Summary of the Great British Insulation Scheme: October 2024
Published 24 October 2024
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
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Introduction
The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) is a government scheme to help people insulate their homes, make them more energy efficient and save money on their energy bills.
The Government announced the scheme at the end of March 2023. The £1 billion scheme aims to help the least energy efficient households across the country with the cost of installing new home insulation. The scheme is scheduled to run until March 2026.
What you need to know about these statistics
These statistics are based on data provided by Ofgem covering installations of measures since the start of the scheme at the end of March 2023 up to August 2024. Data are based on the date of completed installation of measures as recorded in the Ofgem register.
All figures are provisional and subject to revision.
Key statistics
Delivery by month
Since the start of GBIS, there have been 30,400 measures installed in 24,400 households up to the end of August 2024.
Measure delivery has continued to increase, with 5,600 measures installed in 4,600 households in August 2024 – the highest level since the scheme began. This is an increase of 7% compared to measure delivery in July.
Figure 1: Number of Measures Installed by Installation Month
The data used in Figure 1 can be found in Table 1 of the Accompanying Tables.
GBIS targets two eligibility groups, a low-income group similar to the Help to Heat Group in ECO4 and a general eligibility group. Within the low-income group, Local Authorities can identify and refer on to the scheme households that are low-income, fuel-poor or vulnerable to the effects of living in a cold home through a mechanism called Flexible eligibility. More information on these eligibilities can be found in the GBIS delivery guidance.
To the end of August 2024, around 14,300 measures (47%) were delivered to the low-income eligibility group. Of these measures, around 400 were delivered under the Flexible Eligibility mechanism.
To the end of August 2024, around 8,400 (34%) of the households upgraded under GBIS were in the low-income eligibility group. Of those, around 200 were upgraded under the Flexible Eligibility mechanism.
Innovation measures are measures that can demonstrate an improvement over comparable measures currently deliverable under the scheme. Innovation measures can only be installed in the low-income group or in social housing band D. To the end of August 2024, around 2,700 innovation measures were installed.
Delivery by measure type
As shown in Figure 2, the most common measure so far has been cavity wall insulation, accounting for 45% (13,500 measures) of the total 30,400 measures. This was followed by loft insulation which accounted for 27% (8,300 measures) and heating controls which accounted for 20% (6,000 measures).
Figure 2: Number of Measures Installed by Measure Type (May 2023 to August 2024)
The data used in Figure 2 can be found in Table 3 of the Accompanying Tables.
Delivery by region
As shown in Figure 3, the highest regional delivery has been in the North West (14%), followed by the West Midlands (13%), Yorkshire and The Humber and the South East (both at 12%).
Figure 3: Proportion of Total Measures Installed by Geographic Region (May 2023 to August 2024)
The data used in Figure 3 can be found in the ‘Percentage of Total Measures Installed’ column of Table 4 in the Accompanying Tables.
The regional breakdown of upgraded households is largely the same as the regional breakdown of measures installed, as the majority of households (around 21,200 out of 24,400) have had only one measure installed under the scheme up to the end of August 2024. The remaining households have had one or more heating control measures installed (these are secondary measures that can only be installed in households in the low-income eligibility group under the scheme).
There have been 24,400 households upgraded under GBIS up to the end of August 2024, meaning they have had at least one measure installed. This is around 87 households per 100,000 households (based on estimated household levels for Great Britain in 2023). The rate for Wales was higher at 106 per 100,000, whilst the rate for England was more similar to Great Britain at 90 per 100,000 and was lower for Scotland at a rate of 53 per 100,000. The regions of England with the highest rates were the North East and Yorkshire and The Humber, with 143 and 126 households upgraded per 100,000 respectively.
Delivery by local authority area
GBIS measure delivery, upgrades and estimated rates per 100,000 households are provided at the local-authority level in Table 5 of the Accompanying Tables. The estimated rate of upgrades per 100,000 households is also presented in Map 1.
The level of delivery under GBIS varies at the local authority level. The local authorities with the highest rate of upgrades so far are City of Kingston upon Hull (490 per 100,000 households), Luton (435 per 100,000) and Stoke-on-Trent (389 per 100,000).
Map 1: Households upgraded under GBIS per 100,000 households by Local Authority (May 2023 to August 2024)
The data used in Map 1 can be found in the ‘GBIS households upgraded per 100,000 households’ column of Table 5 in the Accompanying Tables.
Annex: Further Information
Next publication date
The next publication will be at 09:30am on Thursday 21 November 2024.
Scheme Information
More information on the GBIS scheme can be found at the Department’s website and at Ofgem.
Accompanying tables
Tables showing the number of measures installed and households upgraded under GBIS are available.
Table 6 additionally includes metrics of the rate of measures and upgrades per 100,000 households.
Revisions policy
The Department’s statistical revisions policy sets out the revisions policy for these statistics, which has been developed in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Statistics.
User engagement
Users are encouraged to provide comments and feedback on how these statistics are used and how well they meet user needs. Comments on any issues relating to this statistical release are welcomed and should be sent to: EnergyEfficiency.Stats@energysecurity.gov.uk. The Department’s statement on statistical public engagement and data standards sets out the department’s commitments on public engagement and data standards as outlined by the Code of Practice for Statistics.
Pre-release access to statistics
Some ministers and officials receive access to these Official Statistics up to 24 hours before release. Details of the arrangements for doing this and a list of the ministers and officials that receive pre-release access to these statistics can be found in the Department’s statement of compliance with the Pre-Release Access to Official Statistics Order 2008.
Contact
Responsible statisticians: Isi Avbulimen and Mark Piatek
Email: EnergyEfficiency.Stats@energysecurity.gov.uk
Media enquiries: 020 7215 1000
Public enquiries: 07927 579551