There will be no phaseout date for gas boilers in the government\u2019s warm homes plan despite its pledge to wean the UK off fossil fuels, but billions of pounds will go towards heat pumps and insulation upgrades.<\/p>\n
Labour\u2019s principal attempt to solve the UK\u2019s cost of living crisis, the \u00a315bn warm homes plan, will overhaul 5m dwellings, aiming to cut energy bills by as much as \u00a31,000 a year, in the biggest public investment yet made into home upgrades.<\/p>\n
Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said he wanted every household to benefit from clean energy: \u201cWe understand that clean energy can lower bills. We are seeing record demand for solar, record demand for heat pumps. We want this opportunity to be extended to everyone in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n
He forecast that 1 million people would be lifted out of fuel poverty, with grants for insulation and clean energy for people on low incomes, and millions more would gain access to loans and subsidies to install heat pumps.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is three times more public investment than the last government,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is what great reforming governments do \u2013 they build homes, and they upgrade homes. This is what Labour governments have done. Look at who this government stands up for \u2013 ordinary working people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The long-awaited \u00a315bn plan will include five schemes in England:<\/p>\n
\u00a35bn for upgrades, including insulation, solar panels, batteries and heat pumps, for people on low incomes.<\/p>\n
\u00a32bn towards low-cost loans for people who can afford them.<\/p>\n
\u00a32.7bn for the boiler upgrade scheme, by which people can swap their existing gas boilers for \u00a37,500 on a new heat pump.<\/p>\n
\u00a31.1bn for heat networks, which distribute heat from a central source, which could be a large heat pump or geothermal or other low-carbon source.<\/p>\n
\u00a32.7bn towards innovative finance through the warm homes fund, which could include schemes such as green mortgages offering a lower interest rate to homes that have been insulated and equipped with solar panels and heat pumps.<\/p>\n
There is also \u00a31.5bn in other funding for warm homes plan programmes and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Simon Francis, the coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said the government\u2019s plan \u201chas the potential to be the spark that finally powers millions of households out of fuel poverty\u201d.<\/p>\n
A typical household investing in home upgrades under the plan could save as much as \u00a31,000 on its annual energy bill, according to figures from the research and innovation charity Nesta. The charity found that households that get a heat pump, solar panels and a battery could reduce their yearly bill from April from about \u00a31,670 to about \u00a3670 under the changes brought in by the plan.<\/p>\n
Ed Miliband said everyone had the right to a warm, safe, affordable home. Photograph: Jill Mead\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
Landlords will be forced to ensure that their rental properties are energy efficient under the plan. \u201cThe last government backed off doing this,\u201d said Miliband. \u201cBut we think people have a right to warm, safe, affordable homes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Official figures suggest that the number of households living in fuel poverty was on track to rise to 2.78m homes in England by 2025, despite the government\u2019s legally binding targets to reduce fuel poverty.<\/p>\n
Even more households \u2013 as many as 9.6m across the UK<\/a> \u2013 are estimated to be living in cold, poorly insulated homes, according to a 2024 analysis<\/a> of the English housing survey by the Institute of Health Equity and Friends of the Earth.<\/p>\n By June last year, the amount of energy debt shouldered by households had climbed to a new high of \u00a34.43bn, an increase of 20% from the same time in 2024 and 71% since 2023, even as energy bills decreased in line with market prices.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lifeblood of the warm homes plan amounts to a rescue mission for the coldest, dampest homes in Britain \u2013 and this must be the priority,\u201d Francis said. \u201cCombined with long-overdue improvements to conditions in the private rented sector, it could save lives, cut NHS costs and permanently slash energy bills for those in fuel poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n The plans are also expected to support Britain\u2019s burgeoning industry for green home installations, which in the past have struggled owing to a lack of political clarity<\/a>. The UK has recorded the slowest introduction of heat pumps in Europe<\/a> in part because of low consumer confidence<\/a> and high upfront costs even with the help of the government\u2019s \u00a37,500 boiler replacement grant.<\/p>\n