The government announced a further £67 million on 21 February 2022, offered to successful local authorities to supplement funding under Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) phase one1. The figure appears in the government's response to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee's Seventh Report of Session 2021-22, Decarbonising heat in homes, which was received on 23 April 2022 and published on 18 May 20221.
The Home Upgrade Grant is the closed scheme for off-gas homes, and the response records that it was closed to new applications on 31st March 2021 and fully closed on 30th November 20211. The £67 million was offered to local authorities that had already succeeded under phase one, rather than opening a new round to households1.
The response sets the grant alongside wider government programmes. It refers to the launch of the £450 million Boiler Upgrade Scheme in 2022, confirmed in the 2021 Spending Review as £450 million over three years from 2022 to 2025, and to a target of 600,000 heat pump installations per year by 20281. It also records a Heat Pump Investment Accelerator Competition in 2022 worth up to £30 million, with funding for the Accelerator doubled from £10 million to £20 million under the British Energy Security Strategy2.
On consumer bills, the response states that from October 2022 the Energy Bills Support Scheme will reduce all domestic electricity customers' bills by £200, recouped through energy bills over five years from 2023/24, and refers to a £9.1 billion package of support for over 28 million households1. On heat networks, it states that Ofgem will take on the role of regulator, announced in December 2021, with the BEIS Secretary of State given powers to introduce a price cap in future, and consumer protection rules applying in England, Scotland and Wales1.
"On 21st February 2022, the Government announced a further £67 million offered to successful local authorities to supplement funding under HUG phase one"
| Commitment | Date given |
|---|---|
| Natural gas boiler installations phased out | 2035 |
| Homes reaching EPC C where cost-effective, practicable and affordable | 2035 |
| Low carbon heating no more expensive to buy and run than gas | 2030 |
| Strategic decision on hydrogen in heat | 2026 |
| Heat network zoning | 2025 |
| 600,000 heat pumps annually | 2028 |
Why it matters for households
The £67 million went to councils, not directly to households, so the practical route to any of it runs through a local authority's own council and local authority energy grants rather than a national application. Because HUG phase one was closed to new applications on 31st March 2021 and fully closed on 30th November 2021, the additional money did not reopen the scheme to new applicants1. For a home off the gas grid, the response gives no detail on which measures the supplement funded, how many homes it covered, or how a household could apply; those points have not been reported in the documents.
The wider figures set the direction for a home's energy independence. The stated aim is that as many homes as possible reach EPC C by 2035, that low carbon heating is no more expensive to buy and run than gas by 2030, and that new natural gas boilers are no longer installed from 20351. The £450 million Boiler Upgrade Scheme is described as targeted at owner-occupiers, so the support recorded here is aimed at that segment of the market rather than at all tenures1. Eligibility for grant schemes generally turns on which benefits qualify, and the full range of support is set out in the Home Energy Grants and Schemes in the UK guide.
What happens next
The response gives several dated steps: the Energy Bills Support Scheme reduction of £200 from October 2022, recouped over five years from 2023/241; hydrogen for heat trials at neighbourhood and village scale in 2023 and 2025 respectively1; heat network zoning by 20251; and strategic decisions on the role of hydrogen in heat by 20261. It states that proposals on the Future Homes Standard will be consulted on in 2023, with legislation in 2024 ahead of implementation in 2025, and that an uplift in energy efficiency standards comes into force in June 2022, with new homes expected to produce around 30% less CO2 than the previous 2013 standards2.