Jeremy Corbyn is proposing a move to upgrade almost every home in the UK with energy-saving measures to tackle the climate crisis and bring down household bills.

Labour says work to install loft insulation, double glazing and renewable and low carbon technologies in nearly 27 million homes by 2030 would create 450,000 jobs and cost the government £60 billion.

Promising the largest investment project since the Second World War if Labour wins the December 12 election, the “warm homes for all” pledge is hoped to cut carbon emissions by 10%.

Compensation

Labour expects the project to cost £250 billion in upgrade works – an average of £9,300 per home – but that only £60 billion would come as a cost to central government.

The party says £21 billion would come from loans to regional energy agencies and £169 billion coming out of savings from household energy bills.

The Labour leader said: “If we don’t radically change course we face the threat of a hostile and dying planet. But Labour will turn that threat into an opportunity.

“By investing on a massive scale, we will usher in a green industrial revolution with good, clean jobs that will transform towns, cities and communities that have been held back and neglected for decades.”

Mr Corbyn launched the pledge by visiting a housing association block in Putney, south-west London, where residents have won major repairs and compensation following bad living conditions.

Savings

Mother-of-two Sabiha Aziz, 28, invited the Labour leader into her flat on Sunday, where she told of hazards including water soaking electrics and damp in the building.

Another resident said she was forced to carry her daughter – who has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair – up 18 flights of stairs due to the lift breaking down for weeks on end.

During the visit to Clyde House, Mr Corbyn told the group that upgrades in the pledge were about “empowering” residents in rented accommodation.

Labour expects the initiative would also bring down the energy bills of 9.6 million low income households by £417 per year and eradicate the vast majority of fuel poverty by the mid 2020s.

Low income households would get upgrades funded by grants and keep most of the savings on their bills, with part being used to pay off some of the cost of the work.

Carbon

Wealthier homes would be offered interest free loans with no up-front costs, but would see their bills decline more slowly with the regional agencies repaying the loan with the savings.

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey said: “Warm homes for all is one of the greatest investment projects since we rebuilt Britain’s housing after the Second World War.

“Labour will offer every household in the UK the chance to bring the future into their homes – upgrading the fabric of their homes with insulation and cutting edge heating systems – tackling both climate change and extortionate bills.”

The pledge is the latest from Labour’s “green industrial revolution”, which would also see all new homes built so no additional carbon is added to the atmosphere.

The Conservatives criticised the Labour announcement.

This Author

Emma Bowden is a reporter with PA. Sam Blewett is the PA political correspondent.