The National Home Improvement Council (NHIC) President Rt Hon Baroness Maddock is hosting a Healthy Homes debate in Parliament. Entitled healthy Homes and the Role of Refurbishment, the debate will look at what needs to be done to raise awareness and standards to ensure UK homes are healthy, safe and efficient.
Taking place at the House of Lords on Tuesday 22 nd October 2019, the event is chaired by NHIC Chairman and LABC Chief Executive Paul Everall CBE. Following a keynote speech by Jim Shannon MP, APPG Healthy Homes Chair, speakers will include Simon Storer, Chief Executive at IMA, Lorna Stimpson, LABC Deputy Chief Executive, alongside Lords Rt Hon Andrew Stunell, and Rt Hon John Shipley and Cllr Jason Zadrozny, leader of Ashfield District Council.
Commenting on the debate, Anna Scothern, NHIC Chief Executive said: “We are so pleased to be able to host this debate in Parliament. Through our membership, we represent almost 50,000 home improvement professionals and businesses across the UK and know that individuals and families living in well maintained, safe and efficient homes are physically and mentally healthier. This debate has underlined that fact continues the important work of getting the refurbishment of our nation’s homes onto the political agenda.”
Simon Storer, Chief Executive at Insulation Manufacturers Association said “Everyone has a right to live in a healthy home with better insulation, better ventilation, windows and doors, and more efficient heating systems. And yet, to date, nobody in government has provided a financial model alongside regulation and legislation that is attractive enough and robust enough to enable owners, occupiers, landlords, housing associations and local authorities to invest the sums of money necessary to bring the nation’s housing stock up to the standard that is needed. But there a moral and social imperative to do so and I commend the NHIC for hosting this Parliamentary Debate and raising the issue”.
Lorna Stimpson, Chief Executive of LABC, commented, “I congratulate NHIC for focussing on the healthy homes issue. The cost and technical challenges of improving existing homes will be considerable and there are real dangers that work can be wrongly designed and badly built creating dangers to health and well-being. Sadly research shows that, even with the best intentions and best efforts, he performance of improvements actually fall far short of those promised. Climate changes and social needs can’t wait. We have to deliver. So I believe this means improving the regulatory framework and raising standards – not dumbing standards down.”
The NHIC advocates home modernisation in line with energy efficiency and carbon reduction targets, and plays a major role in raising the standard and quality of the home improvement industry.
For more information about the National Home Improvement Council please visit
www.nhic.org.uk