NHF backs £15bn Warm Homes Plan to enable sector to upgrade stock at ‘scale and pace’

The plan will include updated energy efficiency standards for landlords. By updating protections for renters and supporting landlords to make these upgrades in a “fair way” over several years, the government has estimated that half a million families will be lifted out of fuel poverty by the end of the decade.

Energy and net zero secretary Ed Miliband said: “It is a scandal that millions of people in our country do not have the security of a home that is warm, affordable and safe.

“With this investment, we embark on a national project to turn the tide – waging war on fuel poverty and taking another step forward in tackling the affordability crisis for families throughout Britain.”

The Warm Homes Agency will bring together existing functions from across energy regulator Ofgem and other government arm’s-length bodies. It will provide new consumer support while removing “duplication and waste” in the current delivery landscape.

The launch of the new agency comes a year after the government suspended nearly 40 firms from installing home insulation under official schemes for poor-quality work.

At the time the £6.5bn scheme was axed, retrofit installers warned that their sector will “fall off a cliff” and the capacity would have to be "rebuilt from scratch".

Jonathan Brearley, chief executive officer of Ofgem, said the creation of the new agency will see existing Ofgem officials transfer over to the new organisation to deliver energy efficiency schemes for homes and other buildings.

He added: “By bringing together schemes currently split across government, Ofgem and elsewhere, households and scheme users will benefit from a clearer, more efficient system."

In addition there will be £5bn in support for low-income families who will receive free green upgrades, depending on what technologies are most suitable for their homes, via £5bn of public investment. 

Government-backed low interest loans programme will encourage solar panel installations. When combined with the Future Homes Standard, the plan will triple the number of homes with solar panels on their rooftops by 2030. 

The £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant for heat pumps will be expanded to offer air-to-air heat pumps that can also cool homes in the summer. 

David Postings, chief executive of UK Finance, said: “The new Warm Homes Plan is a welcome step forward, offering a package of support to help homeowners meet retrofit costs.

“The financial services sector will work with government, alongside other industries, to accelerate the growth of the green home finance market and help ensure households across the country can share in the benefits of the net zero transition.”