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 page 15 of the report entitled, UK Housing - Fit for the Future? published by the Committee on Climate Change on 21 February 2019, what steps he is taking to tackle the funding gap in the delivery of low-carbon heating.

The Renewable Heat Incentive has funding confirmed until March 2021, and the Government is developing policy for the following period. The Future Homes Standard, announced in my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Spring Statement, will support delivery of the Buildings Mission – the first Industrial Strategy Clean Growth Grand Challenge. The Mission is backed by £170 million through the Transforming Construction Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. The Department expects this will be matched by £250 million of private sector investment, meaning over £400 million will be invested in new construction products, technologies and techniques.

In the Clean Growth Strategy the Government set out the ambition to phase out the installation of high carbon fossil fuel heating, such as oil and coal, during the 2020s in off gas grid buildings. We are seeking to develop a comprehensive policy framework to support this, and intend to consult later this year.