FW: UK households to get £15bn for solar and green tech to lower energy bills - BBC News
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Mike Priaulx
Jan 21, 2026, 7:51:10 AMJan 21
to Digest recipients, Swifts & Planning Advice
Hi all, this is an informative article today about the government's energy-efficiency plans for England:
They are going for low-carbon energy technology rather than insulation for existing homes - less disruptive for biodiversity such as bats & nesting birds, so positive news from our SLN perspective.
External Wall Insulation (EWI) can incidentally block entrance holes to nest and roost sites - not relevant to the energy-efficiency improvements as pitched roofs are ventilated anyway.
There's an EWI leaflet in the SLN library, and also Action for Swifts have products aimed at EWI projects:
EWI is a localised measure - for me in Inner London I think insulation makes up less than 1% of lost nest sites (it's mostly extensions and maintenance). However, it can be significant in some areas. Loft insulation may be a hidden problem, I'm due an article about that soon!
EWI can be a problem for residents if poorly done, e.g. as per this recent article:
NB insulation and air tightness are often blamed for lack of nest sites in new homes but they're not connected - it's down to modern building standards (e.g. NHBC) & methods. Cavities are still there as always but now inaccessible to wildlife. Integrated nest sites are permitted though if no access to internal spaces, there's an NHBC standard to cover them.
All the best,
Mike
Member of SLN Swifts & Planning Group
(& sustainable buildings consultant in my day job)
Mike Priaulx
Jan 21, 2026, 7:52:46 AMJan 21
to Digest recipients, Swifts & Planning Advice
canterburyswifts
Jan 22, 2026, 3:45:35 AMJan 22
to swiftslocalnetwork
Thank you Mike.
Always helpful to read your messages.
Ginny
Cally Smith Huntly & District Swift Group
Jan 22, 2026, 6:35:13 AMJan 22
to swiftslocalnetwork
Hi Mike thank you and tbh i have no idea how you keep on top of all this stuff! We would be lost without your understanding of policy (me anyway!)
I have several times mentioned EWI to our planners at Aberdeenshire Council (armed and ready with the SLN info) but they dont seem to be doing much about that within their housing stock, not in the past couple of years anyway. I suppose these upgrades will be frequently carried out by private means which we can't do anything about but change may be on the way. Again this doc doesn't apply to jolly Scotland!
Thank you
Cally
Mike Priaulx
Jan 23, 2026, 4:11:05 AMJan 23
to Digest recipients
Hi Cally,
You're right that the new "Warm Homes Plan" only applies to England.
Scotland has its own Warmer Homes Scotland scheme, but external wall insulation is far down their list which might be why your council isn't pursuing EWI at the moment, as it's expensive and perhaps they just can't get the funding:
They might also have heard of the horror stories and decided to pursue safer options -
it means less for us to worry about anyway!
All the best,
Mike
Cally Smith
Jan 23, 2026, 5:26:56 AMJan 23
to swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com
Many thanks Mike and for the link.
Yes, less problems for us!
Cally
Cally Smith
Founder of NES Swifts (formerly Huntly Swift Group)
T: 07411 808 573
E: huntlysw...@gmail.com
Facebook/huntlyswiftgroup | Instagram/huntlyswiftgroup
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