Supporting families to go green

This week the government announced the launch of a £562 million fund to help upgrade households with green improvements – ensuring households across England and Scotland enjoy warmer homes that are cheaper to heat and more carbon-friendly.

  • Emissions from domestic properties currently account for around 25 per cent of the UK’s total carbon emissions, with low-income households often the hardest hit by fuel poverty.
     
  • The £562 million investment will fund a nationwide upgrade of some of our least energy efficient and fuel-poor homes, as part of our commitment to invest over £9 billion into increasing our building’s energy efficiency. 50,000 low-income households and social housing properties will be helped, at the same time as supporting 8,000 green jobs for local plumbers, builders and tradespeople.
     
  • This will ensure households enjoy warmer homes that are cheaper to heat and emit fewer emissions, as we build back greener from the pandemic.

Comments

Jim said…
A strange time to be announcing green policys, last week the government cut the electric car grant from £3000 to £2500, but then cut it completely to an EV costing over £35,000 which is pretty much all of them (even the nissan LEAF).

Personally I belive that grants artificially hold prices higher than they would otherwise be. If something costs £10,000 and the government introduce a £1,000 grant from taxpayer funds, almost instantly said item costs £11,000. Its just strange to cut their "help" policy and then start looking for green policys.

the other one of course on heating and helping "households enjoy warmer homes that are cheaper to heat and emit fewer emissions" well, a battery for a solar power system, so you can generate though the day and use said power to heat home at night attracts VAT at 20%, but if you use dirty coal or gas to do so then that attacts VAT at 5%.


there are all sorts of policys trying to show green initiatives, but none of them are tied together, there is no joined up thinking at all. Last month I wrote to my MP about the new travelodge at Workington, How is a brand new hotel and car park being built without a single EV charger. The council replied about "multiple points available at the council office 50m away, these are 2 destinations and one rapid, both of which were ICED on all 3 of the occasions I went to see.

Chris Whiteside said…
Not sure that subsidising electric cars is the best way to spend money on going greener for exactly the reasons you say.

Though the costs are likely to fall dramatically as the volume ramps up when diesel and petrol are phased out.

However, you do have a point on the need for plenty of reliable charging points (not vulnerable to icing up) if there is to be any chance of making the change to electric cars work.

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