The Sustainable Homes & Buildings Coalition has launched its ‘Home is Where the Heat is – Progress Report’.
The report calls on government and industry to work together to move energy efficiency from pilot to profitable, from difficult to desirable and from piecemeal to prominent, if the UK is to succeed in decarbonising its 29m homes. It highlights the importance of customer-centric approaches to the home retrofitting industry, by showcasing the real-life experiences of nine households from Tyne & Wear to Pontypool.
The report also emphasises the strong and growing public support for energy efficiency – highlighting that 68% of homeowners are planning to make energy efficiency improvements to their home in the next decade. Additionally, it discusses the industry supply chain, and what can be done to unlock the role of SMEs to fully contribute to this strategic agenda.
To coincide with the publication of the report, British Gas has announced that it is set to offer heat pump installations for £4,999 to help more of its customers to lower their emissions.
Meanwhile, as part of NatWest Group’s pledge of £100bn to drive climate action and decarbonisation before the end of 2025, the bank has committed £10bn to green mortgage lending. So far it has lent £2.32bn to around 9,500 homeowners under this commitment already through the NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Coutts mortgage brands.
Worcester Bosch is set to continue to invest into the research and launch of low and zero carbon products, and progress with the training of 18,000 installers per year to support the delivery of the energy efficiency agenda.