Green Deal for Energy Efficiency
Background
The Green Homes Grants Scheme or Green Deal was launched on 30 September and is now available until 31 March 2022. The government recently announced that the scheme has been extended by a year.
These grants are available to homeowners, including landlords, in England. Landlords can apply for a voucher towards the cost of installing energy efficient and low-carbon heating improvements in their homes.
At the same time, the Government is consulting on increasing the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in the private rented sector in England and Wales, requiring an EPC C rating for new tenancies from 2025 and all tenancies from 2028, as part of their commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
It’s therefore essential that landlords take advantage of the grants available to upgrade their properties in anticipation of future regulations.
Our campaign
Support and encourage landlords to access the Green Homes Grants through promotion and guidance on eligibility and applications.
Hear from landlords about their experiences with the grant process to build up our evidence base about what kinds of schemes would be most effective in future to promote improved energy efficiency in the private rented sector. You can also share your story here.
In Wales, calling for the Welsh Government to replicate the UK Government’s £2bn Green Homes Grant to ensure parity.
Why are we campaigning on this issue?
The £2 billion for the Green Homes Grant is part of the Conservative manifesto promise for £9.2 billion to improve the energy efficiency of homes, schools and hospitals. These plans are part of efforts to tackle climate change and meet the legal target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
The Green Homes Grant is the first part of the broader government strategy, which consists of tackling fabric first, then heating systems, and finally renewables.
The Government has published a consultation proposing that privately rented properties in England and Wales should reach a minimum EPC C rating by 2025 for new tenancies and 2028 for existing tenancies. The upcoming Energy White Paper, Heat Strategy and Buildings Strategy, when published later this year, will further outline the direction of travel.
What we're doing
The NRLA have consistently called for further funding to be made available to help landlords to go above and beyond the legal minimum of energy efficiency measures set out by the Government for the PRS.
We help guide landlords through the process of accessing government grants and inform them of other relevant future energy efficient measures, by providing advice, webinars and resources.
We engage with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Welsh Government on energy efficiency and carbon reduction policy and legislation.
We lobby for both a building passport for properties, the reintroduction of the landlord Energy Saving Allowance, and a repository of best practice to guide landlords on the actions they should take and the order to do works.
You can see further details about our wider work in this area here.
How we got here
The Government has introduced minimum energy efficiency standards for properties of an E rating. They will continue to increase these standards until properties have a zero-carbon footprint, which is in line with the net-zero target by 2050. There is cross party support to reach a zero-carbon position, however there is debate over the best way achieve this goal over the coming decades.
The NRLA are supportive of energy efficiency in the PRS and work with government to find long-term solutions to reducing carbon emissions. We lobby for further funding to be made available to help landlords to go above and beyond the legal minimum.