UK Government Warm Homes Plan
- Feb 9
- 2 min read
Overview
This document sets out a range of government hopes and aims that can be categorised in four main areas: to make the cost of heating more affordable, to create jobs, to speed up the rate at which buildings can be made more thermally efficient and to insulate Britain from the fluctuations of the international fossil fuels market. It outlines what the government has done and is doing and the policy changes through which it hopes to achieve more.
The government notes that buildings are currently responsible for over a fifth of the UK’s territorial greenhouse gas emissions and appears to suggest that replacing fossil fuel technology by greener alternatives is not only in the interest of combating climate change but will also lead to lower household fuel bills.
Our reviewer felt there was too much emphasis put on what other organisations are expected to do, and what had already been achieved. For this reason they found it difficult to elicit precisely what the government’s own new proposals actually were.
Government Aims and Funding
Overall, the Government aims to enable the delivery of cheap, secure, homegrown clean energy and proposes significant amounts of new funding for the purpose.
The full report can be seen at:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/696f8a3ec0f4afaa9536a0c4/warm-homes-plan-standard-print.pdf
Key Proposals
The key proposals are:-
New homes to have solar and clean heating as standard;
Access to home improvements for all, through grants (low-income households) and low-cost loans. Improvements such as insulation and solar panels are included. The £7,500 grant for hydronic heat pumps continues but, unlike now, there will be no need for a fresh EPC. In addition, there will be smaller grants for air-to-air heat pumps (air conditioners) and, following consultation, heat batteries and biomass boilers. Consultation on heat batteries and biomass solutions is ongoing;
New rules to ensure that tenants have lower bills and warmer, more comfortable homes. Grants to landlords to improve EPC ratings will remain and there will be new requirement to upgrade EPCs by 2030 if landlords want to continue letting;
£5 billion for a new Warm Homes Fund (WHF) to make investments in and loans to the home upgrade sector. Support will cover a range of technologies to reflect the fact that all homes are different;
A new Warm Homes Agency will oversee and simplify delivery and ensure better advice and security for householders;
The temporary zero VAT rate for heat pump systems, solar panels and batteries and biomass boilers continues till March 2027;
Support for investment in heat networks, using a Green Heat Network Fund.
