HANS LETTER TO THE LOUGHBOROUGH ECHO

As we move in to Autumn and Winter many families and students living in Loughborough will be dreading  the increasing costs of heating their homes. So many people in Loughborough are living in cold, leaky  homes and thousands are just existing on declining real levels of wages or in temporary or insecure work.
The Green Party believes that “Every home should be properly insulated and free from damp and mould. We’d give renters the legal right to demand this from their landlords. No more battling to get things done and no more risk that you’ll get kicked out for insisting your home meets basic standards. 
Though the Government has claimed to be helping with energy costs, their £150 Warm Home Discount requires an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) which costs around £100 to obtain (it is estimated that only 64% of buildings have these and many of these are quite old). From the 2021 census I estimate that 863 properties out of 6056 that made up the old Hastings and Lemyngton wards (now “East Loughborough”) that about 863 out of 6056 would benefit from qualifying for Government grants but 
would be disincentivised by the requirement to obtain expensive EPCs and probably are not aware of the system.
The Green Party, at our recent Conference, recently pledged the Fairer, Greener Homes guarantee providing investment of £145 billion over ten years to retro-fit all homes that need it, along with government-backed property-finance to make up additional costs. This would give everyone 
including those living in private, rental sector the same rights as those enjoyed by home owners and social tenants. 
I believe this would benefit so many people living in Loughborough who must currently be worried sick about how to pay for keeping warm and well. Fuel poverty is now deep and embedded. Energy costs are likely to carry on rising. Only a Fair, Green Homes guarantee will begin to tackle the extent of the problem and, through improved insulation to every home, make a real contribution to reducing waste and meeting our climate obligations for future generations.
Hans Zollinger
Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Green Party
Loughborough constituency