Award-winning architect calls for immediate action on insulating Sunderland homes

Mark Siddall, who made a national impact with the North East's first 'net-zero' retrofit house, says urgent action should be taken this winter to improve the energy efficiency of chilly and damp homes in Sunderland.

The Durham-based architect pointed to a recent report which showed the rate of energy improvements across the city and wider North-East collapsed last year.

And he says although the Government has talked about addressing the problem, there are still no firm plans in place to tackle the problem this side of a General Election.

Mark developed Shepherd's Barn in Lanchester into a net-zero property – a building which actually earns money from energy rather than costing it – winning a string of regional and national awards and featuring in television interviews in recognition of his ground-breaking work.

And he says that now, not later, is the time to improve the housing stock of a region which suffers more than most from poor insulation.

“The quicker the Government spends money on effective improvements of the housing stock, the lower the ultimate bill for them will be,” he said.

“The quicker homes’ energy standards improve, the healthier North East people will become and the cheaper their energy bills.”

The analysis, by climate charity Ashden, showed a big drop in Government-backed home warmth upgrades in a region where 169,000 households, or 13.1%, of all homes are officially fuel-poor.

In 2022/23, there were just 324 projects in Sunderland drawing on the Government’s ECO scheme – which funds work to insulate draughty homes and install modern heating systems – compared to 1,029 in 2021/22.

Similar falls were seen across North East England where upgrades per month in the region under the Government’s Sustainable Warmth Scheme have been just 15% of those under the initiative it replaced.

Although the North East leads the UK on homes upgraded through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, less than 2,000 homes have been upgraded through this scheme, a fraction of the region’s fuel-poor homes.

In financial terms, that means households in the North East could be missing out on lifetime energy savings of over £50million.

Mark said: “It’s going to be an interesting year ahead for the debate on improving energy efficiency and retrofitting homes in the North East, especially with this being a year of local as well as national elections.

“But it really should be a no-brainer when it comes to public policy on insulation, it needs to be prioritised.”

One potential positive is the Government announcing last month proposals to spend up to £6billion on energy efficiency measures benefiting up to a million homes but none of the string of schemes is due to start before 2025 and is conditional on the Conservatives winning the next election.

But Mark said: “New measures should be rolled out today rather than being promised sometimes years down the line.

“The region’s insulation and energy issues have been known about for many years, so there is no excuse for not rolling something out straightaway, particularly now in the winter months, when the minds of the public is most concentrated on heat and bills.

“We need to ensure funding goes to support those hardest hit by the financial crisis.

“And what I've learned from monitoring many projects over the years is that we also need a coordinated whole house approach - and that is not currently being delivered.

"Hopefully a new year will bring a new focus on the North East’s housing stock and a push to improve its energy standards in 2024.

“It is long overdue.”

Mark’s message is backed by organisations including Sunderland training provider RE:GEN.

The Doxford Park-based company recently featured in the Ashden report highlighting examples of success in renewables in the North East, in terms of training the young installers of the future.