Funding boost designed to 'green' homes of low-income families and social housing tenants, but RIBA warns new support is 'simply not enough'
The government has today announced a £562m cash boost for local authorities designed to make tens of thousands of the UK's leakiest homes more energy efficient, including £19.4m to decarbonise the estate where the Grenfell Tower stands.
The funding will allow 300 local authorities across England and Scotland to deliver green improvements to roughly 50,000 of the UK's least energy efficient and fuel poor homes, the government said, as it seeks to respond to growing criticism over its plans to improve domestic energy efficiency.
The new schemes will be targeted at low-income households and those living in social housing, and will fund a range of measures, from enhanced insulation, the installation of on-site solar energy, and the replacement of gas boilers with low-carbon alternatives.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng described the funding announcement as an "initial down payment" on the government's commitment to invest £9.2bn on improving the energy efficiency of homes, arguing the move would support jobs and help the UK "build back greener" from the pandemic.
"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," he said. "This is an initial down payment on the government's plan to invest over £9bn 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."
The government confirmed £500m of the funding has been drawn from the Local Authority Delivery Fund, a component of the Green Homes Grant launched last autumn, while £62m is to be provided from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator project which was unveiled in 2020.
The funding is announced as the government faces growing pressure to set out how it intends to decarbonise the UK's draughty homes in line with the UK's net zero target, in the wake of Ministers' recent decision to significantly slash the budget of its flagship energy efficiency retrofit programme, the Green Homes Grant. Earlier this week, MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee warned the government had 'failed to grasp' the scale of the challenge and had significantly underestimated the cost of making homes more energy efficient while reducing their reliance on gas heating systems. The UK's 29 million domestic properties produce a fifth of its carbon emissions and remain largely powered by fossil fuels.
The government estimates the English and Scottish green home projects that secured funding today would help cut 70,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere and support roughly 8,000 jobs annually.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London has been awarded £19.4m to upgrade 535 low-income homes on the Lancaster West Estate adjacent to the now-derelict Grenfell Tower, which local and national government have committed to transform into a carbon neutral estate by 2040.
Meanwhile, Leeds City Council has been awarded almost £10m to retrofit 600 homes across the city-region and South Tyneside Council £5.35m to upgrade 1,570 properties across a number of towns and villages, the government revealed. Portsmouth City Council has been granted £9.4m to upgrade 1,200 low efficiency homes across Hampshire and Wychavon District Council £5.8m to upgrade 236 rural and sheltered properties.
Fenland District Council, Cornwall Council, Aberdeen City Council, Argyll & Bute Council, Manchester City Council, Mansfield District Council have also been allocated a portion of the funds.
However, the Royal Institute of British Architect (RIBA) gave the new announcement a decidedly mixed welcome. "Considering the need to address fuel poverty, I'm pleased to see the Government prioritise the upgrade of lower-income homes," said RIBA President Alan Jones. "But this pledge seriously underplays the scale of the problem. At least 19 million UK homes require retrofitting: the £562m announced today to fund the upgrade of 50,000 is simply not enough.
"As the Environmental Audit Committee recommended earlier this week, to reach the government's net zero target, we need an adequately funded National Retrofit Strategy. The strategy must also consider how people can be encouraged to update their own homes by reforming taxes such as stamp duty, council and inheritance tax... The government must go further and faster to save our shameful housing stock."