Green homes disappointment

The Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) has written to the government to express its disappointment in the Green Homes Grant scheme, which is due to be launched in September.

In letters to the respective departments – Beis (Business Energy and Industrial Strategy) and MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), the GGF highlighted the problems with the scheme including: restricting the scheme to single glazing upgrades only, when there’s an estimated 20 million homes with pre-2002 inefficient double glazing; limiting the scheme to companies that are accredited to PAS 2030; and targeting just 600K homes in the scheme, which is only 3% of the overall retrofit market.

John Agnew, GGF managing director, said: “The GGF has received many complaints from angry and disappointed members following the unveiling of the scheme’s details. The vast majorities of companies don’t qualify for the scheme, and even if they went down the route to achieving PAS 2030, it will take time and money and doesn’t guarantee the work.

“After the impact on our industry due to the Covid pandemic followed by damage caused by the Chancellor’s statement a month before the scheme details were released, our industry deserves and expects better support from government.”