How can we provide good housing and protect the planet?

Our verdict at a glance

We need millions more homes to solve the housing crisis. Thankfully, we can build these and make existing homes more efficient and resilient, while also addressing the climate and nature crises. Measures include insulation, clean energy, climate adaptation and making space for nature.

Why we need more and better housing

We’re in a housing crisis. There aren’t enough homes for people who need them, many existing homes are poorly insulated leading to health impacts and costs to the economy, and buying or renting a house is often unaffordable.

In 2024, the average price of a home in England was 7.7 times higher than the average annual earnings of someone working full-time. In 1997, it was only 3.5 times higher. And over half of private renters spend more than 30% of their income on rent, which the government considers unaffordable.

At least 350,000 people are homeless in England alone, and across England and Wales more than 1 million households are overcrowded. What’s more, the UK’s population is expected to grow to over 70 million by 2032. So, we urgently need more housing, although new housing alone is unlikely to improve affordability.

This new housing must be built to high environmental standards. That means using eco-friendly materials as much as possible, locating homes near to services to avoid car dependency and urban sprawl, and making space for nature, like planting trees and fitting swift boxes.

We also need to improve existing housing. Many homes are energy inefficient, which means people are living in cold homes and facing unaffordable energy bills. And most homes are unprepared for the worsening impacts of climate breakdown.

New housing and the environment

Done badly, new housing could exacerbate the climate and nature crises. So, it’s important to get this right.

Sustainable building standards

Building homes takes a lot of energy, particularly if made from brick because brickmaking is an energy-intensive process. Homes should be constructed using more timber, as this not only uses less energy but also locks up the carbon that the trees captured from the atmosphere. Friends of the Earth has called for much more tree planting, including for more UK timber in housing.

New homes should also be required to have solar panels installed when built, which will save homeowners more than £1,000 a year in energy costs. New builds should be heated using electricity, such as with a heat pump, rather than gas-fired boilers. And they should be highly insulated.

New homes should also be required to make space for nature, building on the voluntary commitment made by many house builders. Examples include providing bird boxes and hedgehog highways. And new housing developments must include adequate green space, for both residents and nature, including street trees to help cool areas in increasingly hot summers. 

Where to put new homes

The government has prioritised house building on brownfield sites. But it also plans to repurpose some previously developed green belt land, which it refers to as "grey belt".

As Friends of the Earth and others have said for many years, parts of the green belt are largely devoid of nature because of intensive farming. Much of it’s also not accessible to the urban communities it surrounds. We’ve called for the greening of the green belt, with nature restoration and community access at its core.

However, we don’t think that the green belt is a no-go area for housing, not least because of the scale of house building needed. But because of its important role in preventing urban sprawl and the merging of towns and cities, building there should only be a last resort, not the first choice.

While brownfield sites are rightly the first option, the value to nature of some brownfield sites in denser urban areas also needs recognising. Not all can or should be built on. In some locations, brownfield sites have been taken over by nature and are important wildlife havens in urban areas. They also provide much-valued greenery for residents and help cool surrounding areas during heatwaves.

It's too simplistic to say all brownfield sites should be developed while green belt land must never be touched. Instead, developments need to be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Wherever new homes are built, they need good public transport links and cycle routes, as well as good access to services. Without them, there’s a danger of increased car dependency, which disadvantages those who can’t drive or afford a car.

Existing housing and the environment

Energy and water inefficiency

The UK has some of the coldest and costliest homes to heat in Europe, with more than half classed as energy inefficient. Over 7.2 million homes still need cavity wall insulation, loft insulation or both. Heat-leaking homes waste money, driving up energy bills and pushing many people into fuel poverty.

What’s more, cold, damp homes have significant impacts on people’s health. They’re associated with health issues like heart attacks, respiratory problems, and impaired lung and brain development in children. They’re also linked to mental health conditions and social isolation.

Insulation helps keep our homes warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. It lowers energy bills, creates green jobs and keeps us healthier, saving the NHS money. Wall and loft insulation are good examples, as are draft-proofing and double glazing. 

But these kinds of measures can be expensive. That’s why we need the government to fund a street-by-street insulation programme, prioritising the households most in need. The programme should be free of charge to all households in low-income neighbourhoods and include rented properties.

Most homes are heated with gas, an expensive, planet-wrecking fossil fuel. This means a fifth of the UK’s climate emissions currently come from heating our homes and buildings. You can get government grants to help switch your heating to more sustainable options, but these grants must be bigger.

Last but not least, our homes waste water. This could cost households more than £300 a year over the next 5 years. Simple water-saving measures such as efficient showerheads can help, as can fitting water butts for homes with gardens.

Lack of access to green space

Almost 1 in 5 of us live in areas deprived of green space. This impacts our quality of life and can drive up transport emissions if people are forced to travel further to enjoy nature, play and relax. Solutions include planting more street trees and converting some parking areas into community green spaces.

Preparedness for extreme weather

It’s not just cold homes that are a problem. With extreme temperatures and heatwaves on the rise, our homes also need to be better at keeping us cool. Over the past decade, the number of UK households reporting their homes overheating in summer has soared, quadrupling to 4 in 5. This is particularly dangerous for older people, babies and young children, and people with medical conditions. Also, 6.3 million properties across England are at risk of flooding.

The Climate Change Committee, the government’s official advisor, says the UK isn’t fully prepared for the climate risks facing our cities and communities. It’s recommended that finance should be made available for householders to install proactive adaptation measures that protect against overheating and floods. These could include flood gates and better insulation.

The UK government’s current plan for adapting to climate change is weak and won’t safeguard people, especially those most at risk from climate impacts. So we’re demanding a new and better plan from the government.

How can we make homes more affordable?

How to make housing affordable is a complex issue, but measures include:

• Building more homes. The government has promised to build 1.5 million homes by 2030. Ensuring a large proportion of these are social housing for rent will reduce the pressures driving up rental costs. And ensuring there are many more affordable homes, including ones to buy, will help people get on the housing ladder, as long as these are genuinely affordable and not just a bit cheaper than market prices. But it’s highly unlikely that house building alone will lead to affordable housing because the pent-up demand is so high.
• Using under-utilised homes. Second homes and homes with more bedrooms than needed could potentially be better used. A survey of 2,000 UK homeowners aged over 65 found that more than 2 in 5 say they live in a home that’s “larger than they need”. In theory, this equates to 2.6 million homes in the UK that could be used by larger families and first-time buyers. But of course, not everybody wants to downsize – they may want to pass their home down to family members or be worried about the stress of moving and major changes at that stage in life.
• Ensuring fairer rents. Introducing regulations on the rents landlords can charge would help protect tenants from being ripped off. Fair prices would protect tenants from exorbitant rents while ensuring landlords get a fair return on their investment.