New Government – Greater Investment In Energy Efficiency
With a new Government in place, we take a look at their new Warm Homes Plan and what support we can expect from them to help make our homes more energy efficient.
Prior to the election and under the heading “warmer homes to slash fuel poverty”, the Labour manifesto promised to take current Tory investment and double it! They proceeded then to introduced us to their new “Warm Homes Plan”.
Warm Homes Plan
An extract from the Warm Homes Plan:
“The energy shock of recent years has highlighted the urgent importance of improving energy efficiency in British homes. Labour will invest an extra £6.6 billion over the next parliament, doubling the existing planned government investment, to upgrade five million homes to cut bills for families.
The Warm Homes Plan will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation and other improvements such as solar panels, batteries and low carbon heating to cut bills. We will partner with combined authorities, local and devolved governments, to roll out this plan. Labour will also work with the private sector, including banks and building societies, to provide further private finance to accelerate home upgrades and low carbon heating. We will ensure homes in the private rented sector meet minimum energy efficiency standards by 2030, saving renters hundreds of pounds per year. Nobody will be forced to rip out their boiler as a result of our plans.
Labour will save families hundreds of pounds, slash fuel poverty, and get Britain back on track to meet our climate targets. Our plan will mean good skilled jobs for tradespeople in every part of the country”.
At the time we asked for confirmation that the “extra £6.6 billion” was on top of the then current £6 billion+ committed by the current Government – so Labour are proposing to double the investment in retrofitting homes and rolling out clean heat and supporting their focus on “accelerating to net-zero”.
Department for Energy Efficiency and Net Zero
Immediately following Labours election victory Ed Milliband was appointed to the cabinet and given the role of Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Pre-election Mr Milliband was quoted as saying “Labour’s Warm Homes Plan would upgrade the 19 million homes that need it, cutting bills and creating thousands of good jobs for electricians, engineers, and construction workers across the country”.
Since his ministerial appointment Mr Miliband has listed the “upgrading Britain’s homes and cutting fuel poverty through our Warm Homes Plan” amongst his six initial priorities for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. You can read the full statement here >.
He also announced that, “in line with the Prime Minister’s approach, this will be a mission-driven department, mobilising citizens, businesses, trade unions, civil society and local government in a national effort, where everyone has a role“. By this we hope there will be effective collaboration between industry, government and the general public to ensure that the structure of any new initiatives works. After all historical schemes have not always got things quite right!
And that, as of September 2024, as much as we know. Positive words are coming of Westminster, significant funds are pledged towards the cost of making our homes more energy efficient but the details on just what shape the funding will take, who will be eligible, what measures will be covered and how it will all be administered are, perhaps understandably – it’s early days after all, yet to be announced. There talk of vouchers, free cash grants and low-interest loans but we’ll have to see.
Watch this space!