Thousands of UK households to be handed £30,000 free cash for home improvements
Thousands of households can get up to £30k free cash for energy-saving home improvements. Low-income households will get up to £30,000 free cash for energy-saving home improvements, Labour Party Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed in the Budget documents.
The money will go towards the Warm Homes Plan, a Government manifesto initiative to improve the properties of low-income homeowners and private tenants in homes with EPC ratings of D to G to at least C, Labour has confirmed.
Each eligible home can access £15,000 for energy perfomance improvements and an additional £15,000 to install low-carbon heating, such as heat pumps. Budget documents said: "The Warm Homes Plan will transform homes across the country by making them cleaner and cheaper to run, from installing new insulation to rolling out solar and heat pumps."
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Generation Rent chief executive Ben Twomey cautiously welcomed the news. Twomey said in the wake of Ms Reeves' speech: "Private renters are more likely than people in other tenures to face fuel poverty, so the Warm Homes funding is welcome.
"But to benefit from this, private renters need better protections from rent rises and evictions than the government is currently planning - otherwise landlords could hog the benefits of any grants." In the Commons, Ms Reeves said: “We will also make progress on our commitment to accelerate the remediation of homes following the findings of the Grenfell Inquiry, with £1bn of investment to remove dangerous cladding next year.”
The chancellor added: “We are kick-starting the Warm Homes Plan by confirming an initial £3.4bn over the next three years to transform 350,000 homes, including a quarter of a million local incomes and social homes.”