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Did you know that London's residential buildings let out around one third of all of the capital’s greenhouse gas emissions? Well, there’s a good chance that your gaff contributes to a portion of that (shame on you, my flat is powered strictly by hydro-organic-mushroom-bicycle-compost).
Just kidding. While we all know the planet is completely screwed if we don’t sort out our colossal carbon footprint sometime soon, not everyone has the cash to install solar panels or some fancy geothermal solution in their home. But if we continue to emit carbon dioxide at current levels, London’s entire carbon budget will be used up by 2027 – meaning we need to swap from gas to something greener, pronto.
With this in mind, a new housing plan has been proposed by London Councils to get to net zero in every single property by retrofitting all 3,781,477 domestic buildings for improved energy efficiency. That basically means upgrading them to an energy performance rating of EPC B – requiring £98 billion in investment and supporting around 200,000 retrofitting and insulating jobs.
All 33 local authorities have given the housing plan their nod of approval. Obviously, the likelihood of it ever going ahead will all depend on funding – and with such a hefty figure, it would require cash from the government, councils, and private investors. But with an ongoing energy crisis threatening to push heating bills through the roof – not to mention impending climate-induced doom – finding a solution that cuts costs while keeping the planet happy really doesn’t sound too bad at all.
See inside London’s first pod homes for the homeless.
This is the cheapest neighbourhood to rent a room in London.