Warm Homes Plan: Burnley and Pendle households with failed retrofits being left behind, campaigners fear
Campaigners say they fear that households in Burnley and Pendle impacted by failed retrofits are being left behind.
It comes as the Government launched its £15b. Warm Homes Plan to upgrade five million UK properties, protect renters from cold, damp, and mould, and help cut energy bills. The plan aims to eradicate fuel poverty and triple the number of houses with solar panels on their rooftops by 2030.
What will the plan offer?
- Free upgrades for low-income families - backed by £5b. of public investment.
- Government-backed, zero- and low-interest loans for everyone to install solar panels on their roofs.
- Every new home will come with solar panels by default under new rules.
- £7,500 universal grants for heat pumps.
- £150 Warm Home Discount for around six million households.
However, numerous residents claim they now live with mould, damp, and other damage after having cavity wall insulation fitted in their homes under government-backed ECO schemes – with no route to repairs. The Government scrapped these schemes under the Autumn Budget.
A spokesperson for the residents has expressed their disappointment that a strategy to fix these properties was not included in the Warm Homes Plans.
“We welcome the government’s focus on warmer homes, but for many households the issue isn’t future upgrades - it’s homes that were left damaged by previous government-backed schemes.
"People whose insulation or retrofit went wrong, including those affected under earlier ECO phases, are still living with damp, structural damage, and unaffordable repair costs.
“Any Warm Homes Plan must include a clear, accessible route to fix homes where retrofit has failed, not just move on and leave those households behind.”