UK Government launches £562m funding to decarbonise low-income housing
From this week, 50,000 UK homes will be upgraded with green improvements from a £562 million (€650 million) government fund.
The funding will enable over 200 local authorities across England and Scotland to fund a nationwide upgrade of the UK’s least energy efficient and fuel-poor homes, helping to reduce carbon emissions and support green jobs.
According to the government, the funding will help to transform more than 50,000 low income households and social housing properties, as well as supporting over 8,000 energy sector jobs annually, including plumbers, builders, and tradespeople.
The schemes will include measures such as cavity wall, under-floor and loft insulation, and replacing gas boilers with low carbon alternatives like heat pumps, where appropriate. It will also include installing solar panels on social housing, helping residents on low incomes to generate their own green energy.
The funding allocated to local authorities consists of the £500 million (€578 million) Local Authority Delivery Fund, a component of the Green Homes Grant that will help households with an income of under £30,000 (€34,000) in England save hundreds of pounds per year by improving insulation. A further £62 million (€71.7 million) Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator will explore innovative ways to deliver deep retrofits of social housing, helping to bring down the cost so that it can be scaled-up and rolled out to homes across the UK in future.
UK Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “We are ensuring households across the country enjoy warmer homes that are cheaper to heat and emit fewer emissions, all while creating new work for local plumbers, builders, and tradespeople.
“This is an initial down-payment on the UK Government’s plan to invest over £9 billion (€10.4 billion) into eradicating fuel poverty, improving the lives and homes of low-income households.
“This is yet another important step we are taking to eliminate our contribution to climate change and build back greener from the pandemic.”
Emissions from domestic properties currently account for approximately 25% of the UK’s carbon emissions. These green home projects will help cut more than 70,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere annually – equivalent to the total direct and indirect carbon footprint produced by around 9,000 UK households.
The funding will enable over 200 local authorities across England and Scotland to fund a nationwide upgrade of the UK’s least energy efficient and fuel-poor homes, helping to reduce carbon emissions and support green jobs.
According to the government, the funding will help to transform more than 50,000 low income households and social housing properties, as well as supporting over 8,000 energy sector jobs annually, including plumbers, builders, and tradespeople.
The schemes will include measures such as cavity wall, under-floor and loft insulation, and replacing gas boilers with low carbon alternatives like heat pumps, where appropriate. It will also include installing solar panels on social housing, helping residents on low incomes to generate their own green energy.
The funding allocated to local authorities consists of the £500 million (€578 million) Local Authority Delivery Fund, a component of the Green Homes Grant that will help households with an income of under £30,000 (€34,000) in England save hundreds of pounds per year by improving insulation. A further £62 million (€71.7 million) Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator will explore innovative ways to deliver deep retrofits of social housing, helping to bring down the cost so that it can be scaled-up and rolled out to homes across the UK in future.
UK Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “We are ensuring households across the country enjoy warmer homes that are cheaper to heat and emit fewer emissions, all while creating new work for local plumbers, builders, and tradespeople.
“This is an initial down-payment on the UK Government’s plan to invest over £9 billion (€10.4 billion) into eradicating fuel poverty, improving the lives and homes of low-income households.
“This is yet another important step we are taking to eliminate our contribution to climate change and build back greener from the pandemic.”
Emissions from domestic properties currently account for approximately 25% of the UK’s carbon emissions. These green home projects will help cut more than 70,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere annually – equivalent to the total direct and indirect carbon footprint produced by around 9,000 UK households.
