HL Deb 16 March 1976 vol 369 cc209-10WA
Lord AVEBURY

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the number of homes in Great Britain that remain without:

  1. (a) any loft insulation;
  2. (b) loft insulation to the standards recommended by the Department of Energy;
  3. (c) any hot water tank lagging; and
  4. (d) hot water tank lagging to the standards recommended by the Department of Energy;
and whether these figures could be expressed by regions.

The PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE, DEPARTMENT of ENERGY (Lord Lovell-Davis)

Recent surveys indicate that in December 1975 approximately:

  1. (a) 8 million homes with accessible lofts remain without loft insulation.
  2. (b) Two-thirds of the existing insulation is less than the Department of 210 Energy recommended minimum of 75 mm.
  3. (c) 3.5 million homes with tanks suitable for lagging remain without tank lagging.
  4. (d) Three-quarters of the existing tank lagging is less than the Department of Energy recommended minimum of 75 mm.
It should be noted that there are in addition about 5.5 million homes without a loft or an accessible loft and 2 million homes without hot water tanks or tanks suitable for lagging.

The ownership of loft insulation and tank lagging by region in December 1974 as reported by Audits of Great Britain Ltd. (AGB), is shown below. It should be noted that the low penetration of loft insulation in some regions is likely to reflect large numbers of homes without lofts rather than a reticence to instal insulation.

TABLE I—LOFT INSULATION BY REGION
AGB Survey results December 1974
Thousand homes
Region Insulated Total Per cent.
Scotland 296 out of 1,724 17
North 399 out of 1,105 36
North-West 716 out of 2,322 31
Yorkshire and Humberside 557 out of 1,792 31
Wales 234 out of 919 25
West Midlands 542 out of 1,735 31
East Midlands 434 out of 1,109 39
East Anglia 214 out of 529 40
GLC 628 out of 2,829 22
South-East 1,421 out of 3,350 42
South-West 535 out of 1,468 36

TABLE II—TANK LAGGING BY REGION
AGB Survey results December 1974
Thousand homes
Region Insulated Total Per cent.
Scotland 1,258 out of 1,724 73
North 625 out of 1,105 57
North-West 1,760 out of 2,322 76
Yorkshire and Humberside 1,122 out of 1,792 63
Wales 532 out of 919 58
West Midlands 1,240 out of 1,735 71
East Midlands 799 out of 1,109 72
East Anglia 392 out of 529 74
GLC 1,882 out of 2,829 67
South-East 2,605 out of 3,350 78
South-West 1,020 out of 1,468 69

The total number of homes shown above for each region includes both homes without hot water tanks or lofts and homes not suited to these types of insulation.