Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Finance, funds and markets · United Kingdom · 2021

UK Green Homes Grant: National Audit Office findings

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
Initial funding made available for 2020-21 1.5 billion pounds sterling were budgeted in my name. No one has measured what reached me.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 not measured See the gaps

In September 2021 the National Audit Office reported that the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme, with £1.5 billion made available, was forecast to support energy efficiency measures in 47,500 homes against an initial expectation of 600,000. The Department expected to spend £313.8 million in total, of which £50.5 million was administration and programme costs.

47,500 (initial expectation 600,000)Homes forecast to be supported by the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme
National Audit Office, 8 September 2021: £1.5 billion made available; £313.8 million expected total spend, of which £50.5 million on administration and programme costs.

Status As of October 2026: the NAO's report of September 2021 and the Committee of Public Accounts' report of December 2021 are the audit findings on record; the government's response is not in the sources reviewed.

What?
The NAO reported that the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme did not deliver the expected number of installations or jobs: the Department forecast 47,500 homes supported against an initial expectation of 600,000, at an estimated total spend of £313.8 million, of which £50.5 million was administration and programme costs. National Audit Office
Where?
England (Scheme administered by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy); United Kingdom. National Audit Office
When?
Scheme planned for September 2020 to March 2021; closed to new applications on 31 March 2021; NAO report 8 September 2021. National Audit Office
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The Scheme was part of the government's green recovery from the pandemic; its specific aims included improving the energy performance of 600,000 homes and supporting up to 82,500 jobs. National Audit Office
How?
A value-for-money report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the National Audit Office, to the House of Commons. National Audit Office
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who

What happened

The record, in order.

The Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme was announced in July 2020 by the Chancellor of the Exchequer as part of the government's green recovery from the pandemic, with £1.5 billion made available. It offered homeowners up to £5,000 (£10,000 for low-income households) towards energy efficiency and low-carbon heat measures. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy expected the Scheme to run between September 2020 and March 2021, to support up to 82,500 jobs over six months and to enable up to 600,000 households to save up to £600 on their energy bills. The Scheme closed to new applications on 31 March 2021.

In its report of 8 September 2021 (dated 3 September) the National Audit Office (NAO) stated that the Scheme "did not deliver the expected number of home energy efficiency installations or support the expected number of jobs". By 31 March 2021 the Department had paid out vouchers totalling £35.9 million and expected to pay out £256 million in total once all work was completed. It estimated that it would spend £314 million in total (£313.8 million), of which £50.5 million was programme management and administration. The Department forecast that the Scheme would eventually support efficiency measures in 47,500 homes; its modelling estimated that this level of activity would support up to 5,600 jobs over 12 months, which the NAO said it had not audited.

The NAO reported that homeowners had made 169,012 voucher applications, corresponding to 113,738 homes, and that more than 3,000 complaints were made between October 2020 and April 2021. It concluded that the tension between the Scheme's aims and the short delivery time was never properly reconciled, "leading to an overly complex scheme that could not be delivered to a satisfactory level of performance in the time available". The NAO stated that programme management and administrative expenses of £50.5 million amounted to more than £1,000 per home upgraded.

The House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts reported on the Scheme on 1 December 2021 (HC 635). It stated that the Scheme had underperformed badly, upgrading around 47,500 homes compared to the 600,000 originally envisaged, and that it was not convinced that the Department had fully acknowledged the scale of its failures.

  1. 2020July: the Chancellor announced the Scheme with £1.5 billion made available; September: the Scheme opened.
  2. 202131 March: the Scheme closed to new applications.
  3. 20218 September: the NAO published its report on the Scheme (HC 302).
  4. 20211 December: the Committee of Public Accounts published its report on the Scheme (HC 635).

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“did not deliver the expected number of home energy efficiency installations or support the expected number of jobs”

National Audit Office, on the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme (HC 302, key findings) · 2021-09-08 · National Audit Office

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • The NAO recorded that the Department forecast the Scheme would eventually support efficiency measures in 47,500 homes, against an initial expectation of 600,000, and that the Department estimated total spend of £313.8 million, of which £50.5 million was administration and programme costs.
      National Audit Office
    • The NAO recorded that by 31 March 2021 the Department had paid out vouchers totalling £35.9 million of the £1.5 billion made available, and expected to pay out £255.9 million on issued vouchers in total.
      National Audit Office
    • The Committee of Public Accounts recorded that the Scheme was upgrading around 47,500 homes compared to the 600,000 originally envisaged and accounted for £314 million out of the original £1.5 billion budget.
      House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts

    In nature's name

    What was promised in nature's name, the money that moved, and what was measured.

    Promised

    • “The Department expected the Scheme to enable up to 600,000 households to save up to £600 on their energy bills and to support up to 82,500 jobs over six months, as described by the NAO.” — Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (2020) National Audit Office

    Money moved in nature's name

    WhatKindAmountPeriod
    Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme: funding made available
    Green Homes Grant (UK)
    National Audit Office    		Budget£1.5bn2020-21
    Department's estimate of total spend on the Scheme (programme management, installer skills training, administration and vouchers)
    Green Homes Grant (UK)
    National Audit Office    		Spent£314m estimate2020-21 to 2021-22
    Of which administration and programme costs
    Green Homes Grant (UK)
    National Audit Office    		Spent£51m estimate2020-21 to 2021-22

    What was measured

    Not measured

    The audit figures on record are numbers of homes the Department forecast would be supported, against an expectation, and costs; they are not a measurement of energy or emission savings. No independent measurement of an environmental benefit from the Scheme is on record in the sources reviewed.

    Homes expected by the Department at the start of the Scheme
    600,000
    NAO, September 2021 National Audit Office
    Homes the Department forecast the Scheme would support
    47,500
    NAO, September 2021 National Audit Office

    Findings on record

    • Official audit National Audit Office (2021-09-08) · Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme, HC 302 (Session 2021-22): “an overly complex scheme that could not be delivered to a satisfactory level of performance in the time available” National Audit Office

    Who gained

    Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

    Reached nature or the ground

    Not published
    Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme: funding made available£1.5bn
    Department's estimate of total spend on the Scheme estimate£314m
    Of which administration and programme costs estimate£51m

    Gained elsewhere

    Not totalled
    Currency: GBP · Window: 2020-21 to 2021-22. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    Homes expected by the Department at the start of the Scheme
    600,000
    NAO, September 2021
    Homes the Department forecast the Scheme would support
    47,500
    NAO, September 2021

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    Official audit findingBenefit not measured

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    The UK Government made £1.5 billion available through the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy; the Department estimated it would spend £313.8 million, according to the NAO.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Government and regulators

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    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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