Three years since the launch of United for Warm Homes, a grassroots campaign powered by Friends of the Earth, the government has announced its Warm Homes Plan. This sets out the measures it will take to cut energy bills and deliver clean, green energy, for warmer homes.
This plan is urgently needed. For years we've seen energy bills sky-rocket. Our research 'Left out in the cold', which we published with the Institute of Health Equity, found that almost 10 million UK households are living in poorly insulated, heat-leaking homes. That’s a third of households who are at risk of health conditions caused from living in cold homes.
The government’s plan is a significant step towards making our homes greener and cheaper to heat. But unless the government goes further and faster, there will still be millions of low-income households living in fuel poverty.
Warm Homes Plan – does it deliver?
In February 2024 we published Left out in the cold, a report with Professor Sir Michael Marmot’s Institute of Health Equity, which highlighted the devastating health impacts of cold homes and was a call to action for decision makers.
The government’s new plan includes a range of measures that will help — these include:
- Tougher standards for rental homes, which will help cut bills for tenants and crack down on the scandal of cold, mouldy rentals.
- A local authority-led, street-by-street insulation programme — a campaign win for us.
- Low interest loans to help owner-occupiers fit solar panels, heat pumps or insulation.
- £2.7 billion boiler upgrade scheme to support householders to fit heat pumps (a good start but more funding is needed and mechanisms to support low-income households).
- £5 billion to help councils and social housing landlords install insulation and clean energy like solar panels.
- A continued commitment to retrofit 5 million homes over the course of this parliament (Labour’s manifesto pledge).
Further and faster
The Warm Homes Plan is good but not good enough. Tougher standards for rental homes and more investment in clean technologies is a good step in the right direction.
But our Left out in the cold report with the Institute of Health Equity highlighted that almost 9.6 million households in the UK live in poorly insulated homes. The Government’s commitment to retrofit 5 million homes over the course of this parliament falls short of that. More ambition and funding are needed to tackle both fuel poverty and the climate crisis.
The government must now ensure polluters pay more tax, with funds being used to make every home warm and affordable.
It has shown commitment over the last year to an energy system powered by cheap and green renewables, with its onshore wind, solar energy and grid expansion plans. However, it must ensure this leads to cheaper bills, so that communities quickly feel the benefits.
United for Warm Homes – community campaigning in action
This has been an inspiring example of community campaigning made possible by Friends of the Earth local action groups working alongside partners such as faith groups, foodbanks and renters’ unions. Together, they’ve helped put the voices of those most affected by the energy crisis at the heart of the campaign.
Beginning in autumn 2022, groups across the country rallied public support and raised awareness through a powerful mix of grassroots action and creative expression. They secured media coverage, shared compelling real-life testimonies, set up local petitions, and crafted vibrant community quilts — each stitch telling a story — to capture MPs’ attention and make headlines during a national day of action in November 2023.
Their persistence paid off. MPs raised questions in Parliament, quoted campaign messages, and joined events at Westminster, including our 2024 report launch with Professor Sir Michael Marmot.
This creativity, commitment and community engagement made the campaign impossible to ignore — ensuring our message reached the government and Energy Ministers while laying the foundations for lasting partnerships and stronger local action in the future.
What’s next for climate action?
Warmer homes are just one of the key demands Friends of the Earth has called on the government to deliver. We’ll continue to apply pressure to ensure it adopts bold, ambitious policies as part of its climate plan — while also promoting fairer access to clean transport, warm homes, and secure, sustainable jobs.
The chancellor must now tax the super-rich, and big polluters, who have pocketed billions from the energy crisis , to make every home warm and affordable.
