Social landlords will be able to benefit from a scheme to encourage the use of renewable heating technology, after the government reversed plans to exclude them from the initiative.
Details of the domestic renewable heat incentive, published last Friday, state that the scheme will be open to social landlords, as well as homeowners and private landlords.
A consultation document published last September said the government was planning to exclude social landlords from the scheme because it would ‘over-compensate them and, given the scale some operate at, this could result in significant profits’.
The Department of Energy and Climate change has now axed this proposal, and will allow social landlords to take part.
Under the scheme the government will make payments for energy generated from solar thermal panels, biomass boilers, and heat pumps.
Payments have been set at 7.3 pence per kilowatt hour for air source heat pumps, 12.2p/kWh for biomass boilers, 18.8p/kWh for ground source heat pumps, and at least 19.2p/kWh for solar thermal.
Applicants will have to complete green deal assessments of the property before applying for RHI payments, and ensure minimum insulation requirements are met. DECC said the green deal could also be used to support the upfront cost of installing renewable heating equipment.
Greg Barker, climate change minister, said: ‘Investing for the long term in new renewable heat technologies will mean cleaner energy and cheaper bills.’
Andrew Burke, policy officers at the National Housing Federation, said the change was ‘a big win’ for the sector.