Tens of thousands of Brits will get eco grants to upgrade their homes in a three-year scheme that is expected to be announced next week.
The government is drawing up plans to help people lower their energy bills with loft and cavity wall insulation, and smart heating controls like thermostatic radiator valves.
The £1billion ‘Eco Plus’ scheme will run between April 2023 and March 2026 as part of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s aim to cut Britain’s energy use 15% by 2030.
Business Secretary Grant Shapps is said to be looking at offering the scheme to people in council tax bands A to D.
But a source said the details are not yet finalised, and reports suggest middle-income families could benefit along with those most at risk of fuel poverty.
Some 70,000 homes could benefit over three years, with the government covering 75% of the cost of upgrades, The Times reported.
The Mirror understands the grants could be worth up to about £1,500 per household.
The Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Group, which represents firms including E.ON and Velux, said improving a poor-performing property could save up to £1,000 a year on a household’s bills.
It has touted Eco Plus as a ‘Great British Energy Saving Scheme’ that would be led by energy suppliers and funded by the government.
The existing ECO4 scheme, which is running from 2022 to 2026 and upgrading the most inefficient homes lived in by the poorest people, is funded through overall energy bills.
EEIG chair Sarah Kostense-Winterton urged ministers to focus the pot on “those at risk of falling into fuel poverty” and open up delivering the scheme to councils, as well as energy suppliers.
According to The Times, ministers believe installing loft insulation could save £640 a year, cavity wall insulation £525 a year and smart hearting controls £525 a year.
It comes after it emerged Brits are set to be given tips by the government to save up to £420 a year on their energy bills.
Turning boiler temperatures down, switching off radiators in empty rooms and taking showers rather than baths are likely to be two pieces of advice in a £25m public information campaign.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt warned this week that universal energy bills support will not continue beyond spring 2024 - even if household bills remain high.
He said hard-pressed families will have to "take responsibility" for saving their own energy and "think about how they reduce" consumption.
And Levelling-Up Secretary Michael Gove admitted "tens of thousands of properties are not in the state that they should be", with damp and mould.
The government is preparing to spend more than £37billion in the two years to March 2024 propping up people's bills.
Under the Energy Price Guarantee average bill will be capped at £2,500 until March 2023 and then £3,000 from April 2023 until March 2024.
Yet Ofgem has warned that without that government support, the average bill would rise to £4,279 in January 2023.
That means the government is paying the difference, racking up a vast long-term costs to the taxpayer that could lead to Tory cuts elsewhere.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said she did not "recognise" claims the grants could be worth up to £15,000, but said: "Making homes more energy efficient is the best way to cut household energy use."
