SQUEEZED families will have to spend more keeping warm this winter after far fewer homes were insulated.
Alarming stats show the number of houses being fitted with padding that traps heat has more than halved this year.
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Just 126,131 installations happened in the first six months of the year compared to 261,315 in 2021.
It means more than 135,000 families have missed out on cheaper bills as they are forced to turn up the radiators to make up for escaping heat.
Leaky homes can whack an extra £1,000 on a household’s energy bills, shock independent analysis shows.
Labour has pledged £60billion to improve every poorly-insulated home under its plans for government.
Shadow Minister Kerry McCarthy said: “The Government should have been working round the clock to insulate homes and ensure as many households as possible benefit from lower bills. Its failure to do so despite repeated warnings risks leaving millions out in the cold.
The Business Department blamed the steep drop on the pandemic and a transition from one government efficiency scheme to another.
A spokesperson said: “We are investing £6.6billion in total this parliament to improve energy efficiency across the country, with the majority of our support targeting those on low income and vulnerable households.
“This is benefiting tens of thousands of homes and delivering average savings of £300 a year on energy bills.”
