Sustainable Warmth: protecting vulnerable households in England
The UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published its strategy to drive down fuel poverty in England by giving low-income families fuel bills and green upgrades to their homes. The specific policies of the plan include:
- GBP 60 million investment to retrofit social housings and fund GBP 150 million into the Home Upgrade Grant;
- Expand the GBP 140 Warm Home Discount to an extra 750,000 fuel poor homes;
- Extend the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) until 2026, with its value boosted from GBP 640 million to GBP 1 billion a year;
- Invest in household energy efficiency through the GBP 2 billion Green Homes Grant, with up to GBP 10,000 per low-income household to install energy efficient and low-carbon heating measures;
- Drive over GBP 10 billion of investment through regulatory obligations in the Private Rented Sector;
- Improve energy efficiency standards through the Future Homes Standard and the Decent Homes Standard.
ECO3 was estimated to save low income households up to GBP 300, and the extended scheme is expected to increase that number to GBP 500. The proposed Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards are expected to yield GBP 220 in average bill savings for private renters.
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