Net zero will require big changes in our homes — we need consumer protections to match

People are already struggling with home energy technology issues. More support will be needed on the way to net zero

In the Summer Statement earlier this month, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced £2 billion for Green Home Grants. This is potentially great news for consumers: around 17 million homes in England alone are below Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C — the government’s target level — and these grants will start to help remedy that.

Improving the energy efficiency of Great Britain’s housing stock will be essential for meeting the government’s commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Crucially, it’ll also result in lower energy bills, warmer homes and better health for many people.

However, a new scheme like this is not risk free.

Citizens Advice is concerned about the potential for poor quality work — or works that are completely inappropriate for the home. We’re also worried it could lead to scams and mis-selling, which is all too common in the home energy improvements market.

That’s why we’re calling for this new programme (and any subsequent energy efficiency and low carbon heat schemes) to be accompanied by a net zero homes guarantee that’ll give consumers information, protection and support.

What do we know about the current consumer experience?

In 2019, 4031 people contacted our Citizens Advice consumer helpline about all sorts of home energy technology issues. The sorts of issues people have had are similar to 2018 but we’ve had an increase in cases that are more complicated and take longer to resolve.

Solar panels and home insulation are the top 2 technologies people contact us about, with 1,907 and 1,588 cases respectively. With these cases, people ask us for help because of problems they’re having before a contract has been signed — that’s often because they are worried about whether they’ve been contacted by a mis-selling scams or a rogue trader. People also get in touch with us for help after they have already had something installed in their home. At this point, people tend to need help resolving any problems with how to use the technology, or they want to know how to make sure it’s working properly.

Same tech, new scams

Over the last year we’ve seen an increase in new types of scams and rogue traders trying to convince people that they need add ons for their existing home energy technology. This is most common with people who’ve purchased solar panels or who’ve had insulation fitted.

David* is 87 and has solar panels on the roof of his property. He was cold called by a salesperson who told him that his solar panels would work better if he replaced his inverter. The trader visited David at home and made recommendations and convinced David to agree to the contract. However, David did not have the contract properly explained to him and felt rushed into signing it and has now discovered that the trader is charging £2000 more than other suppliers for the same thing.

Cases such as these are unfortunately all too common and can cause a lot of harm, especially to people in vulnerable circumstances. This was an issue in 2018 and continues to be a cause for concern. Citizens Advice is keen to ensure people are able to protect themselves and are scam aware.

Policy problems

The government’s forthcoming Heat and Buildings Strategy is an opportunity to address some of these issues. Our evidence highlights a real gap in whether people know how to confidently choose the most suitable technology for their home, and what to do when things go wrong.

People contacted us about heating when they had higher than usual energy bills or were billed for extra maintenance costs after having heat pumps and other low carbon heating technology installed. This can happen if they don’t have the right product or their home isn’t efficient enough.

We also hear from people who’ve had either the wrong type of insulation installed or had it installed badly. This can cause significant issues like condensation, damp or severe mould — which can in turn have a detrimental impact on people’s health. Nearly a fifth of the insulation contacts we’ve had have been about these issues. This highlights how difficult it can be for people to navigate such a complicated and unregulated market. It also means it’s easier for companies to get away with bad practice and misinformation.

Future needs

We’ll soon be publishing some research about peoples’ experience of choosing, buying and installing different types of home energy technologies.

Citizens Advice supports the goal to achieve net zero. We know it won’t be possible without the support and buy in of everybody in the country. There will need to be a lot of changes for people and their homes and it will be essential to communicate and help people with these changes. Without public support, buy in and action, the changes we need to make to homes across Great Britain will not be possible. Our data shows why we have to start taking action now.

*Names have been changed.