Yesterday, the Chancellor made his Summer Statement, with economic measures announced in a range of areas, including a home insulation scheme as part of an up to £5,000 grant to make homes more energy efficient. Dr Arun Advani, Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics, comments that these measures will need to be paid for in the long run, but now is still a good time to look at green policies.

Dr Arun Advani said: “The tough choices still lie ahead. For now, the Chancellor is keeping the taps on to keep the economy going, though some of these measures look expensive relative to their likely effects. But at some point - certainly not yet - there will end up needing to be tax increases, and the choices there will become much harder.

“Now is a fantastic time to do something on green policy as costs of doing it are relatively low while unemployment is high. But the home insulation scheme is too small, and we also know that hassle costs are more important than financial costs for people acting in this area. The one misguided criticism I've seen of it is that landlords get it as well - this is actually a great thing. If it helps any landlords to put in insulation that is good news for the tenants, who currently have no way of making this happen. That will be increasingly important as we hopefully start to increase the cost of carbon to tackle our green goals.”

9 July 2020

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Peter Thorley
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