In 2050 most common type of British home will be 100 years old

Ashden's Senior Advisor, Dr Anne Wheldon, attended two talks on buildings and energy efficiency, at the Royal Academy of Engineering, as part of the London Design Festival. Anne reports:

"It’s often mentioned that most existing buildings will still be around in 2050, but Peter Bonfield, CEO of the Building Research Establishment put this in a way that I had not heard before.

He said that in 2050 the most common type of home will be 100 years old (from the 1950s) and the second most common type will be 150 years old (late-Victorian).

So it's crucial that we develop really effective ways to improve the energy efficiency of these buildings, and that we get on with doing it now."

Northwards Housing, one of our 2010 UK Award winners, is putting this into practice and has already overhauled 12,500 local authority homes. Find out more about the work of all our UK winners.

pic: 1950s housing in Leacroft, Derbyshire