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LONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) – Britain’s government intends to make 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) of public funding available for home insulation projects early next year, expanding access to aid previously available only to poor households.
The government said the proposed scheme would run from early 2023 to March 2026 and help meet the latest target of reducing energy consumption by 15% by 2030.
“Our new ECO+ scheme will help thousands of people across the UK better insulate their homes to reduce consumption, with the added benefit of saving families hundreds of pounds every year,” Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said in a statement on Monday.
Britain is currently facing its biggest squeeze on living standards, according to government forecasters, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent natural gas prices soaring across Europe.
Government subsidies for household energy bills are forecast to cost £25 billion this financial year and £13 billion in 2023/24.
Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shaps said the insulation program would help make Britain less dependent on imported energy.
Current insulation subsidies are targeted at people in social housing or on low incomes.
Under the new scheme, a subsidy of up to 80% will be available to people who do not qualify for income-based support, but whose homes are not energy efficient and fall outside the top band for local property tax.
The £1 billion funding comes from a £12.6 billion energy efficiency budget to cover the years up to 2028, which Hunt expanded in a financial statement on 17 November.
British energy companies suggested a similar plan in September, and the exact details will be subject to public consultation and parliamentary approval.
Shapps also said the government was launching an £18m public information campaign to encourage people to draft-proof their homes, turn off radiators in spare rooms and run boilers at low temperatures.
($1 = 0.8269 pounds)
Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Conor Humphries
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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