LBC's 'poshest' listener responds to net-zero report urging all homes must be EPC Band C
31 January 2023, 21:34
Tom Swarbrick reacts to 'the poshest message' he's ever received
After a report suggests by 2033 all homes sold must have an EPC rating of C, this LBC listener says improvements to listed buildings won't be "easy".
With the UK's aim to achieve net-zero by 2050, Tom Swarbrick flagged a report for government that suggested mandating that all homes sold have to have an EPC rating of C by 2033.
Tom informed: "In order to sell your home...you will have to have made the necessary changes to get your property's energy efficiency level up to a C first."
After asking LBC listeners their views on the proposal, Tom said: "I think this is the poshest message I've ever received:
"We lived in Kent for 5 years in a Grade II listed Tudor hall house. The electricity bills alone were £6000 per year, we left just before fuel prices went through the roof.
"In my view, to simply exclude such properties because of their listing is fundamentally wrongheaded. If we still lived there the bills just for the same level of use would be circa £12,000.
"One cannot easily improve the insulation within the law, that has to change so that it's reasonable. Otherwise these beautiful properties will go to wrack and ruin. It's even worse in a 13th century chateau."
READ MORE: Get paid to save energy: How to earn money by switching off appliances in National Grid scheme
