Developers and construction leaders have slated the government for scrapping the £1.5bn Green Homes Grant.
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced the move this weekend, with the voucher scheme to be gated at the end of the month.
The Green Homes Grant initiative was launched in the summer Budget last year, with a plan to make more than 650,000 homes more energy efficient. The government expects to issue a total of £300m in vouchers, having received more than 96,000 applications.
Kwarteng said: “Local authority funding has, however, seen a boost, with a further £300m added to the pot for retrofitting public buildings.
Andrew Shepherd, managing director at modular housing firm TopHat, said: “It is a travesty that the green homes grant has been scrapped so soon after it was announced. Such incentives for people to make their homes more energy-efficient are crucial for establishing homes that meet the UK’s targets to be net zero by 2050.”
Shepherd added that new-build homes “still don’t meet the targets necessary” for that goal and called on the government to back modern methods of construction to help the industry to deliver energy-efficient homes at scale.
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders, berated the department for the short notice. He said: “In order to access this scheme, thousands of small businesses jumped through costly hoops to win this work. Closing it with four days’ notice is completely disrespectful and some small businesses will close because of it.”
The NFB said a major flaw in the programme was the small number of companies accredited to do the work and called on the government to remove barriers to entry and reform planning to make this easier – with stamp duty relief for green homes.
Rico Wojtulewicz, head of housing and planning policy at the NFB, added: “Had anybody listened to industry, this could have been a successful scheme.
“The government needs to create a market environment for retrofitting works and understand that there isn’t yet the skilled workforce in every area to complete retrofitting works at the standard the government set. It must also offer market, not just taxpayer-funded, incentives.”
To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette
