Corbyn promises to upgrade every UK home with energy-saving measures to tackle climate crisis

Labour vows £250bn investment in housing to cut carbon emissions

Jeremy Corbyn is promising the largest upgrade to UK housing since the Second World War in a bid to cut both carbon emissions and household bills.

The Labour leader wants to oversee a £250bn project named “Warm Homes for All” which would install loft insulation, double glazing and green technology in almost all of the country's 27 million homes by 2030.

He said the investment will create 450,000 jobs across the economy and cut carbon emissions by 10 per cent.

Labour claims that the project will only cost central government £60bn, with most of the funding coming from savings to household energy bills.

“If we don’t radically change course we face the threat of a hostile and dying planet,” said Mr Corbyn.

“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.”

The party says its plans will also reduce energy bills for low income households by an average of £417 a year and virtually eradicate fuel poverty by the 2020s.

Upgrades to low income households will be funded by grants, with savings on their bills being used to pay off some of the costs of the work on their homes.

Meanwhile, wealthier households will be offered interest free loans to improve their homes and lower their energy bills, and landlords will have to ensure their properties are warm and energy efficient.

Labours plans for what it calls the “Green Industrial Revolution” have so far included a promise to renationalise the National Grid and cut the UK’s carbon emissions to net-zero by 2030.

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.”

However the Conservative Party claimed the Labour proposal would actually increase bills.

“Tackling climate change is vital but independent experts and even Labour’s own unions say their promises don’t stack up,” a spokesman said. “The reality is that Jeremy Corbyn’s plans would wreck the economy, putting up bills for hardworking families – and preventing any real progress on climate change.”

Additional reporting by Press Association