Keir Starmer has pledged £60bn to improve the energy efficiency of 19 million homes in the UK.
At Labour‘s annual party conference in Brighton, Starmer said that, if his party were to win the next general election, they would commit a minimum of £6bn a year on retrofitting existing housing stock to help meet the UK’s net-zero commitment.
The Labour leader said the ‘green new deal’ would help to ensure every home is warm, well-insulated, and cheaper to heat; with the programme saving households over £400 per year on energy bills, according to the party.
The programme would involving providing grants to low-income households, while those able to afford the cost of improvements would receive low-interest loans.
The scheme would also create thousands of jobs in construction, according to Starmer.
He said: “If we’re serious about climate change we need to upgrade our homes.
“The Tories inherited plans from Labour to make every new home zero carbon.
“They scrapped them, and now we have a crisis in energy prices.”
Labour added that the proposed plan would also provide security for working families by making “households less vulnerable to surges in energy prices”.
The sitting government has pledged to spend £9bn on energy efficiency measures for UK households before the end of this parliament.
In his speech, Starmer also pledged to introduce a ‘Clean Air Act’.
Image: ComposedPix/Shutterstock
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