A new government initiative to cut energy bills and improve household insulation has been hailed as ‘the biggest ever investment in cutting energy bills and fuel poverty’.
Too many people today still face fuel poverty due to draughty homes and high energy bills. The Warm Homes Plan launched today is the biggest ever investment in home upgrades, and will cut energy bills and end fuel poverty for up to 1 million families.
This package has been warmly welcomed by Chesterfield MP, Toby Perkins, who has been raising in parliament the need to reduce energy bills. Toby is also Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, which has heard that making electricity cheaper will improve people’s living standards and speed the uptake of clean technologies.
Labour’s £15 billion investment and plan follows 14 years of failure from the previous Government: between 2010 and 2024, home insulation rates collapsed by more than 90 per cent and the scrapping of the Zero Carbon Homes standard left more than a million new homes with higher bills locked in for decades.
Upgrading homes is one of the best ways to bring down energy bills for good. The Warm Homes Plan will mean millions more families can benefit from clean power technologies ranging from solar panels, to heat pumps, batteries and insulation that will bring down bills. Every new home will come with solar panels by default and anyone who wants to get a heat pump can benefit for a £7500 universal grant.
Support will be targeted at low income families, who will have the chance to receive free of charge packages of upgrades suited for their homes. Labour’s plan also provides additional protections for renters, to ensure landlords invest in upgrades to cut bills for renters and social tenants.
Recognising that the affordability crisis is the number one issue facing families in the country, the Labour Government also acted in last Autumn’s Budget to take £150 of costs off energy bills from April.
Toby Perkins, MP for Chesterfield, said: “Today’s biggest ever investment in home upgrades will make homes warmer and bring energy bills down for good. Labour is tackling fuel poverty by ensuring support for low income families that need it the most and ensuring landlords invest in upgrades to reduce bills for renters.
Tackling the cost of living crisis here in Chesterfield and across the country is this Government’s mission and today’s Warm Homes Plan is another investment to deliver that.”