UK Government Announces £2.75 Billion to Upgrade Home Energy Efficiency

The UK government has allocated an additional £2.75 billion to fund home energy efficiency upgrades and heat pump installations through 2028. This includes:

– £1.25 billion extra for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to support insulation and retrofitting of around 140,000 publicly owned housing units.

– £1.5 billion more for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme providing households grants of £7,500 to replace gas boilers with electric heat pumps. This expanded funding can cover over 200,000 heat pump installations.

– £500 million for a new local authority grant scheme assisting 60,000 low-income homes and poorly insulated housing units with upgrades like insulation.

The increased funding aims to lift more households out of fuel poverty while cutting carbon emissions. It provides the market with advanced notice to scale up and deliver widespread improvements.

However, sectors argue the package still falls short of the annual £6 billion needed across all housing to comprehensively cut emissions and energy costs. Going forward, a coordinated cross-party commitment is required to finance the major efficiency push vital for climate and economic goals.

As Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho summarized: “This funding will help us go even further and will improve 200,000 cold, low-income and social homes.”