when was cavity wall insulation made compulsory??

[archer_66]

hi i have been trying to find out when exactly cavity wall insulation was made compulsory. i know it was in the 90's but other thant that i cant find out the date?? ive been told recently our house which was finished being built in 1991 has no cavity wall insulation.... ive been here 19 years and have struggled to put a fortune each week in the house for heating during the colder months.

i have got in touch with the housing association to confirm or deny it in writing, as in one of the meetings apparently the surveyor said we had NO cavity wall insulation... if this is true i am thinking of getting legal advise to get compensation off the housing association.

can anyone shed any light on this?? not sure where else to look for answers??

[kennythecelt]

Hello there

 

I have a background in housing.

 

Cavity wall insulation has never been compulsory.

 

The housing association will have been required to build the house to the relevant building regulations in 1991. BR includes standards of insulation. The Housing Corporation would have insisted that insulation was at least to those standards before releasing funding to build.

 

Houses built today will be to different Building Regulations and a higher standard of insulation.

 

Many of the utilities give access to CERT funding for insulation measures, and it is available to individuals, Councils and HA's to reduce the costs of insulation upgrades. Perhaps suggest that to them as it reduces their costs of an insulation upgrade.

 

I'm afraid compensation is very unlikely unless the house or rooms are unfit for habitation, which does not seem to be the case. A better route is to ask the HA what plans they have to insulate the house and that you and other residents have difficulty with heating bills. They probably have plans to meet set insulation standards. Equally important is the type of heating in your home. What type is it and how efficient is it?? Perhaps the HA can give advice.

 

You should check that you are getting the cheapest possible power deal- you can check on price comparison sites. Check it carefully.

 

If you are on certain benefits or over 60, check with your power supplier about a social tariff. This is reduced bills for certain folk and can be 20% cheaper.

 

Please let us know how you get on.

[buzby]

As Kenny notes - the houses would be built to the relevant standard prevailing at the time of construction. CWI would be an optional home improvement that you could add at your expense, using either solidifying foam, blown fibre or blown polyform beads (you pay yout money and take your choice). The HA is not required to provide it, so it will be impossible to force them to compensate you. The good news is Energy Companies get grants to provide their customers with efficient insurlation, both loft/attic and cavity wall. It can cost as little as £80 to have it done (grant assisted).

[kennythecelt]

As Kenny notes - the houses would be built to the relevant standard prevailing at the time of construction. CWI would be an optional home improvement that you could add at your expense, using either solidifying foam, blown fibre or blown polyform beads (you pay yout money and take your choice). The HA is not required to provide it, so it will be impossible to force them to compensate you. The good news is Energy Companies get grants to provide their customers with efficient insurlation, both loft/attic and cavity wall. It can cost as little as £80 to have it done (grant assisted).

 

Buzby added value to my post- thanks Buzby, glad to see you again!.

 

You as a tenant of a Housing Association property would not have to pay anything.

[dragonkeeper]

Hi all

The Housing Association would need to agree to the alteration of their property.

Then work out who pays for work done.

The grant could possibly for home owners only.

Housing Associations may fall into different catagory.

It would depend on Energy suppliers who fund that scheme.

In the early 1990's Councils opted out off government funded Home Energy Efficient Scheme (HEES) that was and still is for most of UK administered by Energy Action Grants Agency (EAGA).

Mid - Late 1990's DEFRA changed policy to home owners only.

 

(Draughtproofing, loft insulation, blown glass fibre cavitywall insulation and sound proofing was one many strings to bow.)

 

( I apologise if post seems dis-jointed. It looks odd cannot put finger on)

 

 

 

 

dk

Edited August 11, 2010 by dragonkeeper
no edit

[kennythecelt]

Here is some info on CERT and Housing Associations.

 

http://www.housing.org.uk/default.aspx?tabid=997#CERT%20funding

 

CERT Funding

 

What is CERT?

What measures can CERT fund?

Who can CERT funding help?

Innovative projects

How can housing associations access CERT funds?

 

What is CERT?

 

The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) - came into force on the 1 April 2008 and will run until 2011. The programme sets an obligation on energy suppliers, with 50,000 or more domestic customers to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, by promoting energy efficiency and micro renewables to domestic energy users.

 

The Government has set a CERT target of 154 million tonnes (lifetime) of CO2 – this target is divided between the obligated suppliers according to the number of domestic customers they supply electricity and gas to. The Government estimates the new obligation will stimulate around £2.8 billion investment by energy suppliers in carbon reduction measures.

 

In September 2008 the Government announced plans to legislate to require energy companies and generators to provide an additional £910 million towards the National Home Energy Saving Programme – it is expected that £560 million of this additional funding will be added to the existing CERT scheme – this equates to a 20% increase in the CERT target placed on obligated suppliers.

 

CERT replaces the old Energy Efficiency Commitment 2005-2008 (EEC2) programme which ended 31 March 2008 – The CERT target is equivalent to double the old EEC2 target.

 

CERT is a carbon dioxide target rather than an energy target – this allows for suppliers to promote a wider range of initiatives.

 

What Measures Can CERT Fund?

 

Under CERT, measures can be provided to any domestic household in Great Britain that is heated by gas, electricity, coal, oil or LPG. Eligible measures include:

Wall cavity and loft insulation

Lighting

Heating (excluding standard boiler replacements)

Appliances

Innovative measures including micro-generation, biomass community heating etc

Ofgem have found that the majority of cardon reduction savings under the CERT scheme, since it began in April, have come from insulation and lighting measures. Heating schemes account for a very small proportion of the savings achieved so far.

 

Who can CERT funding help?

 

Energy suppliers have a Priority Group obligation to meet under CERT – this equates to 40% of the individual suppliers overall contribution. The Priority Group includes those aged 70 and over and low income households (those in receipt of relevant benefits / tax credits)

 

Suppliers have some flexibility on how they reach their 40% Priority Group obligation and overall target. For example, they can direct activity at those in the priority group most likely to be in hard to treat homes – by promoting ground source heat pumps and solid wall insultation they can achieve up to 5% of their overall CERT obligation via this route and receive an uplift on the savings made.

 

Innovative Projects

 

Under CERT innovative actions can count towards 6% of the suppliers obligation or 8% were at least 2% micro-generation is delivered. Innovative actions include:

 

Those which aim to transform the market: those items not already covered by the programme with an aim of getting these approaches mainstreatmed - an uplift of 50 per cent additional energy savings is available to obligated suppliers on market transformation actions which include micro-generation

 

Demonstration projects: a proportion of suppliers obligation can be met through carrying out demonstration projects, to trial new types of measures or to assess customer reactions to information or measures

 

How can housing associations access CERT funds?

 

CERT obligated suppliers can work with Social Housing Providers to deliver energy efficiency measures to households within the social housing sector. For the purpose of CERT the term “social housing providers (SHP)” refers to borough councils, city councils, housing associations and registered social landlords.

Read the National Housing Federation's Get Grant Funding leaflet about CERT funding for housing associations (PDF document, 578KB, opens in new window)

The obligated suppliers provide the funding for the installation or distribution of measures. Obligated suppliers are not limited to offering measures to their own consumers - they can partner with other organisations for the distribution of measures or to encourage the uptake of measures. Ofgem must approve schemes where a CERT obligated supplier partners with a SHP.

 

To obtain funds under CERT housing providers should contact an obligated supplier. At present these are:

British Gas

EDF Energy

Npower

Powergen

Scottish and Southern Energy

Scottish Power

More information about CERT

 

http://www.housing.org.uk/default.aspx?tabid=997#CERT%20funding

 

CERT contact details for the above energy suppliers (Ofgem website, external link)

 

Information for housing providers involved in CERT projects (Ofgem website, external link)

 

Ofgem CERT Update August 2008 (Ofgem website, external link)