The move is good news for home owners, the environment, the economy and the construction industry

The Chancellor's £2 billion home energy saving scheme has been welcomed by insulation specialist Actis - which says it is good news for home owners, the environment, the economy and the construction industry.

Rishi Sunak's £5,000 vouchers will help millions of property owners make their homes more thermally efficient - saving them money on their fuel bills, cutting carbon emissions and helping the country towards its 2050 net zero carbon target.

It will also provide a jobs boost for people in the construction industry and with £10,000 vouchers available for those on lower incomes is excellent news for those who may be most in need.

"This is excellent news. We are forever quoting the mantra ‘fabric first'," says Actis UK and Ireland Sales Director Mark Cooper. "These vouchers will help home owners ensure that the fabric of which their homes are made is improved to help prevent heat pouring out through uninsulated walls and roofs.

"With 87% of UK housing stock being built before 1990 many millions of homes are not thermally sound.

"This ambitious project will enable them to reduce carbon emissions considerably - saving each home owner hundreds of pounds a year." he said.

"A typical pre-1990s detached house uses three times as much primary energy as a newly built Part L compliant equivalent and produces five times the volume of carbon emissions. So if the Government is offering to pay for the bulk of the work to redress this imbalance, now is the time to take advantage."