Government unveils long-awaited Heat and Building Strategy

The Government has today set out plans meant to incentivise installation of low-carbon heating systems in its Heat and Buildings Strategy.

Reacting for Friends of the Earth, Mike Childs, Head of Science, said:

“Of course this is presented to look fantastic, and with industry backing, but a quick glance reveals it to be quite modest. £450 million pounds delivered via individual £5000 grants means 90,000 heat pump installations over three years. That just isn’t very much, and won’t meet the Prime Minister’s ambition of 600,000 a year by 2028. Investment will drive down the cost of heat pumps, and technical innovation plus skills training is a part of this, but so is scale. These grants will only incentivise the best-off households.”

“£950 million pounds over three years for the home upgrade scheme just won’t drive the scale of energy efficiency needed in both private and rented sectors. This is a start, it’s just not a very good one when the many benefits of a really generous scheme are abundantly clear: from warm, healthy homes to slashed emissions, with jobs to boot.”

ENDS