The Government has unveiled its Heat & Buildings Strategy with a headline announcement of £5,000 in heat pump subsidies to aid the transition from gas boilers. The strategy aims to reduce carbon emissions significantly from the 30 million UK buildings in our stock.
The new strategy is part of the Government's plan to cut carbon emissions, increase clean energy and invest in green jobs. It specifically details its plans for the next decade, ramping up strategy to achieve our carbon targets to ensure the UK is focused on the 2050 deadline for achieving Net Zero.
The main commitments to note in the Heat & Buildings Strategy are:
There is a lot of detail to unpack and understand, in terms of the impact on our industry. Whilst I am delighted to see that the EPC will be at the heart of much of the regulation needed to support the strategy, the amount of funding promised within is simply not enough to get the industry moving away from gas and carbon intensive fuels, and to prepare properties to be able to adopt them (i.e. making them net zero ready). In several recent reports (Including from the CCC), the suggested level of funding required is 3 times what has been proposed, and which doesn’t include the initial boost funding that is needed to build economies of scale and skill.
Stroma Certification will be reviewing the two strategies as we move closer to COP and will be informing our members about the likely impacts and opportunities.
Andrew Parkin, Managing Director (Stroma Certification)
To read the strategy in full, please visit the Gov.uk website.