EDITOR’S OPINION: Warm homes are just the start

1 February 2026

In these times of budget constraints and general belt-tightening, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has done well to wrestle £15 billion from the Treasury to fund the Warm Homes Plan – a not insignificant increase on the £1.8 billion originally pledged at the last Spending Review. When details of the scheme were finally unveiled last month, the spending plans, which include some £5 billion of public investment to support energy upgrades for low-income and fuel-poor households, proved to be more generous than some had predicted. There is also £2.7 billion extra funding to support the installation of heat pumps via the Boiler Upgrade Scheme – now set to run until 2030 – and a further £2 billion for low-cost or zero-interest loans to encourage the purchase of green technologies.

The details of how consumers will be able to access such loans, which could include the offer of low-interest green mortgages, are yet to be finalised – and, as ever, it’s the small print that is likely to make all the difference. However, any inducements to combine heat pumps with solar panels and battery storage clearly make a lot of sense when the objective is to save on energy and reduce carbon emissions. The estimated potential savings of £500 to £1,000 per year on energy bills for those households who take up a combination of these technology upgrades is not to be sniffed at, especially as the government continues to claim that it is doing all it can to address the ongoing cost of living crisis. 

It’s the domestic sector that is obviously most likely to generate popularity points for the government, but a current lack of funding commitments to support the decarbonisation of non-domestic buildings has raised some concerns.  The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) is set to come to an end in 2028 and as yet there is no indication that the government has a replacement strategy in place. Analysis suggests that the UK’s approximately 2 million non-domestic buildings account for more than a third of the country’s total carbon emissions from the built environment and, without a major energy efficiency upgrade, such buildings could represent a significant obstacle to the government achieving its net zero ambitions.

Hospitals, schools and many businesses are having to devote an ever-increasing slice of their budgets to paying high energy bills, and some extra financial support could both alleviate such pressures and encourage long-term investment that promises to both reduce costs and improve the health and well-being of building occupants.

With economic growth remaining top of Chancellor Reeves’ wish list, Ed Miliband’s pledge to create 400,000 ‘green’ clean energy jobs by 2030 could play a big part in helping to generate some positive numbers. The establishment of a clear decarbonisation plan for the non-domestic sector could also go some way to galvanising further investment and economic activity – representing another rare opportunity to win some widespread approval.

Chris Jones is managing editor of EIBI