Fri, 23 Jan 2026

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 Botched insulation scheme was 'doomed to fail', say MPs

Installers should be investigated by the Serious Fraud Office, an influential parliamentary committee has said.

* Over 30,000 homes have been fitted with defective insulation through government schemes since 2022.
* Major defects have been found, posing health and safety risks to thousands of people.
* The Public Accounts Committee has criticized the government's response as "not credible" and called for an investigation into potential fraud by installers.
* Less than 10% of affected homes have been fixed since problems emerged in October 2024.
* The committee chair has suggested that the Serious Fraud Office should investigate the level of non-compliance by insulation installers.
* Trustmark, the organization responsible for overseeing the quality of insulation work, has been criticized for not notifying officials of high levels of faulty external wall insulation until October 2024.
* Government insulation schemes have cost billions of pounds in public money and were meant to make homes warmer and reduce carbon emissions.
* However, poor-quality workmanship has led to problems such as damp, black mould, and dry rot.
* The government says that homes will be fixed at no cost to the consumer, but the committee warns that repairs can cost more than £20,000.
* A case in Luton is projected to cost over £250,000 to repair, and the committee accuses the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero of downplaying the scale of the problem.
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