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Written Question
Energy: Historic Buildings
Thursday 1st February 2024

Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the guidance entitled Adapting historic homes for energy efficiency: a review of the barriers, published on 3 January 2024, what steps her Department plans to take to (a) identify and (b) tackle ineffective (i) heating and (ii) insulation within homes.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

In January 2024, the Government published the cross-government review ‘Adapting historic homes for energy efficiency: a review of the barriers’, alongside an independent research report ‘Defining and identifying complex-to-decarbonise homes’.

The review looks at the practical barriers to energy efficiency and low carbon heating measures in historic homes, and sets out the actions government is taking to overcome these barriers.

The Government is investing £6.6 billion over this Parliament on clean heat and improving energy efficiency in buildings, reducing our reliance on fossil fuel heating. In addition, £6 billion of new Government funding will be made available from 2025 to 2028.


Written Question
Private Rented Housing: Energy
Wednesday 31st January 2024

Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the energy efficiency of private rented homes.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

We are investing £6.6 billion this Parliament and a further £6 billion to 2028 on making buildings cleaner and warmer. That is in addition to the £5 billion that will be delivered through the Energy Company Obligation and the Great British Insulation Scheme up to March 2026. All of our ‘Help to Heat’ schemes are available to eligible households in the private rented sector


We have also improved our information and guidance for those households who want to make energy efficiency upgrades to their property through our digital assist service: www.gov.uk/improve-energy-efficiency. This has also introduced two eligibility checkers to help landlords and tenants understand the measures available to them.


Written Question
Buildings: Insulation
Wednesday 31st January 2024

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending rights to access (a) Remediation Contribution Orders through the First-tier Tribunal and (b) other lower-cost legal action to buildings under 11 metres where leaseholders need to pursue legal action to recover cladding remediation costs.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

It is generally accepted that the life safety risk is proportional to the height of buildings.   The risk to life from historical fire safety defects is lower in buildings under 11m, therefore building safety related remediation works are required in a very small number of buildings under 11m.

In rare cases where remediation work is required in buildings under 11 metres, the government has retrospectively extended the limitation period under Section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 enabling legal action against developers and contractors where works completed in the last 30 years made a dwelling not “fit for habitation”.

We would welcome examples of any specific cases under 11m where there are concerns to be raised with the Department for further review.


Written Question
Buildings: Insulation
Tuesday 30th January 2024

Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support residents of buildings with unsafe cladding.

Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)

All residential buildings above 11 metres in England now have a pathway to fix unsafe cladding, through either a taxpayer-funded scheme or developer-funded scheme; the Government has committed £5.1 billion to remove unsafe cladding from buildings. Five remediation schemes are underway:

  • the ACM Cladding Remediation fund: open since 2018 and covers buildings with the most dangerous type of cladding like that on Grenfell;
  • the Building Safety Fund: first opened in 2020 for buildings over 18 metres with other forms of unsafe cladding;
  • the Cladding Safety Scheme: which was fully opened in July 2023 for buildings between 11 and 18 metres and is also open to new applications for 18m+ buildings outside of London;
  • developers have now assumed direct responsibility for remediating all life-critical fire safety defects in more than 1,000 buildings, and;
  • social housing providers are working to remediate buildings in their portfolios that require remediation.

Residents must be at the heart of building safety. This includes the significant and disruptive works required to remediate buildings, with those responsible for the project and works considering residents as a key stakeholder throughout. To that end on 27 July 2023, we published the Code of Practice for the Remediation of Residential Buildings which sets our expectations for all remediation projects. The Code places residents at the heart of remediations projects as the key stakeholder and sets the standard for how we expect all remediation projects to account and deliver for residents.

As of 31 December 2023, 950 buildings residential buildings over 18 metres in height in England have been deemed eligible for the Building Safety Fund due to the presence of unsafe non-ACM cladding. Of these, 486 (51%) have started or completed remediation and of those 231 (24%) have completed works.

The then Minister for Housing last met with the FCA on 11 October 2023 and the Secretary of State met the Association of British Insurers on 13 December 2023. We continue to press the insurance industry to launch their scheme, which leaseholders need urgently. The Association of British Insurers released a public update on the scheme on their blog on 19 December 2023.

In the last 6 months, both the Secretary of State and I have met with the FCA (on 11 October 2023) and the Association of British Insurers (on 18 August 2023, 27 November 2023 and 12 December 2023). The Secretary of State met the Association of British Insurers on 13 December 2023. We continue to press the insurance industry to launch their scheme, which leaseholders need urgently.


Written Question
Energy: Housing
Wednesday 10th January 2024

Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department plans to take to (a) help support fuel poor homes to have an EPC rating of C or higher by 2030 and (b) incentivise landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, in the context of the Government's commitment to scrap policies to force landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties as outlined in the press notice entitled PM recommits UK to Net Zero by 2050 and pledges a “fairer” path to achieving target to ease the financial burden on British families, published on 20 September 2023.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

We see energy efficiency as the best way to tackle fuel poverty, contributing to the long-term reduction of energy bills and carbon emissions in line with Net Zero.

Multiple targeted schemes are in place to deliver measures to fuel poor households including the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4). The government is also reviewing the fuel poverty strategy.

We are spending £6bn this Parliament and a further £6bn to 2028 on making buildings, including private rented properties, cleaner and warmer. That is in addition to the estimated £5bn that will be delivered through ECO4 and the GB Insulation Scheme up to March 2026.


Written Question
Energy: Conservation
Friday 8th December 2023

Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what plans her Department has to reduce domestic energy consumption by 15 per cent by 2030.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is investing £6.6 billion over this Parliament on clean heat and improving energy efficiency in buildings. In addition, £6 billion of new Government funding will be made available from 2025 to 2028.

The Government will deliver upgrades to over half a million homes in the coming years through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, Home Upgrade Grant, Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Great British Insulation scheme and Energy Company Obligation.


Written Question
Energy: Private Rented Housing
Thursday 30th November 2023

Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will hold discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of introducing incentives for landlords in the private rented sector who (a) are and (b) are not eligible for the (i) Home Upgrade Grant and (ii) ECO scheme to improve the energy efficiency of their properties.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues, including how Government can support landlords to improve the energy efficiency of homes.

The Government is spending £6.6bn this Parliament and a further £6bn to 2028 on making buildings cleaner and warmer. Plus, an estimated £5bn is to be delivered through the Energy Company Obligation and the Great British Insulation Scheme up to March 2026.

The Government has launched a brand-new eligibility tool on our ‘Help for Households’ GOV.UK page that will help people find the support available to them via the Home Upgrade Grant and the Great British Insulation Scheme.


Written Question
Housing: Energy
Wednesday 22nd November 2023

Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to incorporate references to (1) solar gain and (2) solar shading, in their guidance on the retrofitting of older homes in order to mitigate the effects of overheating.

Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)

Part O of the Building Regulations was introduced in 2021 to reduce the risk of overheating in new residential buildings . Part O came into effect in June 2022. This means that new residential buildings must now be designed in such a way as to reduce overheating. This requirement is met by designing and constructing the building to limit unwanted solar gains in summer (including through shading) and by providing an adequate means of removing excess heat.

In existing residential buildings, insulation measures can help reduce risks of overheating, if correctly installed and with adequate ventilation. This is why all energy efficiency measures installed under current government funded schemes require installers to be Trustmark registered and measures must also be installed in accordance with the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2030 and PAS 2035 standards, protecting the consumer against poor workmanship. PAS 2035/2030 requires a whole house approach to home retrofit projects and ensures that the risks of unintended consequences, such as mould and condensation due to poor ventilation, are minimised.

We are also considering the issues surrounding overheating in homes created through a material change of use (i.e. homes created by converting another building type, such as an office block) and whether changes to the Building Regulations are appropriate. We intend to consult on our approach to overheating in these homes as part of our consultation on the Future Homes Standard.

Details of further work to determine risk and guide interventions related to overheating, including in existing homes, is set out in the Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) report, published in July 2023.


Written Question
Housing: Energy
Wednesday 22nd November 2023

Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to incorporate references to (1) solar gain and (2) solar shading, in the design requirements for new-build homes in order to mitigate the effects of overheating.

Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)

Part O of the Building Regulations was introduced in 2021 to reduce the risk of overheating in new residential buildings . Part O came into effect in June 2022. This means that new residential buildings must now be designed in such a way as to reduce overheating. This requirement is met by designing and constructing the building to limit unwanted solar gains in summer (including through shading) and by providing an adequate means of removing excess heat.

In existing residential buildings, insulation measures can help reduce risks of overheating, if correctly installed and with adequate ventilation. This is why all energy efficiency measures installed under current government funded schemes require installers to be Trustmark registered and measures must also be installed in accordance with the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2030 and PAS 2035 standards, protecting the consumer against poor workmanship. PAS 2035/2030 requires a whole house approach to home retrofit projects and ensures that the risks of unintended consequences, such as mould and condensation due to poor ventilation, are minimised.

We are also considering the issues surrounding overheating in homes created through a material change of use (i.e. homes created by converting another building type, such as an office block) and whether changes to the Building Regulations are appropriate. We intend to consult on our approach to overheating in these homes as part of our consultation on the Future Homes Standard.

Details of further work to determine risk and guide interventions related to overheating, including in existing homes, is set out in the Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) report, published in July 2023.


Written Question
Housing: Insulation
Friday 17th November 2023

Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to encourage private landlords to retrofit their properties to increase insulation.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is spending £6bn this Parliament and a further £6bn to 2028 on making buildings cleaner and warmer, in addition to £5bn to be delivered through the Energy Company Obligation and the Great British Insulation Scheme up to March 2026.

Last year the Government introduced a zero-rate of VAT for five years on energy saving measures and low-carbon heating, making it cheaper for people to invest in their properties and reduce energy usage.

A brand-new eligibility tool was launched on the ‘Help for Households’ GOV.UK page that will help people find the support available to them via the Home Upgrade Grant and the Great British Insulation Scheme.