The Warm Homes Plan is not the retrofit revolution we were promised

Considering that, it’s clear the Warm Homes Plan, released after months of delay, had a tall order. Ahead of publication the Green Party campaigned for a number of measures to be included, and I was pleased to see the government recognise and incorporate many of them.

Measures to invest in insulation for many low-income households, increased oversight across the installation sector, greater consumer protections and specific consideration of challenges affecting fuel-poor rural communities were welcome moves in the right direction.

“While the headline £15bn investment touted does signal a serious commitment to tackling fuel poverty and revitalising our housing stock, it’s still significantly less than Labour promised while in opposition”

But while this plan is clearly better than the swinging cuts and mess we saw under the Conservatives, it still falls short of the scale of the challenge and of promises previously made by Labour – this is not the retrofit revolution Labour promised while in opposition.

Take the matter of funding. While the headline £15bn investment touted does signal a serious commitment to tackling fuel poverty and revitalising our housing stock, it’s still significantly less than Labour promised while in opposition – and 25% less than the sum of £19.6bn which was dedicated to home upgrades before Rachel Reeves scrapped the ECO scheme in November.

And while the plan commits to lifting one million households out of fuel poverty by 2030, that still leaves over a million more left out in the cold. We simply will not eradicate fuel poverty and make our homes fit for the future without greater investment.

Also concerning is the shift in emphasis. While the plan includes some measures to install insulation in the homes of those on low incomes, it leans more heavily towards installation of clean heating technology and solar panels – far from the large-scale, fabric-first insulation programme that was once expected.

It seems Labour has chosen to back away from retrofit in favour of new tech, but this is short-sighted. Insulating and retrofitting homes is a win-win-win: it lowers energy bills, cuts emissions and creates thousands of skilled jobs. So why wasn’t it front and centre of the Warm Homes Plan?

Heat pumps and solar panels have a vital role to play, but deploying them at scale in cold, leaky homes without bringing those homes up to standard first undermines the goal of lowering bills. If heat is just going to escape out of the door or through the walls, bill-payers will still end up paying for more energy than they would in a properly insulated home.

Action on the rental sector, too, must go further. The idea that tenants could be left to pay for home upgrades through higher rent is unacceptable – this plan doesn’t seem to include protections to stop landlords passing costs of upgrades onto their tenants, which is alarming.

The government must urgently clarify what it will do to limit rent increases following home upgrades. People must not be priced out of their homes due to investment in energy efficiency or insulation.

“A slow drip of improvement will not prove comforting to families shivering in their homes now”

And let’s be blunt about timing. The publication of the Warm Homes Plan was originally scheduled for autumn 2025, only to be delayed again and again. Now it has arrived, many commitments contained within it are consigned to future consultations or delivery years down the line.

A slow drip of improvement will not prove comforting to families shivering in their homes now – the government must do everything in their power to move faster in ensuring families don’t spend even more winters trapped in freezing homes.

Finally, the government must address the very real need to bring down the price of electricity, given its crucial role in reducing energy bills. The Green Party is committed to decoupling the price of gas from electricity, ending the scandal where expensive gas inflates electricity prices and ensuring families can enjoy the full benefits of the clean, green, renewable electricity the UK is investing in.

The real heart of this issue isn’t housing, it’s people. People who for far too long have paid through the nose for heat that leaks out of windows and walls. A genuinely ambitious Warm Homes Plan would be transformational for Britain’s economy and for the well-being of millions of people – it would lower bills, cut emissions and build skilled local jobs across the UK. But lack of ambition means millions will remain cold while the chance to fix fuel poverty slips away for good.

Ellie Chowns, Green Party MP, North Herefordshire