Government Warned Warm Homes Target Is Not On Track
The CEO of the Warm Homes Council has suggested the government is moving to slowly to meet its warm homes commitments. (Alamy)
3 min read
The director of the National Warm Homes Council has warned that the government is currently not on track to meet its target on insulating homes.
In its manifesto for the July election, Labour said it would upgrade 5m homes over five years as part of its warm homes plan, which is designed to reduce energy bills.
The government then announced in November that up to 300,000 homes would be upgraded over the following year to become more energy efficient.
However, National Warm Homes Council Director Dave Raval said it was a "modest" ambition given that 250,000 upgraded homes was the 2023 target.
He said that while the higher target is "welcome", when it comes to upgrading 5m homes before the next general election, "we're not on track for that at the present time".
Ravel said he believed there is "worry" within government about whether it will hit the target.
"The country's only ever done that once in recent years, 5m homes in five years, and that's a totally different policy landscape — where it was all fitted mainly for free," said Raval.
"I sense there's worry in government, that it is a stretch target and that they don't yet have a plan to meet it."
He told PoliticsHome that there should be a greater focus on protecting insulation to reduce the amount of work that needs to be redone on homes.
"One of the quite sad things in the previous government’s scheme from 2008 to 2012, is that we insulated millions of homes… and they all need doing again, because 80 per cent of people use their loft as storage," said Raval.
"So we say to the government: the one industry that exists, the green growth industry that could scale up quickly, is loft installation protection, and that currently doesn't figure at all in any of their plans, as far as we can tell.
"We're trying to think outside the box to help the government get closer to target."
Andrew Bowie, Conservative MP and a shadow energy secretary, told PoliticsHome the government made "bold claims" on warm homes during the election but "we're yet to see any detail whatsoever".
"With Labour removing the winter fuel allowance from pensioners, with energy bills continuing to go up, with no sign that they're going to go down anytime soon, it's incredibly important that the warm words prior to election turn into action," said Bowie.
"So far, this looks like another broken pledge by a Labour party which is failing to deliver in the areas that they promised."
A Department for Energy Security & Net Zero spokesperson said: “Our Warm Homes Plan will make homes cheaper and cleaner to run, rolling out upgrades from new insulation to solar and heat pumps - with up to 300,000 homes to benefit from upgrades later this year.
“Low-income homeowners and private tenants are also being supported to make energy performance and clean heating upgrades.
"Up to half a million households could also be lifted out of fuel poverty by 2030 in a major boost to standards in the private rental sector."
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