‘Green recovery’ gets £3bn home improvements

HOUSEHOLDERS will get grants of up to £10,000 to make their homes more environmentally friendly under a government scheme which could save them £300 on annual energy bills.

A £3 billion energy efficiency plan for homes and public buildings will support 140,000 jobs, save households money and cut carbon emissions, Rishi Sunak said.

The Chancellor added that rebooting the economy after the coronavirus pandemic “is going to be a green recovery with concern for the environment at its heart”.

Heating buildings accounts for around a fifth of Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions, with the age of houses in the UK meaning that they are among the least energy-efficient in Europe.

In his Summer Statement, Mr Sunak confirmed plans for a £2billion Green Homes Grant in September to provide vouchers for homeowners and landlords to cover at least two thirds of the costs of insulation and other energy efficiency measures.

The grant will provide at least £2 for every £1 that homeowners and landlords spend to make their homes more energy efficient, up to £5,000 per household.

Some 600,000 households across England are expected to take part when the scheme launches in September, with households saving hundreds of pounds a year on their energy bills.

Some of the lowest income households will get the full costs of energyefficiency refits paid up to a value of £10,000.

Homeowners will be able to use the money on loft, wall and floor insulation, eco-friendly boilers, heat pumps, double or triple-glazed windows, lowenergy lighting and energy-efficient doors.

The Government will provide a list of accredited suppliers, which will provide quotes for work. Once the job is approved, the voucher is issued.

The plans also include £1billion to improve the energy efficiency and lowcarbon heating for schools, hospitals, prisons, military bases and other public buildings and a further £50million to pilot ways to cut carbon from social housing.

Campaigners welcomed the moves to invest in energy efficiency, which is widely seen as one of the best ways to boost jobs across the UK while cutting emissions.

However, they warned that levels of funding were well below what was needed to address the climate and nature crises, and that the “jury is still very much out” on how green the Government’s recovery will be.

The funding also aims to help Britain meet its legally binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

Greenpeace, the environmental group, warned that much more funding and investment would be needed in homes, alongside areas such as clean transport and the power sector.

Chris Venables, head of politics at the Green Alliance, said: “The jury is still very much out on how green the Government’s recovery will be, and we’ll be watching over the coming weeks and months.”

There have been widespread calls for a green recovery, including calls for the Government to deliver on its £9.2 billion manifesto pledge for energy efficiency and investment in schemes to help nature recover, and make sure business bailouts have “green strings” attached.

The Conservative manifesto pledged £9.2billion for improving the energy efficiency of low income housing and public buildings.