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The government has announced £700 million Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) funding, as part of the latest Help to Heat package.
Up to £1.5 billion is being made available through both the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Home Upgrade Grant schemes, allowing social housing providers and local authorities to submit bids for funding.
Local authorities are able to apply for HUG funding, to install energy efficiency measures in around 30,000 off-grid properties. Estimates for average annual energy bill savings for low-income households in HUG are around £700 at current prices.
The Help to Heat work will include the installation of measures such as external wall and loft insulation, energy-efficient doors and windows, heat pumps and solar panels, with multiple measures often being installed in a single home to considerably improve the energy performance.
Business and Energy Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said:
Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine, would have had dire consequences on the energy bills of both households and businesses this winter, without the government’s decisive action. Today I am cutting costs even further for the most vulnerable households for years to come.
By making homes warmer and cheaper to live in, we are not only transforming the lives of households across England, we are creating huge growth in the economy, backing the green energy sector and supporting thousands of high-skilled jobs.
Social housing with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D or lower will be eligible to receive Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) upgrades, while the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) funding will help people who are most vulnerable to fuel poverty, living in privately-owned – both rented and owner-occupied – off gas-grid homes and on low incomes.
The funding part of £12 billion combined funding under the government’s wider Help to Heat schemes, which also include the Local Authority Delivery and Energy Company Obligation schemes, targeting support to lower income and more vulnerable households.
Minister for Business and Energy Lord Callanan said:
The cheapest form of energy is the energy we do not use. Our Help to Heat schemes are already bringing real benefits to tens of thousands of low-income households across the country by improving the energy performance of their homes and saving them hundreds of pounds on their bills.
Together with the unprecedented support government is putting in place to help households and businesses with rising energy costs, this latest funding will extend that assistance even further, targeting help to those who need it most by making their homes warmer and cheaper to run.
Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, said:
The launch of the second wave of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is hugely welcome. This vital funding will enable housing associations across the country to make significant progress in retrofitting and decarbonising their homes – work that not only cuts carbon emissions but saves residents money on their heating bills.
We know that England’s homes produce more carbon each year than the average annual use of the country’s cars, so decarbonising social homes has a pivotal role to play to meeting the country’s net zero target.
The National Housing Federation and our members look forward to continuing to work with BEIS to demonstrate the benefits that decarbonising homes has on residents’ lives.
Tracy Harrison, Chief Executive, Northern Housing Consortium said:
We welcome the opening of this important funding, which gives the North the opportunity to scale-up social housing retrofit programmes, creating good, skilled, green jobs and helping to tackle fuel poverty in our communities.
The North is ambitious for this Wave – some significant collaborations are under way and councils and housing associations are looking forward to working with BEIS to build on the momentum we’ve already established together.
What is the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG)?
The Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) will provide energy efficiency upgrades and low carbon heating via local authority funding, to households in England that:
- are low income
- are off the gas grid
- have an an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) between D and G
Local authorities apply for the funding, and if successful they will use the funding to install energy-efficiency measures and low carbon heating to eligible homes.
Homeowners on a low income do not contribute to the cost of upgrades.
For those renting their home:
- private landlords must contribute at least a third of the total cost of the upgrade
- social landlords must contribute at least half of the total cost
All upgrades need to be within the relevant cost caps to be eligible.
How to apply
BEIS will assess applications at two deadlines:
- 18th November 2022
- 27th January 2023
Local authorities that submit applications to the earliest assessment round will benefit from several extra months for project mobilisation. BEIS will work with those authorities to facilitate early delivery, including funding for mobilisation in the latter part of this financial year, February and March 2023, where possible.
Turner & Townsend is delivering HUG, and more information is available: homeupgradehub.org.uk
