The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee report states that efforts to decarbonise UK homes have been significantly hampered – the skills crisis, assurance failures, and poorly designed retrofit schemes all feature in the report
At the time of publication, fewer than 3% of homes are connected to a heat network and fewer than 1% have a heat pump installed. Most homes are still poorly insulated, and two-thirds are draughty, damp, or even overheated.
Efforts to lower energy bills and push clean and secure targets are also not on track. Four in five homes that will be occupied in 2050 have already been built and most will need retrofitting with low carbon heating systems and energy efficiency improvements for the UK to achieve net zero emissions: that’s 29 million homes that need retrofitting by 2050. There are 98% fewer energy efficiency measures being installed in homes compared to the trajectory the UK was on in 2010, and early estimates suggest that around 250,000 homes could be un-mortgageable due to spray foam insulation.
There have been too many, stop-start Government support schemes – at least 10 since 2013 – almost all with short-term funding.
The report recommends several actions to get it back on track
Including:
- Providing certainty through government retrofit support schemes
- Streamlining those same support schemes
- Establish a long term programme to support retrofitting after 2026 in the Warm Homes Plan – this could give a return of £15 for every £1 spent on it.
- Raising awareness of retrofit benefits
- Establish a National Warm Homes Advice Service to offer independent advice for consumers, trusted installers, and financial options
- Upgrading all homes to at least Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) level C – this would deliver £40bn in economic benefits in the next 5 years, and up to £100bn in further benefits over the following decade.
Evidence in the report was taken from several sources, including the Climate Change Committee’s seventh carbon budget.
Bill Esterson MP, chair of the ESNZ Committee said: “The UK’s disastrous lost decade for clean, secure energy is nowhere more evident than in the project to decarbonise and reduce costs for home heating: we are shockingly 98% below the levels of energy efficiency measures being installed in homes relative to the trajectory we were on in 2010.
“The Committee’s report sets out practical, urgent measures to build the consumer, investor and supply chain confidence needed to deliver the Government’s warm homes plans and its central contribution to the energy transition and Net Zero goals.
“Crucially, we need action now on reducing the costs of energy bills. The key will be to reduce the impact of the gas price on what we pay for electricity, but we could achieve a quick win by reducing the policy costs currently on electricity relative to gas. We recognise the legacy this Government inherited and its efforts to move forward but in an ongoing cost-of-living crisis time really is money, and money that we can’t afford. We need clear signals and certainty but more than that we need to start delivering lower energy bills to get this crucial element of clean, secure energy for Britain back on track.”
The committee operates in the interest of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
Industry reacts to the Net Zero Committee report
Yselkla Farmer, CEO of BEAMA, said: “The ESNZ Select Committee has hit upon the crux of the challenge for decarbonising homes in an energy and cost-efficient way, end user engagement. But this can be overcome, and while there may be complexities for some homeowners, better advice is crucial to unlocking the financial and emissions savings under our own roof.
“Government and industry have a duty to ensure everyone can get informed answers to the question, ‘what should I do?’. This must include better advice, as the Committee highlights, but also using the Warm Homes Plan and Clean Heat Strategy to support the diverse options for domestic heat technologies, which we outlined in our recent report.*
“At BEAMA we are committed to developing an advice network for heat electrification as a first objective for this year.”
Amanda Williams, head of environmental sustainability at the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), said: “We are pleased to see the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee highlight the ongoing issues preventing the retrofitting of UK homes at the scale and pace needed. Households continue to suffer the impacts of high energy costs and drafty homes, which can be detrimental to finances, health, and standards of living, as well as severely hampering the drive to net zero.
“CIOB has previously highlighted what the report refers to as ‘stop- start government support schemes’, which undermines their effectiveness. The Green Homes Grant is one such example, where assumptions were made about the capacity within the industry to deliver the energy efficiency improvements on offer.
“Our sector has well-documented skills and worker shortages so instead of short-term, ever-changing schemes, long-term policies that provide a steady pipeline of demand for retrofitting must be the way forward. This would provide the industry with the assurance to invest in training and upskilling the workforce, which in turn gives households confidence that retrofit works will be delivered by suitably qualified people. This is essential to address the current low levels of consumer confidence, which both CIOB and the Committee have highlighted.
“Gaining trust in the industry to deliver high quality retrofit measures is key to improving the take up of support schemes. We would also urge Government to carefully consider the funding of and access to these schemes, as even part-payment towards retrofit work is unaffordable for many when due in one lump sum. CIOB has previously made the case for an interest-free loan scheme to increase uptake, alongside well-advertised and trusted grants, made available over the long -term.
“We also agree with the Committee’s call for EPC rating reform and contributed to the Government’s consultation on this earlier this year. We hope some of our recommendations, along with those made by the Committee, will be incorporated in the consultation response. The current system is not fit for purpose and often fails to fully capture the retrofit measures that would deliver maximum reductions in carbon output from heating our homes and ensure everyone has a warm home in which to live.
“The scale and complexity of the retrofit challenge is daunting, but to overcome it, its vital there is a clear strategy addressing consumer confidence, the provision of advice, and access to and the promotion of schemes and funding. It must also cover ways to raise quality and standards through increasing provision for skills, training and accreditation.”
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