A group of 14 organisations and businesses has today called on the government to offer grants to homeowners to make green improvements or miss its net zero target.

The signatories from across the housing, construction, financial services and energy sector urge policymakers to set out a national retrofit strategy that will provide a stimulus to consumers who can not afford to pay for energy efficiency measures.

They also ask the government to regulate to ensure that all installers undertaking ‘green home’ retrofits are Trustmark certified and compliant with PAS standards.

The consortium includes energy companies British Gas and E.ON, the Nationwide Building Society, the Federation of Master Builders, wool insulation manufacturer Rockwool UK, the non-for-profit social enterprise TrustMark and others.

Claire Tracey, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer at Nationwide Building Society, said: “Together, we are asking the government to create a national retrofitting strategy that ensures the UK’s Paris Agreement commitments can be met.

“Anything less and we risk not only missing our climate targets, but also missing an opportunity to achieve higher-quality housing, lower energy bills, and new green jobs for the whole of the UK.”

A government spokesperson said: “The UK has a strong track record in improving the energy performance of its homes, with 40% now rated Band C – up from just 9% in 2008.

“We are committed to going further and faster, and we continue to consider a range of ways we can drive forward decarbonisation, including our manifesto commitment to invest £9 billion in improving the energy efficiency of our buildings.”