Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the policy paper entitled Heat and buildings strategy, published on 19 October 2021, CP 388, how her Department will assess whether it is (a) cost-effective, (b) practical and (c) affordable for homes to meet energy performance certificate band C by 2035.

The Government’s 2017 Clean Growth Strategy set out our aspiration that as many homes as possible are improved to EPC Band C by 2035, where practical, cost-effective and affordable. The definitions of “practical”, “cost-effective” and “affordable” will vary depending on the context. Defining these too prescriptively could lead to undesirable outcomes as such definitions may not result in least cost decarbonisation. As a result, the Department does not have a universal definition of “practical”, “cost-effective” or “affordable”.