§ Mrs. Chalkerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what he estimates the number and percentage of homes in Great Britain to be that have no loft insulation, loft insulation below the standards recommended by his Department, unlagged hot water tanks, and hot water tanks lagged to a standard below that recommended by the Department of Energy, at the latest available date; and if he will provide similar figures for homes where the head of the household is a person of pensionable age.
§ Dr. John A. CunninghamI have been asked to reply.
Standards set by the current Building Regulations require new buildings to have at least 2 inches or equivalent-50 mm—loft insulation. However, the Department of Energy's "Save It" and energy conservation campaign recommend at least 3 inches—75–80 mm—insulation for both the loft and hot water cylinder. The following table shows the estimated number and percentage of homes in Great Britain, in December 1976, that have no loft and hot water cylinder insulation and those with loft insulation below 2 inches and 3 inches and hot water cylinder insulation below 3 inches. These estimates are provided by Audits of Great Britain Limited and do not include 8 per cent. of homes about which no information is available.
00's % Total homes 19,020 — Homes with accessible lofts 13,963 100 Homes with accessible lofts and and no insulation 6,738 48 Homes with accessible lofts and insulation below 2 inches 1,465 10 Homes with accessible lofts and insulation below 3 inches 3,977 28 Homes eligible for hot water cylinders 6,198 100 Homes with uninsulated hot water cylinders 3,965 24 Homes with hot water cylinders insulated below 3 inches 8,033 49 Analysis of home insulation ownership by persons of pensionable age has not been carried out and is, therefore, not available.