
23rd January 2025
The Government has announced immediate action after checks found widespread cases of poor-quality solid wall insulation installed under inherited ECO4 and GBIS.
CoreLogic, a leading software and solutions provider in the retrofit sector, welcomes this move. Solid wall insulation can offer great benefits to some of our older and colder homes, but it must be done well to avoid damp, mould and damage to the home.
Importantly, the challenges identified will not be resolved in the first instance by standards or training, which have been the first port of call in the past. We support the full review announced by Government.
This requires a unified approach, involving Government Departments, Ofgem, advice providers, TrustMark and industry Accreditation Schemes. We are keen to help drive improvement with support for enhanced consumer protections, standards, processes and smart use of data.
Rob Cartwright, CoreLogic’s Director of Energy Solutions and Services, sets out a key challenge: “This sector is awash with data and standards, but audits are held back by siloed data and inconsistent practices. We need more effective and smarter auditing, which comes at a cost but offers the best value for achieving real change. Expanding standards and training won’t help if there aren’t enough checks to ensure they’re applied in practice and enforcement pathways that set a clear deterrent to malpractice.”
Notes
[1] Government press release, 23 January 2025, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/action-taken-to-protect-households-with-poor-quality-insulation
[2] CoreLogic UK provides data, software and surveying solutions and services to the housing sector, including mortgage surveying, valuation, lending, marketing and retrofit. Our solutions help to streamline operations, enhance productivity, enable smarter decision making, mitigate property-related risk and support delivery of decarbonisation goals.
[3] ecmk is a Government approved Accreditation provider for the Energy and Property Assessment Industry. Qualified Energy Assessors, Retrofit Assessors and Retrofit Coordinators who join our schemes, get access to market leading software, training and support. Ecmk is a subsidiary of CoreLogic UK.