England’s homes produce more carbon emissions than all the country’s cars, new research from the National Housing Federation (NHF) has revealed.

The Fed’s research found that England’s 25m homes produce 58.5m tonnes of C02 every year, emitting the equivalent of the average annual use of 28m cars. There are 27m million cars in use in England, emitting 56m tonnes of C02 annually.

And the emissions from homes are so high due to a combination of gas central heating and poor insulation, meaning heat easily leaks out of homes which then require even more gas to keep warm.

This means the average family or household in England is currently producing more CO2 every year just by living in their home than they are by driving.

The NHF says the findings highlight why it’s critical that making the country’s homes more energy efficient needs to be prioritised to meet the government’s net zero by 2050 target.

But the organisation warns that many people are unaware of the issue or are unable to make their homes greener, and points to recent research that found 60% of homeowners don’t think their home energy use has much of an impact on carbon emissions, while 28% have no plans to make eco-upgrades to their homes in the next ten years.

The NHF is now calling on the government to put £3.8bn into the retrofit of social housing at the upcoming Spending Review. Unlike private landlords and homeowners, social landlords can make thousands of homes energy efficient at scale, retrofitting whole streets, estates, and even neighbourhoods simultaneously, the Fed says.

In 2019 alone more than 100,000 social homes had their energy efficiency improved but the NHF says government funding would enable housing associations to go further, getting the 2m homes they own and manage to EPC C by 2030 and setting them up to go on to be fully carbon neutral.

Achieving carbon neutrality for these homes would be the equivalent of taking 1.8m cars off the road indefinitely – the equivalent of all of the cars in Manchester and Birmingham combined.

Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “For too long the impact of housing on climate change has been overlooked. While we’ve become more conscious of the vehicles we drive, the amount we recycle and what we eat, these shocking new figures must now force us to recognise the enormous role our draughty homes are having.

“If we don’t start making serious progress on decarbonising and retrofitting our homes, we won’t achieve the government’s target of net-zero by 2050. It’s critical that we act now. Independent and government experts have made it clear that without serious urgent action, we’re looking at a global climate catastrophe. It’s increasingly obvious the climate crisis has already arrived and industries, government and individuals must all do our part to prevent it getting worse.

“Housing associations are already planning to invest billions in retrofitting their homes, but we can’t do it alone. However, with support from government there’s a clear opportunity here to retrofit millions of homes at scale and pace. That’s why it’s vital that the government delivers on its pledge of £3.8bn for retrofitting social homes in the Spending Review this year. We can then work together to help the country lead the way in climate friendly, net-zero housing.”