The UK government has injected £3bn to upgrade buildings across the country, making them greener and cheaper to run
Homes, schools and hospitals across England are set to become greener and cheaper to run thanks to a £3bn plan to upgrade buildings.
Homeowners can upgrade their homes under the government’s £2bn Green Homes Grant, with an additional £1bn announced to improve the energy efficiency of publicly owned buildings.
The Green Homes Grant scheme will see the government fund up to two-thirds of the cost of home improvements up to £5,000.
Homeowners with low-incomes, including those on certain benefits, are eligible for a grant covering up to 100% of the cost of works up to £10,000.
Grants will be offered to cover green home improvements ranging from the insulation of walls, floors and roofs, to the installation of double or triple glazing when replacing single glazing, and low-carbon heating like heat pumps or solar thermal.
The scheme aims to cut people’s energy bills and carbon emissions, whilst also supporting over 100,000 jobs in green construction for local plumbers, builders and tradespeople across the UK.
The launch of the Green Homes Grant forms part of a wider plan to upgrade buildings expected to support an additional 120,000 jobs, which also includes:
- £1bn to boost the energy efficiency of public buildings, including schools and hospitals through a Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund
- New measures to ensure nearly 3 million privately rented homes are upgraded to modern energy efficiency standards by 2028
- £50m to improve the energy efficiency of social housing.
‘Make our homes more energy efficient’
Business and energy secretary, Alok Sharma said: “Our plan to upgrade the nation’s buildings and help build back better is good news for jobs, the environment and people’s back pockets, as we reduce emissions and help cut energy bills.
“I urge everyone to visit the Green Home Grants website to see how they can make the most of this fantastic scheme.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak, commented: “We promised to support jobs and protect the environment – and the Green Homes Grant delivers on this.
“We’re giving homeowners, landlords and local authorities the funding they need to hire local tradespeople and make our homes more energy efficient.
“By supporting the green van men and women, we’ll save money, save jobs and save the planet.”
£500m of the of the Green Homes Grant scheme has been assigned for local authorities to provide green home improvements for households with an income of under £30,000.
In a further boost, the government is making £50m available for social housing through a demonstrator project for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). This UK-wide demonstrator scheme will see grants supplied to upgrade the energy efficiency of over 2,000 of the worst-performing social homes.
