Content

Vary the cost cap parameters
from the guidelines set by the Department for Energy Security and
Net Zero for Warm Homes Local Grant, for properties treated using
Council funds. This will enable Council to upgrade properties which
would not be treatable under DESNZ guidelines.

Reasons for the decision

The new Warm Homes Local Grant
(WHLG) is a Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)
funded programme which runs from April 2025 for at least three
years. Under the DESNZ guidelines for WHLG, Local Authorities are
permitted to apply discretionary terms for scheme
eligibility/parameters.
 
The Council has supplemented
the allocation provided by DESNZ by awarding a significant amount
of funding (£1,100,000) to the WHLG programme over three
years. Utilising Council discretion to modify the cost cap
parameters for this portion of the funding is appropriate to enable
the scheme to benefit residents whose properties would be
untreatable (or treatable to a lesser extent) under DESNZ
guidelines.
 
The DESNZ guidelines state
that:
Warm
Homes: Local Grant will have twin cost caps – one for energy
performance upgrades and one for low carbon heating.

 
This means that under DESNZ
guidelines, if recommended energy performance or low carbon heat
measures cost more than the above cost cap, eligible homes are
either treated with other (possibly less effective) measures or not
treated at all.
 
The worst performing homes
(rated EPC F or G) often require significant treatment to improve
energy performance, and listed buildings require planning consent,
both of which can result in costs exceeding the DESNZ
caps.
 
In addition, certain measures
(such as exterior wall insulation or air source heat pumps)
routinely cost more than £15,000, rendering these potentially
highly effective measures impossible under the DESNZ
guidelines.
 
Combining the two £15,000
caps into one single cost cap of £30,000 – which can be
spent on either energy performance upgrades and/or low carbon
heating – is a simple change which would enable the grant to
tackle some of the worst performing homes in the
District.
 
The authority to determine
these scheme parameters was delegated by Cabinet as part of their
consideration of the WHLG.
 

Alternative options considered

Alternative options
are:
 

·        
To apply the DESNZ cost cap parameters to the
Council funded component of WHLG to keep the programme as simple as
possible to deliver. This option is less favourable because a
significant number of properties would miss out on improvements,
and this would adversely affect poorer performing properties;
or
 

·        
To change the total cost cap to an alternative
amount (over £30,000). This option is less favourable because
it differs significantly from the DESNZ scheme and might result in
fewer properties being treated overall.