The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has criticised the government's Energy Security Strategy, published in April 2022, saying it delivered little on home energy efficiency at a time when reducing demand should have been central. In a set of five takeaways on the strategy, the industry body's head of policy and public affairs, Louise Hutchins, wrote that the strategy "was largely missing" on the issue, and that it "delivered little to stop heat seeping out of every window, wall and roof of the UK's 29 million homes"1.
"The Energy Security Strategy was deeply disappointing."
The UKGBC said the strategy contained four elements of policy, but "nothing that can be mistaken for the comprehensive strategy" its members had called for. Those four elements were: an energy advice service to be launched by the summer, replacing a scheme the government had previously scrapped; details of new energy performance standards, to be published in May; £10 million to encourage banks to develop green finance products for homeowners; and a Heat Pump Investment Accelerator Competition worth £30 million, which the UKGBC described as welcome but unlikely to "significantly reduce prices for consumers"1.
| Announced measure | Detail as reported |
|---|---|
| Energy advice service | Launch by summer, replacing a previously scrapped scheme |
| Energy performance standards | Details to be published in May |
| Green finance products | £10 million to encourage bank products for homeowners |
| Heat Pump Investment Accelerator Competition | £30 million for UK manufacturing jobs and revenues |
The UKGBC also said that Rishi Sunak refused to fund £200 million for expansion of the ECO scheme, "let alone fulfill the outstanding £2bn funding promised in the 2019 manifesto for energy efficiency measures for the worst-off households", citing the Telegraph. It said analysis from the government-chaired Construction Leadership Group shows that "for every £1 invested in energy efficiency, there is a £2 return to the economy", and that installation numbers "have collapsed by 70% over the last nine years"1.
The strategy drew criticism from across the sector, the UKGBC said, including from its member E.ON, the Federation of Master Builders and the Electrical Contractors Association, as well as from media editorials and opinion polls. The UKGBC said the government was alone in thinking there was time to wait for a serious strategy to upgrade "a nation of draughty homes"1.
Why it matters for households
The strategy's centre of gravity sat with supply, not with the fabric of homes. For a household, the practical consequence is that the measures most directly within a home's control, such as insulation and glazing, received no new nationwide programme in this document. The UKGBC's point is that demand reduction, meaning the energy a home does not need to buy, is the fastest and cheapest lever available, and that loft insulation in particular "cannot be rolled out faster"1. Where a home sits on the energy efficiency of the UK housing stock therefore continues to shape bills and exposure to price swings more than any announcement in the strategy. The £10 million for green finance and the £30 million heat pump competition touch homeowners only indirectly, and the UKGBC judged the latter unlikely to move consumer prices much1. The wider home energy regulation and policy framework, including standards for privately rented homes in Scotland and minimum standards for rented homes in England and Wales, was not changed by this strategy.
What happens next
The UKGBC said the details of new energy performance standards will be published in May, and that its own roadmap analysis shows minimum standards will be needed at point-of-sale for owner-occupied homes by 2028 to meet climate commitments. It named the forthcoming Energy Bill and the Autumn Budget as "the next big tests for the Government"1. No further dates for those have been reported.