Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Answer of 21 April 2021 to Question 182074 on the Green Homes Grant Scheme, what policies his Department plans to implement to decarbonise the heating of listed buildings where low carbon options are economically unviable or prohibited by planning law.

Further to the response to Question 182074 of 21 April 2021, the Government recognises that some households, including those living in listed buildings, may need additional support to decarbonise, particularly if they are on a lower income or vulnerable. The Government is planning to publish a Heat and Buildings Strategy in due course, which will set out the immediate actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings.

The Government is putting affordability and fairness at the heart of our reforms. We will continue support to lower income households and the vulnerable to make homes greener, through schemes such as the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) and the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). HUG will provide energy efficiency upgrades and low-carbon heating to low-income households living off the gas grid in England to tackle fuel poverty and meet net zero. An initial £150m was allocated to HUG in the 2020 spending review and will be delivered alongside a £200m third tranche of Local Authority Delivery (LAD) as a £350m Sustainable Warmth competition, which was launched on 16 June, with delivery expected to run from early 2022 to March 2023. The ECO, worth £640m per year, is already supporting low income and vulnerable households with energy efficiency and heating measures. The next iteration of ECO will run from 2022 to 2026 with an increase in value from £640m to £1bn per year.

The Government will also be launching the Clean Heat Grant from 2022 to 2024. The scheme will support homes to transition from high carbon fossil fuel heating sources to low carbon heating , such as heat pumps or alternatives including biomass boilers where heat pumps are unsuitable.

Additionally, property owners may consult the Simple Energy Advice (SEA) service, and a retrofit coordinator for further advice and information on improving their building’s energy performance.