Insulating homes is high on the political agenda and appears in most election manifestos. The parties are not only interested in saving energy for the climate.
The main purpose, as read in the programs, is for citizens to spend their money on food instead of energy companies.
Pieter Omtzigt’s New Social Contract (NSC) believes that people in rented homes with poor insulation should receive a reduction in rent. GroenLinks-PvdA and VVD may also participate in this.
VVD is of the opinion that people living in a rented house with poor insulation should report this to the municipality. In this case, landlords may need to reduce the rent until insulation measures are taken.
Discount on materials
GroenLinks-PvdA wants an insulation blitz for all homes, with priority given to low- and middle-income ones. Anyone who wants to insulate their home should benefit from a financial discount.
The Christian Union wants 200 million euros for the national isolation program. D66 and Volt talk about a national isolation attack and a national isolation plan with various subsidy options.
CDA actually believes that a district-by-district, community approach is more effective and prioritizes vulnerable neighborhoods. PvdD wants to increase subsidies for green insulation. Bij1 wants to ban all poorly insulated rental properties from the rental market by 2030.
Additional money for “repair brigades”
More detailed information will emerge when election programs are calculated by the Central Planning Office and the Dutch Environmental Impact Agency. ChristenUnie, D66 and GL-PvdA provide additional funds for the deployment of “repair teams” that install small energy-saving measures in your home.
VVD, D66 and Volt require at least the D energy label in the rental sector from 2030. The Christian Union is tightening the C and GroenLinks-PvdA label to a slightly stricter insulation standard. The Christian Union wants F and G labels for the household sector to be banned before 2030. Volt wants HR++(+) glass to be mandatory for all buildings, including homes, by 2030.
NSC believes that insulation of rental properties should be funded from proceeds from the national carbon rights auction.
“Green surprise bag”
Further to the right, for example, JA21 wants to invest primarily in insulation in new buildings. Party leader Joost Eerdmans says the party also wants to “help lower-income groups, who often have poorly insulated homes,” “but we have to be wary of the green bag from the left that everyone is buying into.”
PVV makes no mention of isolation in its election program. The gist of the chapter on climate and energy is the following sentence: “Don’t spend billions of dollars on pointless climate hobbies.” Wilders’ party primarily wants to help people by reducing energy taxes and VAT on energy.
According to D66 party leader Rob Jetten, additional money for isolation measures is urgently needed. “What I would say to people is: don’t get fooled by the climate arguments of some right-wing conservative parties, because then we will only be slower on that approach over the next few years.”
Source: NOS
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
