Government's new direction on energy funding
Landlords will be able to benefit from extensions to two funding schemes, offering cash to fund new low carbon heating systems and grants for low income households.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme currently awards up to £7,500 to upgrade a property’s boiler to a low carbon heat pump, with the Warm Home Discount (WHD) scheme providing a one-off £150 rebates to households experiencing fuel poverty.
What changes are planned?
Boiler Upgrade Scheme
The Government wants to expand the initiative to support a wider range of heating technologies, after consulting on plans to provide funding for air-to-air heat pumps (AAHPs) - essentially heat pumps that can cool as well as heat.
It also want to open the scheme to landlords as well as owner-occupiers.
Under the new measures, landlords will be eligible for a £2,500 grant towards tha installation of an AAHP. This grant will cover a significant portion of the cost, with the average price being around £3,000, with the scheme continuing to offer £7,500 for the installation of a traditional air and ground-source heat pumps.
In time it intends to support other technologies, including heat batteries at the same £2,500 level once installation and product standards are finalised - and is also taking steps to make the certification process for the installations simpler.
Warm Home Discount
The Government wants to broaden eligibility so that more households qualify for support, while also simplifying administration by automatically enrolling most eligible recipients.
Payments would be made directly, reducing the need for individuals to navigate complex application processes.
In our response to the consultation we expressed strong support for the proposals, noting that a simpler and more accessible system is a positive step that will help ensure support reaches those who need it most.
We also urged the Government to ensure that tenants living in bills-included tenancies are not excluded from the scheme.
At the same time, we made the point that the discount cannot serve as a long-term solution and are calling on the Government to increase investment in long-lasting measures that improve the energy efficiency and overall quality of the UK’s housing stock, focussing on insulation, modern heating systems, and other retrofit improvements.
Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards
We are still awaiting the results of another Government consultation into plans to introduces new minimum energy efficiency standards, which would mean rental properties would have to have a minimum EPC rating of C to be legally rented out.
Landlords would be expected to pay up to £15,000 per property to fund the works, with 2.4million homes set to be affected. You can read more about the proposals here.
