UK unveils 3 bn pounds green homes upgrade plans

UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Business Secretary Alok Sharma on Wednesday set out a “biggest in a generation” 3-billion pounds plan to upgrade the country’s buildings to make them more energy efficient, greener and cheaper to run. As part of the policy, homeowners in England will be able to sign up to savings on upgrades to their homes under the government’s 2-billion pounds Green Homes Grant, with an additional 1 billion pounds allocated to improve the energy efficiency of publicly-owned buildings. The launch of the Green Homes Grant forms part of a wider plan to upgrade the nation’s buildings expected to support an additional 120,000 jobs.

“We promised to support jobs and protect the environment – and the Green Homes Grant delivers on this,” said Sunak. “We’re giving homeowners, landlords and local authorities the funding they need to hire local tradespeople and make our homes more energy efficient. By supporting the green van men and women, we’ll save money, save jobs and save the planet,” the Indian-origin minister said.

The Green Homes Grant scheme will see the government fund up to two-thirds of the cost of home improvements up to 5,000 pounds, with a target to improve the energy efficiency of over 600,000 homes across England. “Our plan to upgrade the nation’s buildings and help build back better is good news for jobs, the environment and people’s back pockets, as we reduce emissions and help cut energy bills,” said Sharma, who called on eligible people to sign up to the “fantastic scheme”.

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said grants will be offered to cover green home improvements ranging from insulation of walls, floors and roofs, to the installation of double or triple glazing when replacing single glazing, and low-carbon heating like heat pumps or solar thermal – measures that could help households save up to 600 pounds a year on their energy bills. It will cut people’s energy bills and carbon emissions, whilst also supporting over 100,000 jobs in green construction for local plumbers, builders and tradespeople across the UK, the government stressed. BEIS also highlighted 50 million pounds being made available for social or affordable housing through a "demonstrator project" for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF).

“This UK-wide demonstrator scheme will see grants supplied to upgrade the energy efficiency of over 2000 of the worst-performing social homes,” the department said. Under the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS), public sector organisations in England, including central government departments and their agencies, local authorities, schools and NHS Trusts, will install energy efficiency and low carbon heating measures, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions. Installations under the PSDS are expected to support up to 30,000 low-carbon jobs.

The government said that this week’s announcements form part of its wider efforts to ensure Britain meets its legally binding target to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and “build back greener from coronavirus”. Over the past decade, the UK claims to have cut carbon emissions by more than any similar developed country. According to official data from last year, UK emissions were 42 per cent lower than in 1990, while the economy over the same period grew by 72 per cent.