UK100, the cross-party local government network, is urging the Chancellor to release more Warm Homes Plan funding as demand outstrips the £500m allocated to councils.
Local councils are the most trusted bodies to lead local climate action, but funding shortages are forcing authorities across England to pause or restrict home energy upgrade schemes, new polling shows.
The findings come as Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh sets out plans to devolve delivery of the government’s Warm Homes Plan to mayors, councils and local communities.
Polling by Climate Barometer, supported by UK100, found that 31% of respondents most trusted their local council to lead climate action in their area, including improving homes, protecting green spaces and switching to clean energy. Councils ranked ahead of national government.
The preference for local leadership was also reflected among Conservative and Reform UK voters at the 2024 general election. Among Reform voters, 29% said they most trusted their local council, compared with 24% for national government. Among Conservative voters, the figures were 33% and 28% respectively.
However, respondents also expected central government to take primary responsibility for protecting people against climate impacts and paying for the consequences.
Some 44% said national government had the greatest responsibility for preventing harm from flooding, overheating and drought, compared with 19% who selected local councils. Meanwhile, 41% said national government and its arm’s-length bodies should pay most of the costs associated with climate impacts, against 28% who selected local government.
The survey also found 44% of respondents did not believe the government would protect them and their homes from extreme heat, flooding and storms.
Although 74% said they had experienced extreme heat during the summer, only 14% had noticed measures such as tree planting or shading to help cool their local area.
The polling comes after Fahnbulleh announced plans to devolve the Warm Homes Plan, which she described as the biggest investment in home upgrades in British history. The proposals would give mayors, local government and communities greater powers to invest in improvements in their areas.
But councils say the money available is insufficient to meet demand. At the end of 2024, local authorities bid for £1.7 billion through the Warm Homes: Local Grant programme but were allocated £500 million for schemes running to 2028.
Several authorities, including Liverpool, Leeds, Northumberland and Tunbridge Wells, have stopped accepting applications. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have allocated their entire £3.5m budget for the year, while Sheffield is prioritising applicants according to need.
In Lewisham, 4,500 eligible council homes have been identified, but funding is available to upgrade only 800 by 2028.
City of York Council has paused its scheme for the remainder of the financial year after allocating its entire budget, despite carrying out almost no advertising. It expects next year’s waiting list to fill within a month.
Christopher Hammond, chief executive of UK100, said: ‘People trust the people and organisations closest to them to get on with the job. That is exactly the direction the Energy Secretary set out at the Labour conference, and it is the right one.
‘But you cannot devolve good intentions and an empty pot. The public rightly puts the responsibility for coughing up squarely at the door of the Treasury. From York to Lewisham, local leaders are turning families away because demand for warm, comfortable homes has outstripped the money available. Councils asked for £1.7 billion and got £500 million. Every scheme that closes to new applicants is proof that local delivery works, that demand is there, and that it is underfunded.
‘It doesn’t have to be that way. Energy security this winter begins in our homes. The Budget can be where the government makes good on its promises. We’re calling on Ministers to allocate the rest of the Warm Homes Plan investment, ensure the money reaches every postcode and back every pound of capital with the staff and skills to get it to the homes that need it most.’
Photo: Richard Bell
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