Written question WQ86411

Net Zero Wales, our emissions reduction plan focuses on how we will achieve our second carbon budget and the longer-term pathway. This sets out an expectation that the homes and buildings of Wales need to be Net Zero Carbon by 2050, with publicly owned buildings and social housing leading the way and decarbonising earlier.

Improving the energy efficiency of these proprieties will provide a significant contribution to achieve this target which the Welsh Government is supporting through a variety of mechanisms.

Our Warm Homes Programme Nest scheme supports lower-income owner-occupier and privately rented homes with investment of between £5,000 and £12,000, targeted at supporting lower energy efficient homes with energy performance certificate (EPC) ratings of E, F or G. Since 2020 to the end of March 2021 more than £394m has been spent supporting more than 67,100 homes. Capital funding for energy efficiency through the Warm Homes Programme has been increased to £30m in 2022-23 and is expected to increase to £35m for the next two financial years.

Innovation in the Nest scheme has continued with the introduction of solar PV and battery storage enabling homes to generate and use energy at source. The service also provides energy efficiency advice to an estimated 16,000 households per year through its helpline and will this year provide an extended winter fuel campaign to respond to the cost-of-living crisis.

We are prioritising investment in social housing decarbonisation through the Optimised Retrofit Programme (ORP). We are starting in social housing, before moving to other tenures as this is where we have the most levers. We are however exploring options to support private landlords in decarbonising their properties, for example through exploring a tie in between the Leasing Scheme Wales (LSW) and ORP.

We have started evaluating a variety of options for financing retrofit in the owner-occupied and private-rented sectors. These incorporate grant funding and repayable finance, however how we might fund this, it is a complex process and we will continue to work with partners to explore approaches.