Select committee: Environmental Audit Committee
Conclusion 1
Fourth Report - Energy Efficiency of Existing Homes
Published 22 Mar 2021
Paragraph 29
Environmental Audit Committee Energy Efficiency of Existing Homes All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The scale of the challenge to retrofit existing homes to tackle the climate crisis is enormous. Energy efficiency is a precursor to the transition to low carbon heat, so action must be taken in the 2020s to set homes on a decarbonisation trajectory to meet our net zero targets. The Government’s current targets for domestic energy efficiency are set for an 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050 and not the net zero target established in law. Yet the Government is not on track to meet even this.
From: Environmental Audit Committee, Fourth Report - Energy Efficiency of Existing Homes (HC 346), paragraph 29, 22 March 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 13 May 2021 (deadline 22 May 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government sets out a broad programme on home energy efficiency, agrees with parts of the Committee's analysis, but did not extend the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme.
- On the voucher scheme, the government did not adopt the recommendation to extend it: it judged it "more beneficial overall to close the voucher portion" and to "reform and expand" the Local Authority Delivery element, citing the need to protect the taxpayer.
- It holds to its aspiration for "as many homes as possible" to reach EPC band C by 2035, "where practical, cost-effective and affordable", and plans to publish a Heat and Buildings Strategy "shortly".
- It says it will consult in 2021 on regulatory options to improve the energy performance of owner-occupied homes.
- On Stamp Duty rebates for energy efficient homes, the government says trials "are not under active consideration at this time"; it also does not propose lower VAT rates, citing pressure on public finances.