Households to get grants of up to £10,000 to make homes greener

Householders will be given grants of up to £10,000 to make their homes more environmentally friendly under a Government scheme that could save them £300 on average energy bills.

A £3 billion energy efficiency plan for homes and public buildings will support 140,000 jobs, save households money and cut carbon emissions, Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor said.

Mr Sunak said rebooting the economy after the coronavirus pandemic "is going to be a green recovery with concern for the environment at its heart".

Heating buildings accounts for roughly a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, with the age of houses in Britain meaning they are among the least energy-efficient in Europe.

In his summer economic statement, the Chancellor confirmed plans for a £2 billion green homes grant in September to provide vouchers for homeowners and landlords to cover at least two-thirds of the costs of insulation and other energy-efficiency measures.

The grant will provide at least £2 for every £1 that homeowners and landlords spend to make their homes more energy efficient, up to £5,000 per household.

Some 600,000 households across England are expected to take part in the scheme, with households saving hundreds of pounds a year on their energy bills.

Some of the lowest-income households will get the full costs of energy-efficiency refits paid up to a value of £10,000. Homeowners will be able to use the money on loft, wall and floor insulation, eco-friendly boilers, heat pumps, double or triple-glazed ­windows, low-energy lighting and energy-efficient doors.

The Government will provide a list of accredited suppliers who will provide quotes for work. Once a job is approved, the voucher is issued.

The plans also include £1 billion to improve energy efficiency and low-carbon heating for schools, hospitals, prisons, military bases and other public buildings, and £50 million to pilot ways to cut carbon from social housing.

Campaigners welcomed the moves to invest in energy efficiency, widely seen as one of the best ways to boost jobs across the UK while cutting emissions, but warned that levels of funding were well below what was needed to address the climate crisis and said the "jury is still out" on how green the Government's recovery will be.

The funding also aims to help Britain meet its legally-binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.The environmental group  Greenpeace warned that much more funding and investment would be needed in homes, alongside areas such as clean transport and the power sector.

Chris Venables, the head of politics at the Green Alliance, said: "The jury is still very much out on how green the UK Government's recovery will be, and we'll be watching over the coming weeks and months."

There have been widespread calls for a green recovery, including calls for the Government to deliver on its manifesto pledge for energy efficiency and investment in schemes to help nature recover and make sure business bailouts have "green strings" attached.

The Conservative manifesto pledged £9.2 billion for improving the energy efficiency of low-income housing and public buildings.