Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood has called for more financial support to be given to improve the energy efficiency of older housing stock.
The AM for South Wales Central raised the issue during First Minister’s questions in the Senedd this week. Ms Wood’s region, which encompasses Rhondda Cynon Taf, has thousands of older houses, typically terraced, which were constructed for the advent of the coal mining industry of South Wales.
Much of the existing financial support available to improve energy efficiency, such as cavity insulation, is not normally applicable to older housing stock because of its solid walls.
The Welsh Assembly Government unveiled the £30 million Arbed scheme earlier this year which will improve energy efficiency in 6,000 homes by March 2011. Ms Wood is now calling for more grants to be provided for the insulation of older homes.
During plenary, Ms Wood said: “The lack of space between the exterior and interior walls means that, for the majority of these houses, cavity wall insulation is not an option, and so much heat is lost through the walls—some estimates say that up to 50 per cent of heat is lost in this way.”
Leanne later added: “Many homes in the valleys suffer during the winter because of poor insulation, which in turn leads to higher gas and electric bills and higher carbon emissions.
“In addition to the support from the Welsh Assembly Government, the private sector has a role to play in acknowledging that much of our housing stock is not suitable for the existing forms of insulation schemes they currently offer.”
