Call for budget tax incentives for home energy schemes

Cost of improving energy efficiency is dissuading many households from retrofitting schemes, survey finds

Cost was cited as the main factor deterring people from investing in home energy upgrades.

Most consumers would favour more tax incentives and low-cost borrowing to encourage them to retrofit their homes with insulation and other energy-saving initiatives, according to the business group for Irish banks.

The survey by the industry group, the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, or BPFI, found the cost of improving energy efficiency was dissuading many households from retrofitting schemes. 

The banking group said the Government should increase funding in next month's budget by way of "tax incentives, a low-cost finance scheme, increased grants and subsidies for ancillary costs", including helping households reach Building Energy Rating certs. 

"Government has made considerable efforts to support the retrofitting of residential homes on a large scale, including the enhancement of the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme, with grant levels of up to 50% of the cost of a typical deep retrofit. 

However, further action is now required on the part of Government in order to ensure retrofitting numbers reach the scale required to meet Ireland’s decarbonising targets," said Louise O’Mahony, BPFI's head of sustainable banking. 

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB

According to the survey, most consumers said tax incentives and "a low-cost finance scheme" would help compensate for the increased costs, with the estimated cost of a full retrofit ranging from €25,000 to €75,000 depending on the property age. Cost was cited as the main factor deterring people from investing in home energy upgrades.

Ms O’Mahony said the scale of the Government's climate goals, including retrofitting 120,000 homes, was "massive". 

"The Climate Action Plan puts the cost of housing energy efficiency improvements at €20bn by 2030. That investment is necessitated by the current performance of Ireland’s housing stock with only about one fifth of Irish homes achieving a BER of B3 or better and just 14% of homes have a rating of B2 or higher," the banking group said. "Therefore, about 80% dwellings in Ireland likely have a BER of C or worse," it said. 

The BPFI also wants a new group to develop climate initiatives across Government.

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB