The Warm Homes Programme is an important part of the Welsh Government’s strategic ambitions to reduce and ultimately eradicate fuel poverty. It is designed to reduce energy bills by installing free energy efficiency measures.

The future of the Programme has taken on added importance at a time of concern about the impact of recent fuel price rises. The programme also makes an important contribution as Wales charts a path to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

We published a report on the Warm Homes Programme in 2021, following an earlier report looking more broadly at fuel poverty. Following wider consultation [opens in new window], the Welsh Government has recently set out plans for the future of the programme in a policy statement [opens in new window].

The recommendations from our previous two reports, alongside those of Senedd Committees (which were also informed by our work), have helped the Welsh Government shape its plans. We can see evidence of this in:

• A commitment to make the new programme greener to align with the Welsh Government’s wider ambitions of achieving net zero carbon emissions.
• An intention to increase the budget cap for support per household, reflecting the higher cost currently to move homes away from fossil fuels and towards a cleaner, low carbon future.
• A recognition that future contract management arrangements need to be stronger.

Our work programme for 2023-2026 identifies decarbonising housing as a potential future topic. The Warm Homes Programme is just one of several policy interventions in this area. However, we’ll be reflecting on how our decarbonisation work could provide an early opportunity to consider the new programme.