Heat and Buildings Strategy: Green economy reacts, expressing hopes for more funding and tighter deadlines

The Strategy confirms heat pumps as the Government's preferred technology for decarbonising home heating in the near-term

The Strategy has been published this evening (18 October), having originally been floated for autumn 2020. It includes a £3.9bn package, of which £450m will be spent on grants subsidising the upfront cost of heat pumps for homes.

With heat for buildings accounting for 21% of the UK’s annual national emissions, the Strategy intends to decarbonize activities that will be essential to abate if the 2050 net-zero target is to be delivered and interim carbon budgets adhered to.

Here, edie rounds up all the key reactions from across the UK’s green economy, taking the mood on the Government’s approach. More reactions will be added as we receive them.

The UK Green Building Council’s chief executive Julie Hirigoyen said: “UKGBC welcomes today’s recognition by Government that we must move away from heating our buildings with fossil fuels – and that households must be helped to make the transition to clean electric heating.  

“However, phasing out gas boilers from 2035 is not ambitious enough – there needs to be a clear cut-off date from 2030 to put us on track to meet net-zero. And £5,000 grants will help just 30,000 households – a drop in the ocean in the context of the 900,000 annual installations we need to see by 2028. Worse still, there’s no targeted financial help at all for low-income households to embark on the journey to clean electric heating – meaning that the gap between rich and poor will widen, not close.  

!Yet more concerning is the Strategy’s failure to address several key priorities that UKGBC’s recent work has shown are non-negotiable to a net-zero carbon built environment by 2050. The most crucial of these include a large scale domestic retrofit programme; energy performance standards that rely on actual energy use; and an immediate drive to tackle embodied carbon emissions from construction and whole life  

“This Strategy provides scant further detail on any of these aspects, and falls well short of what is required to make the transition to clean heat speedy and fair.”

KPMG’s vice chair and head of energy and natural resources, Simon Virley, said: “The ambition set out in the Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy is laudable and the measures to support the take-up of heat pumps and end the sale of gas boilers are welcome.

“But this next phase of decarbonisation is going to be far more intrusive than anything we have experienced to date. It will involve homeowners making big investments in their homes and fundamentally changing the way people use their energy. So we need far greater engagement with the public, at a national and a local level, about the choices we all now face in our own homes and buildings. 

“We have to learn the lessons of past failed policies on heat and energy efficiency and keep the focus on consumers and overcoming the barriers to the take-up of these new low carbon technologies if we are to make progress at the rate needed to hit our climate change targets.”

MCS’s chief executive Ian Rippin said: “For our installers, it’s encouraging to see the launch of this grant being lined up to follow the closure of the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), which ends in March 2022. This should provide much-needed policy support that we hope is part of a longer-term commitment from the Government.

“The £450m allocated over three years is more than the rumoured £100m, and this should deliver up to 90,000 new heat pump installations over the period – a boost for the sector.

“However, when you look at the figures, this sum is still nowhere near enough to transform the heating of 29 million properties across the UK. Government funding must increase exponentially if we are to achieve the government’s target of 600,000 total heat pump installations a year by 2028 – of which half will be retrofit. Effectively, from 2025 there will be just three years to make this jump happen in line with this current policy.”

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said: “A heat pump in a poorly insulated home just won’t work.  It’s like buying a teapot with cracks in it; leaky, inefficient and a waste of money. We need joined-up action on climate change and a comprehensive, well-funded home insulation scheme – not token gestures.” 

Friends of the Earth’s head of science Mike Childs said: “Of course this is presented to look fantastic, and with industry backing, but a quick glance reveals it to be quite modest. £450m pounds delivered via individual £,5000 grants means 90,000 heat pump installations over three years. That just isn’t very much, and won’t meet the Prime Minister’s ambition of 600,000 a year by 2028. Investment will drive down the cost of heat pumps, and technical innovation plus skills training is a part of this, but so is scale. These grants will only incentivise the best-off households.”

“£950m over three years for the home upgrade scheme just won’t drive the scale of energy efficiency needed in both private and rented sectors. This is a start, it’s just not a very good one when the many benefits of a really generous scheme are abundantly clear: from warm, healthy homes to slashed emissions, with jobs to boot.”

Octopus Energy’s chief executive and founder Greg Jackson said: “By scaling up the technology and supply chain in Britain, innovative companies like ours will soon be able to fit and run heat pumps without any Government support, bringing us one step closer to making the UK the Silicon Valley of Energy and creating thousands of clean energy jobs throughout the country. 
 
“Electric heat pumps are more efficient, safer and cleaner than gas boilers and can help make homes more comfortable with less energy. Today we’ve crossed a massive milestone in our fight against climate change and to reduce Britain’s reliance on expensive, dirty gas.” 

E.ON UK’s chief executive Michael Lewis said: “With the right policy framework in place, we’re confident the cost of a heat pump can be reduced by up to half over the coming years. We welcome proposals in the Heat and Buildings Strategy which are designed to tackle this issue head-on, making the green option the default option.  Once we have mass demand, commercial innovation in installation and economies of scale will take over to reduce costs and give customers greater confidence in what is already a tried and trusted technology for many around the world.”    

The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit’s (ECIU) acting director Sepi Golzari-Munro said: “This year’s gas price shock has brought home the UK’s vulnerability to the geopolitical whims of Putin’s Russia and other potentially unfriendly regimes. But by reducing our dependence on volatile global gas markets and transitioning to clean heating systems, the Prime Minister has succeeded in prioritising the UK’s energy security while levelling up the country. Boosting industry and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs up and down the UK is emerging as a clear co-benefit of his net-zero agenda.

“What’s more, the new grants, alongside plans to shift levies away from electricity bills, will make good on the Government’s drive to ensure that going green is the natural and obvious choice for consumers, ensuring heat pumps are no more expensive – and perhaps even cheaper – than installing and running a new gas boiler.”

GMB’s national secretary Andy Pendergast said: “A proposed £5,000 installation grant will not be enough to bridge the cost gap between gas boilers and heat pumps and, even after the higher installation costs, customers pay an average £250 more a year in running costs.

“Additionally, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has warned that there are not enough heat pump installers to meet the Government’s targets, with no clear new funding being announced today to invest in a workforce that currently does not exist at any serious scale.

“This is the wrong plan that ducks the hard questions on the future of home heating.”

The Aldersgate Group’s head of policy Ana Musat said: “Decarbonising the UK’s built environment is a significant challenge, but one that comes with major opportunities – including job creation potential, reducing the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels, and delivering lower bills for customers. The strategy is set to include important measures for realising that vision, such as a commitment to accelerate the installation of heat pumps, innovation funding to bring down the cost of installation, and grants to help households meet the upfront cost. All of these measures are fundamental to deliver a fair transition to clean heat, mobilising critical private sector investment and growing supply chains.
 
“To build on these strong foundations, Government should set clear regulatory and fiscal measures to drive the uptake of energy efficiency retrofits, which will be key to lowering energy bills and tackling fuel poverty, as well as reducing demand on the grid. Energy efficiency retrofits can also create significant economic activity and job creation, being labour-intensive and rooted in local supply chains: 108,000 net new jobs could be created annually until 2030 through energy efficiency. There is also potential to scale up these projects by investing in skills, for instance through the rapid implementation of the Green Jobs Taskforce’s recommendations. Measures like the rollout of minimum energy efficiency standards for domestic buildings and commercial properties and a reduction of VAT for energy efficiency retrofits will be essential in creating demand and attracting investment into insulation and deep retrofits.”

The Energy Saving Trust’s head of policy Stew Horne said: “With the climate emergency upon us, there is no time to waste and we need to take positive action. We must make our homes more energy-efficient and move away from our reliance on fossil fuels for heating. Heat pumps are an important low carbon heating technology that will help the UK reach its net-zero targets and we need real pace and scale in their rollout in our homes.

“The Heat and Buildings strategy is a good start and sets out the much-needed policies that will make heat pumps more attractive to householders and help them to switch over to low carbon heating. This ambition should help provide the confidence, clarity and certainty which will help unlock the investment in the supply chain required to make this happen. But we still need more clarity about the detail of how this ambition is going to be delivered and we look forward to working with the Government on developing these policies and delivery strategies over the coming months.”

The Corporate Leaders Group’s director Eliot Whittington said: “The standard set by the Heat and Buildings Strategy is a long-overdue stride in the right direction and a welcome commitment by the UK towards action on the transition to net-zero by 2050. There are significant gaps to bridge, including the level of funding on offer being less than half the manifesto promise. But it is vital the Government sticks to its guns, letting nothing slip and making sure that instead of abandoning measures that need more work, they are strengthened as the strategy is delivered.”

The Centre for Ageing Better’s director of communications and influencing Louise Ansari said: “We welcome today’s announcement that householders will be able to access new funding to install low carbon heating. Without decarbonising our housing stock, there is no way for the UK to reach our net-zero commitments. However, with 4.1 million of our homes not meeting even basic standards of decency, which means they pose a serious threat to people’s health, safety and wellbeing, it’s vital that these upgrades are delivered in a co-ordinated way that seizes opportunities to improve our nation’s homes more generally. 

“For example, it’s concerning that the Green Homes Grant has not been replaced. With thousands dying each year due to cold homes, improving the energy efficiency of homes is an open goal as it will also tackle fuel poverty while helping to reduce emissions. 

“The need to improve the quality of our homes is urgent. Today’s announcement is a step in the right direction, but these measures need to be part of a holistic strategy to tackle poor-quality housing across the country.”

Heat Pump Association chair Phil Hurley said: “The industry in the best shape it has ever been, with sales this year already double those seen ever before. 
 
“This announcement is timed perfectly to take advantage of the Heat Pump Association’s recently-launched training course, with the industry now ready to retrain the UK’s army of installers with the capacity to train up to 40,000 per year, to ensure consumers can find a suitably trained and skilled heat pump installer when they need one.”

The Environmental Audit Committee’s (EAC) chair Philip Dunne MP said: “This is a positive start and gives the demand signal industry has been waiting for as we move to stem the colossal emissions from our homes. The allocation of £3.9bn to decarbonise buildings over the next three years is a significant move ahead of COP26.

“However, the policy is yet to meet the ambition with heat pump installations, in particular for owner-occupiers. Ministers have previously announced the target to install 600,000 heat pumps by 2028, yet the announcement today only supports installation of 90,000 over the next three years. This is a good start but is less than offered initially through the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution announced last year. As yet, there is little acknowledgment that effective use of heat pumps requires buildings to be properly insulated. Our Committee’s evidence highlighted that insulation costs can double the current cost of a heat pump for many of the 19 million homes that have an EPC rating of less than C.

“Offering grants for heat pump installation can incentivise consumers, but with charges on electricity bills rather than gas, there is little to incentivise the ongoing costs. Our Committee called for moving these levies onto gas bills rather than electricity bills, and I welcome the Government announcement of consultation with a view to taking this forward.

“Cautious – but encouraging – steps have been taken to advance the use of hydrogen in our energy mix within the Government’s plans. It is welcome that the Government is awaiting trials of hydrogen being used in our gas mains before deciding whether to proceed in 2026.”

WSP’s managing director for water, energy and industry, Mark Hurley, said: The ambition set out in the Strategy to boost the take-up of heat pumps and reduce the use of gas boilers is welcome. So too the greater clarity on support for the transition to affordable energy which is so important for both businesses and homeowners across the country.

“Decarbonising heat in buildings – both residential and commercial – will be a cornerstone of our national transition to net-zero and cannot be understated.

“The continued development of new technologies to heat our homes and offices will significantly reduce the UK’s dependency on fossil fuels, but clear challenges remain. To assure the vital direction of travel envisaged in this Strategy, a clear and honest conversation with the public is required on the cost and options around new solutions such as heat pumps. This must be accompanied by meaningful investment in appropriate green skills and jobs. The acknowledgement of the potential of hydrogen to decarbonise heat is also welcome, but industry would benefit from a decision being taken on its exact role earlier than 2026.”

PWC clean energy specialist Jon Massam said: “Moving to low-carbon heat is arguably one of the biggest challenges on the essential journey to net-zero, requiring decades of work and many billions of pounds worth of investment. A long-term strategy with clear signposts for investors will be an important component in securing private capital to support the transition.

“This announcement sets out the huge opportunity to retrofit old gas boilers with new low carbon heat solutions such as heat pumps. Our previous research suggested the need for as much as £11bn in investment to reach the Government’s earlier 2028 installation target of 600,000 heat pumps per year, so it’s clear that there will always be more to do. This strategy provides a signal for industry to begin to tackle that challenge and we should welcome that.  

“Government’s ambition for all new heating systems installed in the UK to be low carbon by 2035 will require changes to consumer behaviour, as heat pumps are not currently familiar to the public. But as we have seen with electric vehicles, given enough lead time the market can respond to help the consumer understand the benefits and provide viable, competitive alternatives. 

“What remains to be seen is just how far the grants will go in terms of the total heat pumps installed. This is challenging to predict as many UK homes are unique, resulting in a wide range of installation costs. The impetus in the short term will be for the sector to use this announcement to identify where there are the best commercial opportunities for heat pump deployment and build progress.”

PWC Net-Zero Hub for Government lead Zlatina Loudjeva said: “The transition to low carbon heating options is essential for achieving net-zero targets but has to be done with investment in the skills and supply chains needed to deliver the ambition. 

“Public awareness of the climate emergency is at an all-time high so we expect a rapid uptake and demand for change.  We also know customers are increasingly prepared to pay more for green solutions. The transition to cleaner heating options is an opportunity for businesses to provide new services and products. However, it can only work if there is an adequate supply of skills on the market. 

“The Government’s clear strategy and commitment should be a signal for rapid investment in reskilling or/and upskilling and creating the right supply chains to underpin the ambition.”

E3G’s senior policy advisor for place-based transitions Juliet Phillips said: “A nationwide retrofit drive of our leaky homes is mission-critical for net-zero and the Government’s ambition to ‘level up’ opportunity and living standards across the UK. It’s great to see that the Prime Minister has landed firmly on the right side of the heat pump culture wars, but we mustn’t forget the unsung hero of energy efficiency.

“The Treasury can supercharge a green home retrofit drive through the new green gilt – which has committed the UK to an additional £10bn of green spending – and offering attractive deals to households and local authorities through the new UK Infrastructure Bank.” 

Citizens Advice’s chief executive Dame Clare Moriarty said: “Soaring energy prices are forcing people to make desperate choices this winter when it comes to paying for essential bills and food. The situation has highlighted the urgent need for all our homes to be more energy-efficient.

“This strategy is a welcome step, but there is a key piece missing – simplifying protections for consumers who will need to make major, potentially complicated, changes to their homes. It’s vital the government moves forward with plans to provide the information, support and protections people need to make these changes. 

“The boiler upgrade grant will make a big difference and should help bring down upfront costs for heat pumps. But making changes to homes can be complex and the scale of change needed won’t be achieved without more support. Homeowners, who will bear the cost of home improvements, must have a range of ways to pay for any changes including through mortgage lenders and other low-cost finance offers.”  

BEIS Committee chair Darren Jones said:  “Improving insulation in our homes and installing low carbon heating is not only the right thing to do for our planet but it will also improve the quality of life in our homes and reduce energy bills.

“But the Government has to learn the lessons for the string of failures in the past. These schemes should be delivered in partnership with local councils – not just outsourced to the cheapest company from London – and run alongside a national campaign to raise people’s understanding about the changes that will have to take place in our homes.

“The Government must also work with industry and trade unions to ensure the many workers across the country see the move away from gas not as a risk to their job but an opportunity to re-skill for the new green jobs of the future.”

Renewable Energy Assurance’s chief executive Virginia Graham said: “RECC members will benefit from the continuity the new boiler grant scheme offers them, following the closure of the Domestic RHI to new generators on 31 March 2022, and should now be able to scale up their installation rates. However, todays’ proposals of £450m in grants mean just 90,000 heat pump installations over three years and leave us a long way off the Prime Minister’s ambition of 600,000 a year by 2028.

“The consumer benefits from Government’s plans will also be limited until heat pumps become more affordable. Whilst we support the Government’s plan to work with industry to reduce the cost of buying and installing heat pumps, early adopters won’t necessarily benefit from this ambition and most installations currently cost more than the £5,000 grant being offered. Unfortunately, this means the announcements today will only incentivise the most well-off households.”

“RECC has worked with partners like the Green Finance Institute to increase lender confidence and open up new funding options. These are the types of solutions we need, so long as the systems are well designed and installed, and homes can be sufficiently insulated, that will allow consumers to do the right thing for the environment that is cost-effective.”

Stonewater’s executive director Patrick Chauvin said: We have been calling for the publication of a roadmap for this for some time, and so we’re pleased to see the breadth of commitment and revised targets. This will not only support us in tackling the climate emergency, but also help the sector to lift thousands of households out of fuel poverty.

“We have long advocated the importance and role of heat pumps in the decarbonisation of housing and are pleased that the Government has also recognised this through additional support to make them more affordable.

“Critical to the success of delivering the plans outlined in the Strategy is adequate funding. Our research found that over the next ten years, it would require a total investment of £36bn to meet the scale of action needed to decarbonise the 1.76 million social rented homes that currently fail to meet EPC of C. The government’s additional funding of £800m for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is welcome, but doesn’t go far enough.

“We hope today’s announcement will give more housing providers the confidence to pursue sustainability strategies, as the sector continues to lead the way to implement positive changes to achieve net-zero.”

The University of Sussex’s senior lecturer in energy policy Dr Marie Clair Brisbois said: “Supporting heat pump uptake appears to be an easy solution for our net-zero targets. With heat pumps, we are switching from polluting gas boilers to green electricity-powered heating and cooling sources.

“However, converting to heat pumps is just one piece of the puzzle. In many cases, home energy retrofits will be required before it is even possible to fit a heat pump. Retrofits make homes warmer and make it so that much less heat is needed to feel comfortable.

“Supporting retrofits means that the government will be helping the public to use less energy overall. However, this means that energy suppliers will be selling much less energy. This is problematic for suppliers because their business models demand ever-increasing profits. More energy-efficient homes mean less energy is sold and profits decrease. Unless suppliers can come up with creative means to shift their business models, they have every reason to oppose – or at least not support – incentives for energy efficiency measures.

Baxi Heating’s managing director Karen Boswell said: “We firmly believe that all viable technologies have a place, including electrification, hydrogen, and deployment of low carbon heat networks. BEIS is wise to leave these options open as it is abundantly clear that no single solution will deliver net-zero.”

“We must collectively deliver a just energy transition, ensuring no households are left behind. Running cost is a critical consideration and fuel poverty has no place in one of the world’s leading economies.  As such we have concerns over the proposals to reallocate the levy cost aspect of electricity bills onto gas bills over time. This is a sensitive topic that needs to be carefully considered.  In our white paper, we proposed an alternative approach which has the desired effect of improving cost-competitiveness of heat pump technology without disadvantage to those less able to pay or unable to join the first wave of switching to low carbon heat.”

Green Angel Syndicate chief executive Nick Lyth said: “This is a technology problem.  The reason for the Government’s delays in publishing this Strategy is the absence of any clear solution.  Air-source heat pumps are, as we speak, not yet fit for purpose.  There is currently no better alternative.  Our work now must be on improving the technology, so that it is fit for purpose.  And finding workable alternatives.”

Ramboll’s energy strategy and planning specialist Guy Milligan: “This may be intended to soften the introduction for homeowners, but will only serve to make it more complex further down the line. A £450m pot and £5’000 per home is a start, but we also need to see consideration of the whole life cost of a heat pump and a commitment to developing the supporting infrastructure that will ensure this switch doesn’t end up costing consumers and delivers the energy savings promised.

“Heat pumps operate most efficiently when a building has a high energy performance, but most UK buildings fall well below the standard required, so homeowners will also need to spend on measures such as double or triple glazed windows, improved wall and roof insulation and larger heat emitters like underfloor heating. Without this. the heat pump will require a higher level of electrical input that simply means higher energy bills, and electricity has recently been three times the price of gas. If this strategy is to succeed then alongside encouraging heat pump adoption Ministers must commit to reducing the price of electricity by shifting levies away from electricity to gas – market intervention is essential.

“Ultimately we’ll have to see the details of the new grant scheme and see how the market responds, since there is no obligation to replace a gas boiler until 2035, which seems a long way off. The Government must ensure these new heating systems – yes, heat pumps but also district heating systems and green gas – are sustainably introduced for the long-term, and not just to meet temporary targets.”

Ashden’s chief executive Harriet Lamb said:  “We have recently witnessed the impact of skills shortages on the haulage industry and the resulting fuel crisis. The installer skills gap is also a key blockage that we were expecting the  Heat and Buildings Strategy to clear. There is a massive gap between the UK’s current capacity and the sheer volume of work needed to retrofit homes, install heat pumps and achieve zero-carbon by 2050.  

“Pioneering organisations are showing how communities, councils and social enterprises can meet the challenge but it needs also long-term government action to incentivise a large-scale, national, roll out to build and retrofit greener. In the run-up to COP, the government can show true leadership. It’s good for the climate and good for decent jobs and skills, boosting the economy.” 

Gowling WLG’s environment specialist Ben Stansfield said: “Housebuilders and homeowners alike have been crying out for further clarity on greener building measures and with COP26 looming large, it’s no surprise to see the government turning up the mood music early with its Heat and Buildings Strategy.

“All eyes will now be on the Chancellor to see whether he will double down on the greener buildings agenda at next week’s Budget.  Other big-ticket announcements that could make the final cut include further tax incentives for homeowners that employ energy-efficient measures, a possible new directive targeted at halving emissions from government buildings and tax breaks to developers who prioritise safeguarding biodiversity and habitat creation in new ventures. Green building passports, which go beyond EPCs to embrace other resources such as water could also be on the cards and we might also see a reinvigorated version of the Green Homes Grant announced, though any new incarnation would need to seriously address the multiple issues encountered since the initial launch in 2020.”

The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology’s (REA) director of policy Frank Bold said: “This Strategy offers some good news, particularly on the ‘heating our homes’ front. 

“The £450m Boiler Upgrade Scheme offering £5000 grants and the ambition for all new heating systems to be low-carbon from 2035 are significant and will go some way to help the move away from our over-reliance on fossil gas boilers. The Government’s pledge to work with industry to drive down costs will also make this transition much more affordable for many people.

“We are also advocating a removal of VAT on domestic renewables and clean technologies to help reduce the carbon and bills burden from our homes – if the Government took this sensible step, it would open up access even further and provide a major catalyst to the sector.”  

“However, it is disappointing that the industrial side of heat decarbonisation has again received less attention. In lieu of a replacement for the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), a major policy vacuum has opened up at a time when the drive towards industrial heat decarbonisation should have been intensifying. This Strategy does little to close that gap and its year-long delay has curtailed the renewable heat sector’s routes to market. 

“It is clear that we need a multi-technology approach to both domestic and industrial heat decarbonisation, with a need for greater roles for biomethane, clean hydrogen, biomass, heat pumps, deep geothermal and other low carbon heat technologies.”  

Signify UKI’s chief executive Stephen Rouatt said: “Decarbonising the UK’s built environment is a significant challenge that also comes with major opportunities – accelerating the adoption of energy-efficient solutions, products and job creation.

“While the ambition set out by the Strategy is a step in the right direction, it is simply not enough and is not designed for quick or big wins. The government needs to encourage energy-efficient retrofits in the built environment and better plan new infrastructure development with a focus in technologies that can expedite reduction of carbon emissions. LED lighting is one of the quickest renovations that dramatically cuts carbon – it does not require large capital investments and has a short payback time. It is a major counterbalance to the disadvantages of locking in carbon consequential in new developments by refreshing and repurposing existing building stock. It can also reduce electricity demand in existing buildings to the point that, for example, the renovation of gas boilers to heat pumps will not require new electricity supply infrastructure thanks to the reduced energy demand of the new lighting system.”

The Centre for Sustainable Energy’s head of household energy Ian Preston said:  “It’s good to see low-carbon technologies like heat pumps becoming mainstream in the new Strategy, but the major challenge will be ensuring work is done first to ensure they work effectively and actually deliver low carbon and lower energy bills.

“We need joined-up solutions to organise supply chains around green housing retrofit and low carbon heating installation, alongside support and independent advice for homeowners to make these changes.

“From our recent experience with the failed Green Homes Grant scheme, where hundreds of people contacted us for advice, we know people need support and guidance through the process of low-carbon home improvements.  Currently, there’s no funding available for CSE or other impartial advice agencies to support people on this journey and it is unlikely heat decarbonisation targets will be met without this support.

“A big challenge with the Green Homes Grant scheme was finding contractors who were able to do the necessary work… growing the supply chain takes long-term investment and further skills and training to bring new people into the sector. Alongside an economic stimulus, we need to see an expansion of green skills and apprentices. Installing solid wall insulation or heat pumps correctly is a skilled job and this must be seen as a valuable career path by young people today. We need to see a minimum of 100,000 new jobs in this space.”

edie Staff

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