𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Some homeowners will be able to access low and zero interest loans to install solar panels as part of Ed Miliband’s net zero drive – but Conservatives warned the majority of Britons will instead face “higher taxes and higher electricity bills”. Low income households and fuel poor families struggling to pay energy bills will receive free upgrades for insulation and clean tech backed by £5 billion of public investment, officials said. The Government has unveiled the measures as part of the Government’s £15 billion plan to warm Britons homes with green technology.

Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho MP said: “Four in five households will receive no benefit from this plan but they will suffer from higher taxes and higher electricity bills thanks to Ed Miliband’s political choices. The biggest problem the country has when it comes to energy is that we are in an electricity price crisis Ed Miliband’s making. Labour’s focus should be on bringing down the cost of electricity for every family in the country.

“Unless the Government gets serious about cutting electricity bills now, many of these taxpayer-funded schemes will saddle households with high ongoing running costs every single year.

“If Government really wants people to adopt things like heat pumps, they need to make them much cheaper to run by adopting our Cheap Power Plan to cut everyone’s electricity bill by 20%.”

Mr Miliband’s plans include upgrading protections for renters, along with support for landlords to make energy efficiency improvements, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said.

The programme aims to roll out upgrades to up to five million homes, saving families hundreds of pounds on their energy bills, and lift up to a million households out of fuel poverty by 2030.

There could also be upgrades to entire streets of social housing, officials said.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “A warm home shouldn’t be a privilege, it should be a basic guarantee for every family in Britain.

“Today’s plan marks a turning point. It will help to slash energy costs and lift up to a million people out of fuel poverty.”

Government-backed zero and low interest loans will be available to homeowners to install solar panels on their roofs, alongside new rules in the Future Homes Standard that will make solar on new homes standard.

The loans will also be available for batteries and heat pumps, to allow greater take up of clean technologies, and are in addition to the £7,500 grant for replacing boilers with heat pumps.

A new Warm Homes Agency will support energy efficiency upgrades, local mayors will be in the “driving seat” for rolling out improvement programmes in their local areas and there will be a new aim to ensure that at least 70% of heat pumps installed in the UK are built here.

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “The lifeblood of the Warm Homes Plan amounts to a rescue mission for the coldest, dampest homes in Britain – and this must be the priority.

“Combined 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.”

But he called for further reforms to bring down the cost of electricity and provide financial support for households while they wait for improvements to be installed.

“Above all, any use of public funds must come with a warm homes guarantee, built around quality advice on the right installations to deliver, enhanced consumer protections and a promise that every upgraded home will see bills come down.”