Insulation of homes unaffordable for many, going much too slowly

The insulation of homes in the Netherlands is currently unaffordable for many people and is going much too slowly. At the current pace, it will take until the year 2100 for all homes to be properly insulated - 50 years too late to meet Climate Agreement targets, political parties GroenLinks, CDA and ChristenUnie said in a manifesto drawn up with a large number of social parties, RTL Nieuws reports.

In the manifesto, the parties called on the next cabinet to quickly establish a National Insulation Program to tackle the 2.7 million homes in the country that are poorly insulated.

According to them, one of the main problems of the current subsidy scheme is that subsidies are only awarded after the work is carried out. This means that people who can't afford the advance costs, cannot insulate their homes. The parties therefore suggested a voucher system that can be used to finance the insulation.

The parties also advocate for the establishment of insulation teams to actively approach and support residents, a systematic approach starting with the homes with the worst insulation, and training sufficient professionals to carry out the work, among other things. According to them, all measures taken together will ensure that homes are insulated three times faster. And this will make it possible to hit the Climate Agreement target of all homes being sustainable by 2050.

Social partners involved in this manifesto include the Dutch Association of Sustainable Energy, Natuur & Milieu, Consumentenbond, Bouwend Nederland, Energie Nederland, Techniek Nederland, and VENIN, the umbrella organization for recognized insulation companies.