Fair decarbonisation of housing in the UK: a sufficiency approach

Ian Gough, Stefan Horn, Charlotte Rogers and Rebecca Tunstall

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This paper addresses a neglected aspect of the UK housing crisis: how to rapidly but fairly decarbonise the housing stock to meet tough net zero targets while meeting housing needs of the entire population. To do so the authors adopt a radical approach based on sufficiency. The sufficiency approach is based on determining both a housing floor – a decent minimum standard for all – and a housing ceiling - above which lies unsustainable excess. The authors define these thresholds in terms of bedrooms and floorspace and analyse the distribution of housing in England. They find that excess housing is widespread, concentrated in home ownership, particularly outright ownership, and characterised by above average emissions per square metre. They conclude that current policies based solely on energy efficiency and increasing housing supply cannot achieve agreed decarbonisation goals while securing decent accommodation for those who are housing deprived. To do this will require new policies that distinguish between sufficient and excess housing and more effective use of the housing stock to meet housing needs within planetary boundaries.

Keywords: sufficiency; fair decarbonisation; minima-floors; maximaceilings; excess housing; housing distribution; sufficiency policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: R21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 70 pages
Date: 2024-03-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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