Date
UK politics and policy Climate, energy and net-zero

Delivering Warm Homes: The plan for a Labour Government

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We were commissioned to develop this report by Sureserve. It provides a framework for the UK government as it seeks to develop its Warm Homes Plan - highlighting the key challenges that have stymied progress to date and the opportunity to do things differently.

The report is the product of Sureserve’s extensive experience in retrofitting and social housing, as well as ongoing engagement with NGOs, research bodies, consumer advice groups, social housing providers and residents.

To date, the UK has made limited progress in rolling out energy efficiency and low carbon heat measures - hampered by stop/start cycles in funding, a lack of public awareness and understanding, fragmented regulation and the absence of a single clear plan to deliver retrofit. This is not just an issue of carbon emissions and missed climate targets, but energy bills, standards of living and health inequalities – inevitably felt most acutely by the poorest households. The new government’s energy mission and corresponding Warm Homes Plan present a fresh impetus to look again at what is required to lower bills, reduce emissions and create genuinely warm homes.

 

Key opportunities

 

  • Improving personalised advice - Home Energy Scotland is a one-stop shop providing tailored, localised advice for consumers on grants and incentives, ways to reduce demand and finding accredited installers for retrofit measures.
  • Engaging the hardest-to-reach communities – Warmworks identifies where there is the greatest need and coordinates every stage of installing energy efficiency measures as part of a tailored, personalised service. 
  • Encouraging traditional gas boiler engineers to upskill – a research project by Nesta and Surrey Council offered insight into what motivates heat pump installers – motivations include consumer demand and a desire for a mixed portfolio of work. 
  • Delivering better resident engagement to ensure work is done with residents, not to residents – Dyson Energy Services and Hyde’s retrofit pilot exemplifies the importance of engaging residents at every stage of retrofit, ensuring they can maximise the benefits of new technologies and measures.
  • Implementing area-based retrofit - Leeds City Council’s “priority neighbourhoods” approach helped to target the most deprived areas by consolidating funding streams.

 

Key recommendations

 

  • Consistency and clarity in policy, regulation and funding
  • A positive offer to households, local authorities and housing associations
  • Identifying and prioritising those in greatest need

The views expressed in this report can be attributed to the named author(s) only.