Trapped Water, Damaged Homes: The Fallout from the UK's Botched Insulation Schemes

In the UK, a calamitous net zero scheme has resulted in damp issues for thousands of homes, prompting a critical review from the National Audit Office (NAO). According to the NAO, a staggering 98% of the 23,000 homes that received external wall insulation under two government initiatives are at risk of developing damp and mould if the problems are not addressed promptly. This situation escalated to the point where the health and safety of hundreds of homeowners were compromised due to substandard insulation work.

During a hearing with the Public Accounts Committee, Jeremy Pocklington, the highest-ranking civil servant at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, acknowledged the severity of the failures, declaring them ”unacceptable”. Pocklington detailed that the schemes were intended to improve home energy efficiency through external insulation, but mistakes arose when moisture was inadvertently trapped behind insulation boards, leading to extensive damage. Additionally, the malfunction was not limited to external installations; around a third of homes treated under the ECO4 scheme and the Great British Insulation Scheme also faced similar issues.

Over three million homes have benefited from various government insulation schemes over the past two decades, costing billions of pounds in public funds. In response to the troubling findings of the NAO, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, characterized the report as the “worst” he’d encountered in 12 years, attributing a level of negligence to the department. Pocklington attributed the failures to poor oversight from Trustmark, the entity tasked with supervising insulation quality, while admitting that the department did not adequately monitor these initiatives.

Independent MP Rupert Lowe labeled the situation as a “systemic failure” of the government, to which Pocklington concurred, noting serious deficiencies throughout the entire operational framework. Simon Ayers, CEO of Trustmark, revealed that concerns over faulty installations were raised as early as late 2022, but communication regarding these issues remained informal and lacked proper documentation.

The pressure of the Covid pandemic and surging energy prices due to the war in Ukraine further complicated the department’s efforts. When pressed by Labour MP Clive Betts about accountability for the homeowners adversely affected by past insulation efforts, Pocklington suggested that the government primarily needed to assure the effective operation of current schemes, hinting at limited responsibility for older installations that had failed homeowners. This situation underscores a critical need for consumer protection and oversight to prevent future disasters.