'Warm homes plan' to cut energy bills

The Government has launched a £15 billion programme to harness 'clean tech' to improve the energy efficiency of homes in Britain, as Emily Beament reports

- Emily Beament

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(arunthe.gov)

HOMEOWNERS will be able to access lowand zero-interest loans to install solar panels, heat pumps and batteries under a flagship energy upgrades scheme.

Low-income households and fuel poor families struggling to pay energy bills will also receive free upgrades for insulation and clean tech backed by £5 billion of public investment, officials said.

The measures form part of the Government’s “warm homes plan”, a £15 billion public spending programme to deliver energy efficiency and technology upgrades to British homes, in a bid to cut bills and reliance on fossil fuels, reduce carbon emissions and lift people out of fuel poverty.

Environmental and anti-fuel poverty campaigners welcomed the new plan but called for more action and funding to end the “scandal” of people living in cold, damp homes and struggling to pay energy bills.

In addition to the £5 billion for low-income schemes, some £2 billion is earmarked for consumer loans, £2.7 billion for the “boiler upgrade scheme” for heat pump grants and £2.7 billion in innovative finance through a new “warm homes fund” investment facility for home upgrades.

There is also £1.1 billion for heat networks and £1.5 billion for other funding including the devolved administrations.

The plans also include upgrading protections for renters, along with support for landlords to make energy efficiency improvements, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnz) said.

The programme aims to roll out upgrades to up to five million homes, saving families hundreds of pounds on their energy bills, and lift up to a million households out of fuel poverty by 2030.