Recommendation 6

HM Government Accepted

The Government welcomes the Committee’s recognition that the extension of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) and the additional £6 billion are an important part of a long-term programme to retrofit existing buildings. The £6 billion support package announced by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Chancellor in December 2023 includes £500 million allocated to a new local authority retrofit scheme, to support up to 60,000 low-income and poorly insulated homes, an additional £1.25 billion allocated to the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, to support up to 140,000 social homes and a new £400 million energy efficiency grant, launching in 2025. Government recognises the value long term funding schemes can play in providing certainty to the sector and driving delivery. In March 2023, the Government announced that it will extend the BUS until 2028 and in October 2023 the available grant was increased by 50% to £7,500. The extended scheme will help contribute towards our commitment to deploy 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028 and provide industry with the certainty needed to invest confidently in heat pumps. The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) scheme will run until March 2026 at a value of £1 billion over the three years. This breaks down to £130m in the first year, followed by £435m in years two and three. Government committed in the Heat and Building Strategy to ensure that policies developed to deliver Net Zero and retrofit existing buildings, will seek to minimise risks impacts of climate change including overheating. This commitment was reiterated in the 3rd National Adaptation Programme report. Energy efficiency measures installed under current government schemes require installers to be Trustmark registered and measures must also be installed in accordance with the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2030 and PAS 2035 standards. This ensures installations are done to the highest quality, protecting the consumer against poor workmanship. PAS 2035/2030 requires a whole house approach to home retrofit projects and ensures that the risks of unintended consequences are avoided. To ensure the PAS 2035/2030 documents remain fit for purpose and reflect best industry practice, Government sponsors BSI to undertake regular revisions to the PAS 2035/2030 documents, the most recent update PAS 2035/2030:20233 was published in September 2023. The 2023 update recognises the importance of climate change adaptation and has strengthened some of its guidance and requirements. When establishing intended outcomes, the resilience of dwellings for future risk of climate change, such as overheating, should be considered. Retrofit assessments must also include any information on climate induced environmental risks (overheating, flood) which could have an impact on a retrofit project. As outlined in the NAP3 report DESNZ is carrying out a programme of research to support the development of policy levers to adapt the UK’s building stock for net zero and thermal comfort. This will build on the existing research base, including the work highlighted by the Committee, which has provided a high-level understanding of the potential severity of climate impacts and extent of adaptation action required under different warming scenarios. More detailed and granular research will help us identify how to prioritise action, the appropriateness of different measures to address overheating risk for different segments of the housing stock, including any hierarchy of these measures, and the cost- effectiveness of policy interventions.