[ad_1]
Grant Shapes, the business secretary, will announce a plan next week to offer middle-income households grants of up to £15,000 to make homes more energy efficient, according to reports.
The scheme, called “Eco Plus”, will run from April and will target middle-income earners to enable them to fund work on their homes such as installing cavity-wall insulation or smart heating controls.
According to the Times, the government has earmarked £1bn for the initiative targeting people in council tax bands A to D.
The aim is to target 70,000 homes over three years, covering 75% of the cost of any energy efficiency upgrades to people’s homes.
A push to encourage people to install upgrades in their homes while oil and gas prices have soared as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is aimed at significant cost savings.
The UK’s housing stock is the oldest and least energy efficient in Europe and the government has been forced to intervene in the market to save people from energy bills.
Installing loft insulation costs between £455 and £640, depending on the type of property, and can save a household between £330 and £590 a year, according to the Energy Saving Trust (EST).
Cavity-wall insulation costs between £580 and £1,800 and can save between £235 and £690 a year.
The funding will be administered by energy suppliers, unlike the Green Homes Grant scheme which was scrapped last year and offered £5,000 or £10,000 to install insulation or low-carbon heating.
The plan is part of a wider ambition announced by the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in the Autumn Statement to cut energy use from buildings and industry by 15% by 2030.
“Reducing demand in this way would, in today’s prices, save £28bn off our national energy bill, or £450 off the average household bill,” he said.
The government is expected to approve a £25m social media and advertising campaign before Christmas to show how households can reduce their winter energy use.
The advice will include tips such as turning off radiators in empty rooms, lowering boiler temperatures and taking showers instead of baths.
The Leveling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, said the advice would not be a “nanny” but would point people to “authoritative sources of advice” on managing energy use.
An earlier attempt by the Liz Truss administration to launch a public information campaign on energy saving measures was reportedly blocked.
[ad_2]
Source link
