Energy efficiency vouchers expected to cover upgrades in 600,000 homes

The government has estimated that the energy efficiency of 600,000 homes across England will be upgraded via its new £2 billion grant programme, officially unveiled today in the Treasury’s summer statement.

In his jobs plan revealed at mid-day, chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak announced the £3 billion investment in energy efficiency flagged up earlier this week.

The bulk of this investment will be ploughed into the £2 billion Green Homes Grant programme for home upgrades, which is expected to create 100,000 new jobs.

Homeowners will be offered vouchers worth up to £5,000 to help them improve the energy efficiency of their properties. There will be a higher ceiling of £10,000 on grants for poorer households.

The government said the grants will cover “at least” two-thirds of the cost of carrying out energy efficiency improvements. The scheme will be launched in September when it is understood they will be made available on a first come, first served basis.

The other main plank of the energy efficiency announcement is £1 billion to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings, including schools and hospitals. In addition, the government has said that its Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund will be kick-started with a £50 million demonstration project this year.

The energy industry gave a warm welcome to the chancellor’s move to boost investment but put him on notice that it expects to see wider decarbonisation measures this autumn when he presents his budget.

Emma Pinchbeck, chief executive of Energy UK, said: “We’ve long banged the drum for the importance of energy efficiency measures in cutting bills for households and reducing emissions and, as a speech firmly focused on employment stressed, upgrading our draughty homes and businesses will also create hundreds of thousands of skilled new jobs right across the country.

“A green recovery centred round the net-zero target can spread opportunities, investment and growth across the country but we need to vastly increase our ambition and the activity to deliver it. We hope that the forthcoming budget, white paper and National Infrastructure Plan will provide further momentum so we can go further and faster in decarbonising our economy.”

Alistair Phillips-Davies, chief executive of SSE, said: “Funding for green homes and energy efficiency is a welcome boost but more action will be needed in the National Infrastructure Strategy and the autumn budget to build a long-lasting green recovery.”

Simon Virley, head of energy and natural resources at KPMG UK, said: “A step change in energy efficiency is essential if we are to reach net zero carbon emissions, so the chancellor’s £2 billion Green Homes Grant is very welcome. However, this must now form part of a clear long-term strategy on energy efficiency if we are to avoid the ‘stop-go’ of previous initiatives and maximise the supply chain benefits, and it must apply to the rented sector as well as owner-occupied properties.”

Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: “Having made repeated statements about the need for a ‘green’ recovery, there are many aspects that this week’s announcements haven’t covered, such as renewable energy and electric vehicles. The presumption must be that the chancellor sees these as offering less immediate opportunity for job creation than warm homes and will address them thoroughly in his autumn budget.”

Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union, said: “While we welcome the home insulation plan, today was also a missed opportunity to ramp up the scale of investment in green industries and jobs by committing to large scale projects like new nuclear.

“The chancellor will have an opportunity to fix these issues in his budget in the autumn, he must listen and act to secure a green economic recovery that leaves nobody behind.”