UK homes are among the least energy efficient in Europe. 1 in every £4 we spend on heating is wasted by poor insulation. 780,000 children live with damp. 14% of our carbon emissions come from housing. To achieve net zero, we must retrofit with insulation and low-carbon heating. But it costs too much for most. Those of us who rent have no power to make their landlords do it. As rents and bills skyrocket, more and more people are trapped in unaffordable, unhealthy and unsafe homes.

NEF is building an 18 month campaign to persuade the next government to fund councils to purchase the worst, unsafe private rental homes, insulate and retrofit them, and transfer them into social housing – providing long-term genuinely affordable, green homes. Councils are already able to do this but lack of resources means only a handful have been able to. But where they have, it has been a great success, with more local people now living in clean, affordable homes.