The standout announcement for the housing sector in the Autumn Budget is the decision to end the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme in March 2026. A portion of the scheme’s funding will instead be redirected to cut annual energy bills by up to £150 from April. The change has prompted a mixed response across the industry.
The move comes amid widespread concern following recent reports that 98% of solid wall insulation installations delivered through ECO required significant remedial work. The National Audit Office has highlighted multiple systemic failings behind the scheme’s shortcomings, including weak government oversight, a fragmented consumer protection regime, unclear stakeholder responsibilities, inadequate auditing and monitoring, and loopholes that enabled installers to “game” the system.
Although ECO was widely recognised as needing major reform, scrapping it altogether places even greater pressure on the forthcoming Warm Homes Plan. This programme is set to receive an additional £1.5 billion of capital investment on top of the £13.2 billion already committed at the 2025 Spending Review.
There is hope that the lessons learned from ECO will help shape a more coherent, better-governed Warm Homes Plan capable of delivering high-quality, large-scale retrofit. However, until the details are published, uncertainty persists across the sector.
Given that the Budget landed on Fuel Poverty Awareness Day – and with “6 million children in the UK living in fuel poverty,” many in the country’s least efficient homes – timely delivery of the Warm Homes Plan is essential. Delay or under-delivery risks trapping yet another generation in cold, unhealthy housing.
“ECO undoubtedly needed reform but scrapping it outright leaves a major gap at a critical moment. Everything now hinges on the Warm Homes Plan providing a credible, long-term route to scaling high-quality retrofit. With millions living in cold, inefficient homes, we need clarity and ambition – fast.”
Laura Broderick, Programme Director, Good Homes Alliance
It is encouraging that £48 million of additional funding will be allocated to boost capacity within the planning system. The funding will be spread across Defra, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
This includes investment to recruit 350 planners in England, much needed in a sector where many local authority planning teams are already overstretched. The funding will also support the expansion of the Pathways to Planning Graduate Scheme and the creation of a new Planning Careers Hub to help retain and retrain mid-career professionals.
This additional budget provides a further boost to planning capacity, building on the earlier launch of the Council Housebuilding Skills and Capacity Programme. While more work remains, it is encouraging to see the government acknowledge the scale of the challenge, particularly as it continues to pursue its ambition of delivering 1.5 million new homes.