New measures unveiled in the government’s Warm Homes Plan (WHP) will see a review of a key competency standard for retrofit professionals and a boost in funding for training heat pump installers.
The WHP, published on Wednesday, set out plans for a review to the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) standard for installers and retrofit professionals.
The government hopes the move will increase the number of workers delivering publicly-funded retrofit work.
The PAS standard for installers and retrofit professionals will be reviewed to “better align to the dutyholder and competency regime set out under the Building Safety Act (BSA) 2022”, the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ ) said in its plan.
DESNZ said competence in the retrofit sector too often focuses on official accreditation, which “can act as a barrier for existing workers moving into government-funded work”.
The department will now review the standard to ensure it meets the requirements of the BSA, and consider how the definition of competence could be “broadened beyond qualifications”.
“This approach may enable more workers in the repair, maintenance and improvement sector to deliver public-funded retrofit work,” it added.
The WHP also announced an increase in funding for the Heat Training Grant from £5m to £7m per year or the next three years.
On skills funding, DESNZ said the grant had successfully driven up the number of heat engineers able to install heat pumps.
Under the scheme, trained heating engineers can apply to grants of up to £500 to learn how to install heat pumps.
The increase in funding will last until March 2029.
The plan further outlines ambitions to expand the heat pump market to more than 450,000 annual installations, and to get 3 million solar panels on roofs by the same date.
In the document, the government opened the prospect of extending low or zero-interest finance to installers of low carbon energy.
The first £1.7bn tranche of the government’s £5bn WHF is currently available to help investors lower the costs for households pay for improvements to their homes.
In “early 2026” the department will launch a call for evidence to “identify where else in the market the WHF can deliver the greatest impact, for example in supporting private and social landlords, investors or supply chains, alongside homeowners”.
A new Warm Homes Agency will be created. One of its roles will be to “help ensure workers and firms in the energy efficiency and clean heating supply chain thrive as the country switches to low‑carbon heating”.
The agency will work with installers, manufacturers, retrofit companies and trade unions to “help existing heating engineers transition, providing information and support on training requirements, government initiatives (such as the Heat Training Grant) and how to access them, and analysing trends in market demand”.
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Joshua Stein