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UK Launches £15 Billion Warm Homes Plan With Free Retrofits and Zero-Interest Loans

Campaigners welcome the ambition, warning that delivery needs robust consumer protections.

Overview

  • The package sets out about £5 billion for fully funded upgrades for low-income households, £2 billion for consumer loans, £2.7 billion for heat-pump grants, £2.7 billion for a Warm Homes Fund, £1.1 billion for heat networks and £1.5 billion for other programs including devolved administrations.
  • Homeowners will be offered government-backed zero- or low-interest loans for rooftop solar, battery storage and heat pumps, alongside a £7,500 grant for air-to-water heat pumps and a new £2,500 grant for air-to-air systems.
  • New building rules under the Future Homes Standard will require solar panels on new houses, and ministers expect the number of homes with rooftop solar to treble by 2030.
  • A new Warm Homes Agency will coordinate delivery, with local mayors leading area rollouts, and upgraded renter protections will push landlords to improve energy performance in private and social housing.
  • Ministers aim to upgrade up to five million homes and lift up to one million households out of fuel poverty by 2030, while critics question reliance on Chinese-made solar supply chains and urge lessons from past botched schemes.