‘Avoidable tragedy’: Dismay as home insulation grant scheme scrapped

Energy UK chief executive says axing the programme ‘before it got off the ground will undermine trust’, reports Zoe Tidman

Frozen out: the government has said the Green Homes Grant scheme will end within days (Getty/iStock)

The government’s decision to scrap its flagship scheme to insulate homes has been met with dismay, with environmentalists calling it a “tragedy” and a step “in the wrong direction” in tackling the climate crisis.

The Green Homes Grant voucher scheme, which provides funding for energy efficient home improvements, will now close for applications within days, after the deadline was brought forward by a year.

The programme was seen as a key component of the government’s climate strategy after it was announced last year.

Ed Matthew from E3G, a climate change think tank, described the decision to end the scheme as a “tragedy that was avoidable”.

“There was plenty of demand for the grants but the scheme was plagued by incompetent administration,” the campaigns director said. “The reality is that we can’t get to net zero without decarbonising our homes.”

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Kate Blagojevic from Greenpeace UK said its end follows a “shambolic rollout”.

“The biggest hole in England’s energy efficiency is private households and you can’t ‘boost’ the situation with a smaller pot of money,” she added. “The government is plain wrong to try and frame it as such.”

Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, announced on Saturday that an extra £300m will be invested in energy-saving upgrades for homes and low carbon heating in England.

But the department said the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme – which lets homeowners take advantage of government funding of up to £10,000 to make properties more energy efficient – will now revert back to ending on 31 March this year.

This was the initial end date after the scheme opened for applications last September. However, it was later extended by a year until March 2022.

“We’re just seven months away from hosting a global climate conference at which we’re supposed to be leading the world on climate action,” Ms Blagojevic said. 

“But we cannot expect anyone to think we’re a credible leader when our own policies on climate action are going in the wrong direction.”

Jess Ralston from the London-based Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) criticised the decision to announce the scheme will be ending earlier than expected four days before the new deadline – which she said “could damage the public perceptions of home upgrades schemes for years to come”.

She added: “Not only leaving tens of thousands of families that were interested now with no way to access support, it’s also a kick in the teeth for businesses that bought into the scheme and invested in new workers trusting that the scheme would have longevity beyond six months.”

Emma Pinchbeck, chief executive of industry representative Energy UK, said there had been “real enthusiasm” from the public for the scheme, but “scrapping it before it got off the ground will undermine trust”.

“Secondly, £300m is not enough to close the gap with the government’s own net zero target,” she added.

Labour accused the government of “staggering ineptitude”, with shadow climate change minister Matthew Pennycook saying the extra funding “doesn’t even come close to plugging the investment gap” by slashing £1bn from the scheme before scrapping it.

Mr Kwarteng had argued that the funding “boost” will mean more houses in England will be able to get “vital” grants through local authorities to carry out upgrades.

The business department said tens of thousands of households will benefit from energy-saving upgrades and low carbon heating through the scheme, with the new funds taking total expenditure this year to £1.3bn.

But £2bn of spending had been expected under the Green Homes Grant scheme.

Last week, the Commons Environmental Audit Committee published a damning assessment of the programme, saying ministers had “significantly underestimated” the cost of upgrading the energy efficiency of domestic homes.

The cross-party group of MPs said “botched” implementation of policies had been “nothing short of disastrous”.

Announcing the new deadline date following a review, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said the scheme was “designed to provide a short-term economic boost while tackling our contribution to climate change”.

The initiative allowed homeowners or residential landlords to apply for vouchers towards the cost of installing energy efficient improvements to their properties, which could include insulation to reduce energy use or low-carbon heating.

Vouchers cover two-thirds of the cost of eligible improvements, and were worth a maximum of £5,000, but could go up to £10,000 and cover the full cost of improvements if a household member was on certain benefits.

A government spokesperson said: “Decarbonising the country’s roughly 30 million buildings will play an essential part in helping us to cut emissions and save people money on their energy bills.”

They added: “That’s why we have announced up to £300m extra through local authorities for green home upgrades, bringing total spending on energy efficiency measures to £1.3bn in the upcoming financial year.”