
• What are the practical challenges of installing measures like insulation, heat pumps and solar panels in existing homes? 
• What’s most important to you: the external appearance of homes or how much carbon is emitted to heat and power them? How does the balance change for historic areas or buildings?
• Should new buildings be built to the highest environmental standards, even if this makes them cost a bit more to build? Why or why not?