Think tank calls for national advertising campaign for low-carbon heating

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has called for a national advertising campaign to raise awareness of energy efficiency upgrades and low-carbon heating systems as part of a comprehensive programme to decarbonise domestic heating.

The think tank said it should seek to imitate the ‘Tell Sid’ campaign encouraging the public to invest in privatised gas shares in the 1980s.

In a new report outlining its proposals, IPPR said the campaign would explain how to access grants and zero-interest loans through a “one stop shop” for financial support from the government which would be worth £18 billion over the next four years.

Fuel poor households would be offered full grants – estimated to be worth £12,000 per home on average – to cover the costs of installing insulation and l0w-carbon heating systems such as heat pumps.

All other households would be offered grants of up £7,500 until 2025 – the remaining costs would be comparable to the price of a high-end gas boiler – and zero interest loans of up to £7,000 from 2025 onwards that would include repayment subsidies of up to 50 per cent of the upfront costs, depending on the level of energy efficiency achieved.

There would also be new private financing options such as green mortgages that would allow homeowners to add upgrade costs to their loans in return for lower interest rates.

IPPR said the government should additionally introduce new regulations phasing out the sale of new oil boilers by 2028 and gas boilers by 2033, as well as a new minimum energy performance standard of Energy Performance Certificate band C by 2028 for landlords and 2030 for homeowners. A Green Training Fund worth £160 million per year until 2028 should be established to train the necessary installers.

The think tank backed up its proposals with a YouGov poll commissioned for the report which found more than a fifth (22 per cent) of the nearly 1,700 respondents had never heard of a heat pump, whilst more than a third (36 per cent) knew almost nothing about them. Nearly two thirds (65 per cent) supported IPPR’s proposals for national information campaign on heat decarbonisation.

Clear majorities supported its proposals for grants of £7,500 (61 per cent) and zero interest loans (62 per cent), whilst two thirds (66 per cent) backed full-cost grants for low-income households.

Joshua Emden, IPPR research fellow and lead author of the report, said: “Decarbonising our heating will be disruptive. If we’re going to get retrofitting right, with all the benefits it brings, then the public are crystal clear that they need more accessible, reliable information, they need to be able to trust both the technology and the competence of the installation, and they need financial support with upfront costs.

“Whether it’s the move from town gas to natural gas in the 1960s and 70s or the ‘Tell Sid’ campaign advertising British Gas shares in the 1980s, we’ve done this kind of large-scale programme before. Now we need a new national campaign to bring us into the next era for home heating.”

The report noted that the UK is trailing far behind France, Germany and Italy in terms of heat pump installations, and last year only installed 6 per cent of the new heat pumps and less than 2 per cent of new solid wall insulation needed each year by 2028.

IPPR researcher and report co-author Lesley Rankin said: “While UK policy falters, policies in other European countries are having a more positive impact. France, Germany and Italy’s ambitious policies to support households – a mix of grants, tax credits and loans with repayment subsidies – have led them to become the three largest heat pump markets in Europe in 2020.

“In contrast, over the same year, the UK installed just over a quarter of the number of heat pumps in Germany, a sixth of the number in Italy, and a tenth of the number in France.”

In light of the current crisis around gas prices, IPPR urged the government to pause its recently announced plans to shift policy costs from electricity bills to gas bills and instead recover them from general taxation. However, it did recommend introducing a new carbon tax from 2030 onwards to encourage the shift away from gas boilers so long as the upfront costs of low-carbon heating systems are no more expensive.

“With gas prices and energy bills spiralling, some of the leakiest homes in Europe and the climate crisis looming ever larger, we desperately need a national mission to upgrade the UK’s homes,” said Luke Murphy, IPPR associate director and head of its Environmental Justice Commission

“What’s more, the public fully support greater government investment, grants for all households to help upgrade their homes, and a national advertising campaign so everyone knows both what they need to do, and how to get the support to do it.

“Now, as well as a new ‘Tell Sid’ campaign, Boris Johnson must urgently ‘Tell Rishi’ to stump up the cash so that the UK can get on with the job of delivering net zero, while making the nation’s homes warmer and more affordable.”

Next week the government is expected to release its long-awaited heat and buildings strategy, which will reportedly include £5,000 grants to replace gas boilers with low-carbon heating systems as well as an end date for the sale of new gas boilers.