More than 30,000 households left with defects after ‘catastrophic failure’ of Tory government schemes
Members of parliament have called for the Serious Fraud Office to investigate the UK’s home insulation sector, after thousands of householders suffered ruined homes, big financial losses and months of disruption from the “clear and catastrophic failure” of two Conservative government schemes.
More than 30,000 households were left with defects, some of them severe, including mould, water ingress and damage to the fabric of walls, with about 3,000 dwellings so badly damaged they presented immediate health and safety risks to occupants.
Households that had external cladding installed – numbering about 23,000 – bore the worst of the damage, with 98% damaged and in need of repair, alongside 29% of the homes fitted with internal wall insulation.
The schemes, called Eco4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme, were begun and mostly ran under the last Conservative government. The overarching energy company obligation, of which both schemes were part, has since been scrapped by Labour, and a new initiative – the warm homes plan, announced this week – will take over, funding the installation of solar panels and heat pumps as well as insulation.
