Loans that enables homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their properties are needed if the UK is to reduce energy consumption, says the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).
The CIOB – in its response to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee’s recent Heating our Homes inquiry – has reiterated previous calls for government to support the Construction Leadership Council’s National Retrofit Strategy. It includes a “help to fix” scheme which provides homeowners with an interest-free government loan to cover the full costs of home improvements.
CIOB says previous government schemes such as the Green Homes Grant and Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) have failed for several reasons, most notably that homeowners were required to part fund energy efficiency work in a lump sum. For many this simply wasn’t an option at the time the schemes were on offer, and certainly isn’t amid a cost-of-living crisis says CIOB’s policy team.
In February 2023, the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee noted if the current take-up rate of the BUS continues, only half of the allocated budget will be used.
CIOB adds that a scheme where the full cost of home improvements such as double glazing, insulation, new heating systems and even bigger jobs like loft conversions or extensions, are covered by a loan, is the only way many homeowners could afford to have work carried out, and government should develop such a scheme if they seriously want to meet its energy and carbon reduction targets.
David Parry, CIOB’s parliamentary and public affairs officer, said:
We and the wider industry have been calling for a national strategy for retrofitting for years now but we’re not being listened to. Poorly planned, ad-hoc schemes such as the Green Homes Grant have been failures because homeowners are still expected to find a percentage of the cost of having work carried out on their home and people just don’t have that disposable income.
A long-term initiative where homeowners can borrow the full cost of improvement works would in our view incentivise a big upturn in demand which in turn will help improve the energy efficiency and quality of the nation’s housing stock, reduce energy use and associated costs for consumers, while also cutting carbon emissions and accelerating the move to net zero. Factored into a wider strategy, developed with industry experts, which considers the training of a skilled workforce, a “Help to Fix” scheme could go a long way to achieving the goals the government has set itself but is currently nowhere near meeting.
CIOB adds that funding isn’t the only reason previous schemes have failed, and issues with promoting them, consumer confidence and ensuring skilled tradespeople were available to meet the demand for their services, also contributed to their downfall.
