黑洞社区

The government is in talks to reboot its failed retrofit programme for energy efficiency improvements to homes, the minister in charge of it has said.

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng admitted that the 拢2bn Green Homes Grant, which was scrapped in March, had been 鈥減roblematic鈥�.

But he said that he was in talks with the chancellor to bring back an 鈥渆quivalent鈥� plan to encourage owner occupiers to decarbonise their homes.

In April, a senior figure in the Construction Leadership Council鈥檚 (CLC) net zero team told a 黑洞社区 webinar that Kwarteng had told the CLC that he expected a replacement for the Green Homes Grant to be announced at the next spending review.

The programme has been widely criticised for its chaotic implementation, poor administration and financial impact on many builders and installers.

Launched at the end of September 2020, included 拢1.5bn for householders but just 拢71m of the money had been spent by 22 January. 

Speaking on the BBC鈥檚 Today programme this morning, Kwarteng said that other parts of the programme aimed at improving the energy efficiency of public sector buildings and social housing had worked well.

But he admitted that installers had not had enough time to get accredited to supply owner occupiers who wanted to use the scheme.

Kwarteng also claimed that the price of heat pumps, green heating devices which the government wants installed in buildings to replace gas boilers, could be halved.

He said that Octopus, an energy supplier, had told him the price of heat pumps could 鈥渧ery quickly鈥� come down to as low as 拢5000.

The systems can cost more than 拢10,000, although the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy admitted in May that the price of ground source heat pumps, which extract heat from the ground, can be up to 拢35,000.

Kwarteng added that the costs will start to fall once the government has made a 鈥渧ery clear indication鈥� that it plans to support heat pumps, encouraging suppliers to invest in their production.

But heat pumps have also proved controversial because of their size, the cost of running them, the disruption they cause during installation, the noise which they can make and the slow speed at which they generate heat.

Conservative backbench MP John Redwood said that the government needs to work with industry to 鈥渃ome up with solutions that people want to adopt鈥�.

Redwood said: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e only going to get millions of people finding the money and putting a heat pump on their Christmas list if it鈥檚 affordable, or if it鈥檚 better or if it makes sense鈥�. 

鈥淚 would urge the government to work with the industry to come up with something which is better and preferably cheaper鈥�.

Brian Berry, Federation of Master Builders chief executive, said today that heat pumps 鈥渨on鈥檛 deliver鈥� and that the technology will need to advance before they can be considered a viable solution to decarbonising homes.

But representatives from the heat pump industry have accused the government of failing to give the systems the backing required to generate confidence among manufacturers to scale up production and bring down costs.

The government鈥檚 plan for decarbonising buildings is set to be outlined in its long-delayed heat and building strategy, which is expected to be published this autumn.