The ‘Blueprint for Warmer Homes’ underlines the immense challenge of improving the comfort and energy efficiency of homes across the country.  Underpinned by economic analysis from the New Economics Foundation (NEF), the report presents a set of ‘value for money’ principles to ensure the government’s £13.2 billion Warm Homes commitment is optimally invested. It makes the case that a successful Warm Homes Plan requires a robust local delivery model, coordinated by a national homes upgrade unit, with predictable financial support for local authorities to lead retrofit initiatives in collaboration with community groups.

NEF argues that tackling fuel poverty should be central to the government’s Warm Homes Plan. Millions of UK households are currently unable to afford to heat their homes without compromising other basic needs. For these households, it is particularly important that decarbonisation is not a burden. Instead, retrofitting homes should increase their disposable incomes while increasing the comfort and safety of their homes.

 NEF developed the Blueprint for Warmer Homes in collaboration with local authorities, small- and medium-sized businesses and community groups. The report draws on experiences from across Europe, including innovative public financing mechanisms and one-stop-shops, which provide consumers with advice and services to support home energy upgrades, like the Gulbenkian Foundation’s Transition Point pilot in Portugal. This friendly and accessible mobile advice service provided support to communities experiencing energy poverty. It has since been replicated with investment from the private sector and the European Commission.

The Foundation has supported NEF’s Great Homes Upgrade: ‘A Blueprint for Warmer Homes’ as part of its Climate and Ocean Programme to strengthen fair transition policymaking in the UK. The project highlights the social and economic benefits of taking a local approach and prioritises disadvantaged groups and those living in energy poverty.

Chaitanya Kumar, Head of environment and Green Transitions, introduces NEF’s Blueprint for Warmer Homes

The report was launched at an event held in collaboration with the National Retrofit Hub where the Minister for Energy Consumers, Miatta Fahnbulleh, introduced the discussion and underlined the government’s commitment to working collaboratively as it maps out its plan to create a step-change in retrofit that delivers warmer homes, lower energy bills, and good job opportunities while tacking fuel poverty.

Image: A woman installs wall insulation. Credit: Nick Nguyen. From Climate Visuals library, a project supported by the Foundation to improve evidence-based climate photojournalism.