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Government allocates over £500m in housing decarbonisation funding
Roughly 50,000 households are set to receive energy upgrades as the government announces its funding allocations for the Green Homes Grant and Social Housing Decarbonisation schemes.
More than 300 local authorities across England and Scotland will receive a share of the £562m cash pot, which is made up of £500m from the government’s wider Green Homes Grant scheme and £62m from its Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator.
Both schemes were first announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak in July last year as part of the government’s plan to boost jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government said the funding will support more than 8,000 jobs annually, as well as help transform more than 50,000 low-income households’ homes and social housing properties.
Local authorities were able to bid for a share of £500m from the government’s Green Homes Grant scheme in order to carry out energy upgrades within the homes of low-income households.
A remaining £1.5bn was to be given as vouchers to homeowners, however this side of the scheme has been marred by delays. Less than 5% of the scheme’s budget had been spent in January and the government announced that the majority of the funding will not be rolled over to next year.
In comparison, all of the budget for the Local Authority Delivery part of the scheme has been allocated.
In addition to the Green Homes Grant scheme, £62m has been allocated via the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, which is the first iteration of a wider multiyear fund for the decarbonisation of social housing that was promised in the Conservative Party manifesto.
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Successful bidders to both funds include Leeds City Council, which has been awarded £10m to retrofit up to 600 homes in partnership with Better Homes Yorkshire and Engie Regeneration.
Almost £20m has been awarded to Kensington and Chelsea Council in partnership with London School of Economics and Build Test Solutions to upgrade 535 homes on the Lancaster West Estate, which is where Grenfell Tower was situated.
A number of councils in Scotland have also been allocated funding, including Aberdeen City Council and Argyll and Bute Council.
The schemes will provide funding for measures including cavity wall, underfloor and loft insulation, replacing gas boilers with low-carbon alternatives such as heat pumps and installing solar panels.
A full list of winning bidders can be found here.
Kwasi Kwarteng, UK business and energy secretary, said: “We are ensuring households across the country enjoy warmer homes that are cheaper to heat and emit fewer emissions – all while creating new work for local plumbers, builders and tradespeople.
“This is an initial down payment on the UK government’s plan to invest over £9bn into eradicating fuel poverty, improving the lives and homes of low-income households. This is yet another important step we are taking to eliminate our contribution to climate change and build back greener from the pandemic.”
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