Solar panels on all new homes under Miliband shake-up
Solar panels will be fitted on all new houses and heat pumps installed in nearly half a million homes every year under sweeping plans unveiled by Ed Miliband.
The Energy Secretary on Wednesday launched a £15bn green energy plan to fit solar panels, heat pumps, insulation and double glazing to five million homes for people on low incomes – all at taxpayers’ expense.
Housebuilders will also be blocked from installing boilers and gas fires in new homes under building regulations to be announced later this year.
Mr Miliband’s “Warm Homes Plan” is one of the Government’s flagship green energy policies, with the budget around four times the size of the BBC’s annual licence income.
A new body, the Warm Homes Agency, will also oversee spending from the fund, making it one of Britain’s biggest quangos.
About £5bn of the £15bn will be spent on upgrading low-income homes – deemed to be any with a total annual income below £35,000. An estimated 14 million homes fall into this category.
Another £2.7bn will be spent providing grants via councils and housing associations with another £1bn for heat networks.
Some of Mr Miliband’s greatest ambitions are focused on heat pump installations, which will massively accelerate to 450,000 a year compared with 60,000 last year.
‘Warm, affordable and safe’
Some of that will come from £2.7bn set aside for Boiler Upgrade Scheme grants, available to all irrespective of income, between now and 2030.
However, this is only enough for 360,000 installations in total – a fraction of the 450,000 per year by 2030 sought by Mr Miliband.
Justifying the plan, Mr Miliband said: “It is a scandal that millions of people in our country do not have the security of a home that is warm, affordable and safe. We are embarking on a national project to turn the tide – waging war on fuel poverty.”
According to the Warm Homes Plan, there will be no overt “boiler ban” but new rules from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government later this year will set emission standards too tough for most gas appliances.
The UK adds about 210,000 new homes a year – most of which will now have to be fitted with such low carbon heating, with heat pumps being the likely candidate.
Greg Jackson, the founder of Britain’s largest supplier Octopus Energy, said: “Electrifying homes is the best way to cut bills for good and escape the yo-yo of fossil fuel costs.
“Solar panels can slash energy costs – and paired with a battery we get the electricity when we need it. Heat pumps can be cheaper to run, and with solar they’re often dramatically cheaper.”
However, critics say the cost of Mr Miliband’s plan will fall heavily on other consumers who already face some of the developed world’s highest energy bills.
Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, said 80pc of households would get no benefits from the scheme – but instead face higher taxes and energy bills to pay for it.
“The biggest energy problem for the UK is that we are in an electricity price crisis of Ed Miliband’s making.
“Unless the Government gets serious about cutting electricity bills now, many of these taxpayer-funded schemes will saddle households with high ongoing running costs every single year.”