The spray-on foam insulation causing house nightmares

Homeowners are feeling "betrayed" by the news that some of the UK's biggest mortgage providers are refusing to lend against properties with spray foam in the roof.

An estimated 250,000 homes in the UK have spray-foam insulation, said the BBC. And, because much of was it installed under the previous government's Green Homes Grant scheme, there are growing calls for politicians to apologise.

'Dangerous rot'

Spray-foam insulation is a "quick and unobtrusive technique" for filling roof spaces and walls with liquid foam, said The Guardian.

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It can be beneficial when installed properly but, when "applied poorly", moisture can get "trapped behind the foam, leaving roof timber at risk of dangerous rot", said the i news site. Unfortunately, it's impossible to check on the quality of the work, or the state of the roof timber, after it's done, "without removing all of the insulation".

Many homeowners took advantage of the Green Homes Grant – a now-discontinued scheme providing grants for energy-efficient home improvements – to install spray-foam insulation. Under this scheme, installations were completely subsidised for those on certain benefits.

'Cowboy traders'

Now, homeowners with spray-foam insulation are "struggling to sell" or remortgage because a quarter of major lenders are "reluctant to deal with" houses with this kind of insulation. They have "concerns over poor fitting" trapping in moisture and leaving "roof timbers at risk of decay", said the BBC.

Of course, the spray-foam insulation in many homes may have been correctly applied but there's no way to tell, and mortgage lenders are wary of the "cowboy traders" who applied the foam without a full survey or sufficient expertise, said The Guardian. Fears over the problem have risen so high that all homes with the insulation are now under suspicion.

"Urgent action is needed", the Insulation Manufacturers Association told the BBC, adding that it was worried that affected homeowners could now "needlessly" turn to "cowboy removals companies" to get rid of the insulation.

The government "must own up to the failings of this", said Paula Higgins, chief executive of HomeOwners Alliance. The campaign group is "shocked and dismayed" by the situation, she told The Guardian.

'Little more than a scam'

The foam is "still being aggressively sold to largely older and potentially vulnerable homeowners", Andy Wilson, an equity release consultant, told the paper. Its downsides are "rarely" mentioned and the "focus is saving on heating costs".

One elderly couple told ITV News that they are facing thousands of pounds of repairs "and the prospect of being unable to sell their home". Their son told the broadcaster that the couple "trusted" the spray-foam offer because it was a "government scheme" but "it's turned out to be little more than a scam".

Other homeowners are living "in fear of losing" their house, said the i news site. One man told the outlet that spray-foam insulation "should be banned" because it's "disgraceful"; another called for "tighter regulation on the product" and on the companies that install it.