The Committee on Fuel Poverty has published a proposal for a £1.08 billion Treasury-funded household energy efficiency programme ‘Challenge Fund’.
This follows, the CFP’s Third Annual Report, which stated that current resource, programmes and policies were insufficient in meeting the Government’s fuel poverty target and corresponding milestones. It is estimated that by 2020 just over half of properties with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of Band F or G, will have been upgraded and therefore leave a significant proportion of fuel poor households living in inadequate homes.
The proposed Challenge Fund would run from April 2020 to April 2022 and would complement the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and the Private Rented Regulations (PRS) requiring landlords to bring properties up to a minimum of a Band E. The fund would be primarily targeted to deliver energy efficiency improvements in private sector properties, which equate to half of all fuel poor F and G homes. Households living in a Band E property will also be able to receive support in cases where ECO is not a suitable intervention. The fund would:
- Assist in meeting Government targets in improving energy efficiency of domestic properties.
- Identify opportunities and choices for future energy efficiency programmes.
- Encourage innovation in technology and delivery.
- Develop new proxies for targeting fuel poverty using data sharing powers under the Digital Economy Act. This in turn would reduce the cost of energy efficiency programmes.
The CFP’s full proposal can be downloaded here.