Andrew Asaam, mortgage director at Lloyds Banking Group, has commented on news that the government is set to relax planning rules to make it easier to install heat pumps and solar panels on listed homes.
Andrew said: “The government plans will enable heat pumps and solar panels to be more easily installed on listed buildings and go some way to ensuring that UK homes meet net zero targets.
“Our own research suggests there are still major barriers to progress – just 28% of homeowners say that they are confident that they would know what they need to do to make their property net zero ready by 2035 and only a small majority (54%) of Brits know their home’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating. This is despite homeowners having an overwhelmingly positive experience (96%) when they have improved the energy efficiency of their homes.
“As the UK’s biggest mortgage lender, we have helped millions of people become homeowners, and we recognise the crucial role we hold in supporting our customers improve the energy efficiency of their homes. That’s why we recently launched our Making Homes Greener initiative – a journey that sees us trial new tools and partnerships, such as with the Energy Saving Trust, to improve the energy efficiency of Britain’s homes.”
Russell Dean, residential product group director, Mitsubishi Electric, added: “Relaxing planning rules to ease the installation of renewable technology in UK homes should encourage greater heat pump adoption across the country.
“As we look towards reaching the government’s Net Zero target by 2050, initiatives such as this will support the decarbonisation of home heating and encourage the switch to energy efficient alternatives.
“While many homeowners will rightly welcome this move, unnecessary barriers to widespread adoption remain. The government should also bring forward plans to rebalance energy costs.
“The high cost of electricity remains the biggest barrier to decarbonisation and the electrification of heat. This will bring immediate savings for households as they move to clean energy technologies such as heat pumps. We can see that lower cost electricity in Europe has led to a much higher heat pump deployment.”