How energy efficient are homes in the borough of Rochdale?

Almost two-thirds of Rochdale homes fall below the government's long-term target to make homes energy efficient, new figures from the BBC Shared Data Unit show.

Almost a fifth of all CO2 emissions are generated by domestic properties, mainly due to the dependence on gas for our heating and cooking.

However, the energy efficiency of our homes (how well they are insulated, glazed, or use alternative measures to reduce energy use) also has a major impact on emissions with an average Rochdale house providing 4.01 tonnes of CO2 each year.

The efficiency of a house is measured by an Energy Performance Certificate, which looks at how well a property is insulated, glazed, or uses alternative measures to reduce energy use.

Homes are given a grade between A and G. The closer to A, the more efficient the home, meaning it should have lower energy bills and a smaller carbon footprint. Grade G is the other end of the scale with a grade C being just above average.

In total, 62% of Rochdale homes which were granted an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) currently fall below the target grade of C.

The EPC process looks at several things, including:

• Energy efficiency - looking at the cost it takes to keep a home warm, to provide hot water and lighting
• The current CO2 emissions
• The type (if any) of double glazing
• Whether the home has wall and roof insulation
• The type of fuel used for heating - e.g gas
• Whether renewable energies are in place - e.g. wind turbines, solar panels.

The average estimated cost savings for heating, lighting and water bills if local properties underwent all possible improvements (such as cavity wall insulation) is estimated at around £247 each year.

The government had set a target of making all homes in England and Wales the equivalent of an EPC C grade by 2035, but critics say moves towards achieving that “have fallen off a cliff”.

There is already a legally binding target of upgrading all households in Fuel Poverty by 2030 but campaign groups say the government does not have the arrangements in place to actually meet those targets.

Peter Smith, Director Policy and Research of the charity National Energy Action, which is working to end fuel poverty, said that low income earners were more likely to be living in low energy efficient homes and improvements to those homes could save a ‘life-changing’ amount in fuel costs.

He said: “There is some degree of overlap between low income earners and those living in low energy efficient homes. The government issued a new measurement in 2012 called the low income, high costs which showed a high correlation between fuel poverty and energy efficiency.

“Fuel poverty households living in the least energy efficient homes might be needing to find £2,000 above the average energy cost for the rest of the country.

“If we were to make improvements to their homes, the savings would be considerably more than outlined in your average savings. We are looking at something around £1,500; that’s a life-changing amount.

“Before 2012 we were doing a remarkable job in tackling energy efficiency, it’s only since 2012 that it has fallen off a cliff, it is not beyond the wit of man to get us back on track.

“A lot depends on it becoming a political priority.”

The government has consultated on a new building standard for homes, which it hopes will address some of these issues, but with 90% of the existing housing stock in the UK being built before 1990, there is a growing need for retrofit measures.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “Residential emissions have declined by 14% since 1990, but we need to go much further and faster to improve the energy performance of homes if we are to eliminate the UK’s contribution to climate change completely by 2050.

“That is why we are investing over £6 billion to bring as many houses as possible up to EPC C by 2035 and, from next month, landlords will no longer be allowed to rent out the least energy efficient homes.

“We are also exploring how to halve the cost of retrofitting properties and investing over £320 million into helping heat homes with lower carbon alternatives, such as heat networks and heat pumps.”

Currently no direct taxpayer money is spent on support for energy efficiency measures in England. Financial support for this now falls under the Energy Company Obligation where the energy companies are responsible for installing energy saving measures in homes.

The Energy Company Obligation is a government programme where energy firms fund the installation of energy efficiency measures, based on targets given to them by the government. The scheme is administered by OfGem.