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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2021 to Question 74867, what alternative approaches are being considered to maximise the delivery of home retrofits for consumers following the closure of the Green Homes Grant Scheme.

The Green Homes Grant Voucher scheme was designed as a short-term economic stimulus. It helped raise awareness of green home measures, and improved demand for a range of clean heat and energy saving installations.

In the Heat and Building Strategy, the Government outlines the new £450 million 3-year Boiler Upgrade Scheme which will provide grants of £5,000 from April next year to encourage homeowners to install more efficient, low carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps, that do not emit carbon when used. These grants mean that installing a heat pump will cost a similar amount to installing a traditional gas boiler.

The Government has committed a further £1.8bn over the next 3 years, targeting those in fuel poverty through the Home Upgrade Grant and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.

The Government has also expanded the Energy Company Obligation, under which energy companies have already installed 3.3 million measures in 2.3 million homes. We are increasing the amount energy suppliers invest in low-income households and have recently consulted on a new iteration of ECO which will run until 2026 and will see ECO’s value boosted from £640 million to £1 billion a year.