The Government have already axed their flagship Green Homes Grant scheme just 6 months after their initial promise to build back greener from the pandemic.
Whilst the scheme has been reportedly riddled with administration issues, many vulnerable households that could have benefitted from the scheme will now be left with little option to finance the necessary upgrades to their homes. The scheme was also set to secure many jobs over the next year.
Claims that have already been submitted will still be honoured, however, this move has come under scrutiny from those across the industry.
The abandonment of the £1.5bn program, which offered households grants of up to £5,000 or £10,000 to put in insulation or low-carbon heating, leaves the UK without a plan for tackling one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
People who have had their applications for vouchers under the scheme accepted will receive any money owed, but no new applications will be accepted after the end of this month.
Green campaigners said the scrapping of the program– the only major green stimulus policy yet announced by the government and originally expected to create tens of thousands of green jobs – came as a serious blow as the government prepares to host vital UN climate talks, called Cop26, this November.
Ed Matthew, campaigns director at the E3G thinktank, said: “The demise of the green homes grant is an embarrassment, and a disaster in terms of the UK getting on track to net zero. Emissions from buildings and transport have flatlined over the last 10 years. If we don’t have programmes to tackle this, we have no hope of meeting the net zero target.”
The government has announced that £74m in funding has been allocated to over 100 Local Authorities for some energy efficiency upgrades due to take place by June, but this move is certainly a blow for the Government’s own net zero ambitions.
Scrapping the green homes grants leaves the 20m households on moderate incomes without any government help to undertake the improvements necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Heating the UK’s draughty homes makes up about 14% of the country’s carbon emissions, according to the Committee on Climate Change, and successive efforts to tackle the problem have run into problems. The failure of the green homes grant follows the abandonment in 2015 of the previous scheme, the green deal loan scheme.
Solar Energy UK chief executive Chris Hewett said: The decision to scrap the Green Homes Grants Voucher scheme is disappointing and a setback for getting homes net zero ready. We urge the government to swiftly plug the gap left as a result of closing the scheme early in its forthcoming Heat and Buildings Strategy.”