The UK Government has unveiled its plans for almost £2bn of funding to improve the energy efficiency of more than 115,000 homes and public sector buildings like schools and hospitals.
Details of the allocation of the latest phases of the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG), which applies to privately owned properties, and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, for homes owned by local authorities and other social housing providers were revealed from a pot totalling £1.4bn – around £630m for the HUG and £780m for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
The Government has also confirmed an additional £1.1bn of match funding from local authorities, social housing providers and charities for the latter scheme.
Both schemes will be allocating funding for retrofitting in homes with an energy performance certificate (EPC) of C or below – predicted to be in the region of 115,000 homes across England. Funding is provided for solutions such as double and triple glazing, wall insulation and loft insulation. The Government claims that the average home benefitting from the scheme will see its annual energy bills decreasing by between £220 and £400.
“This is a huge investment that will help households save hundreds on energy bills and see them heat their homes for less, and stay warm for longer,” said Energy Security and Net-Zero Secretary Grant Shapps.
National Energy Action chief Adam Scorer called the investment “vital” and “desperately needed”.
“Low-income households, in the least efficient homes, are being hardest hit by the energy crisis and are having to pay hundreds of pounds more than the typical household just to heat and power their home to a minimum reasonable standard,” he said.
Currently, around 46% of the UK’s housing stock is meeting EPC C or above, compared to just 9% in 2008. The amount of social housing meeting this requirement has risen by 18% to 66% over the same period.
The UK Government has been advised by its climate experts to bring forward legislation and regulation to ensure that all homes meet at least EPC C by 2035.
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, totalling £409m, will be divided between 114 public sector bodies across England who bid for projects to improve the energy efficiency of hospitals, schools, universities, museums and leisure centres.
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme aims to support the government’s commitment to reduce emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037, compared to 2017 levels. It provides public sector bodies with up to 100% of the upfront costs of a range of energy-saving projects and low-carbon heating projects.
The latest funding round is part of the £2.5bn set aside for government spending on upgrading public sector buildings between 2020 and 2025.
