UKGBC has written to the Chancellor ahead of the Spring Statement, with support from 28 business leaders, urging the Government to prioritise support for domestic energy efficiency and low carbon heat.
The letter highlights the critical role energy-efficiency investment can play in tackling some the major issues the country currently faces. Signatories include leading business in property, construction, energy and across the built environment, such as E.ON UK, Grosvenor Property UK, Barratt Developments PLC, Landsec, and JLL UK Ltd.
The letter outlines the funding and financial incentives needed to kick start a large-scale home upgrade effort that could be announced immediately in the Spring Statement. These include:
- Fulfil the 2019 manifesto promise of £9.2bn in investment for green homes and buildings, by spending the extra £2bn that’s currently missing.
- Introduce financial incentives such as removing VAT on refurbishment work and low carbon heat sources. Provide a long term, revenue neutral, structural demand driver through a variable stamp duty adjusted in line with the energy performance of a property.
- Expand the Boiler Upgrade Scheme which is currently limited to 90,000 heat pump installations – a figure dwarfed by Government’s aim of reaching 600,000 installations per year by 2028.
- Announce a successor to the Green Homes Grant Scheme to support owner-occupiers, but with sustained funding and designed to scale up over the coming few years.
UKGBC’s Chief Executive Officer, Julie Hirigoyen, said:
“Energy bills are shooting up, leaving millions of households facing fuel poverty, and energy prices are likely to remain elevated for years. Making domestic energy efficiency a priority is not only the responsible thing to do for public finances, but it will help towards the Government’s energy independence and levelling up agendas, not to mention accelerating our journey towards a net zero carbon economy. The government must invest now in long term solutions to stop vast amounts of energy being wasted by heat leaking from the UK’s homes.”
