New houses will have to be retrofitted, UK climate watchdog warns

Houses not built to high standards of insulation will have to be expensively retrofitted or risk breaching national carbon targets, climate watchdog warns

Housing built in the UK today and in the next few years may have to be expensively retrofitted with energy-saving technology within the next two decades, according to the government's climate advisers.

The warning from the Committee on Climate Change came as it launched its five-year review to parliament on Thursday, setting out a new "carbon budget" for the UK that would require an emissions cut of 57% by 2032.