A coalition of housing and fuel poverty groups has called for the Scottish Government to make rural homes the priority to be insulated and retrofitted with heat pumps.

Lori McElroy, Chair of the Existing Homes Alliance (EHA)said: “Support for rural communities must be a priority to ensure they’re not left behind in the transition to clean heat.”

The coalition argues that Scotland’s rural communities should be at the "forefront of the transition to zero emissions heating".

David Mackay, the CEO of fuel poverty social enterprise, Scarf,  said that starting with rural homes was “a no-brainer" because of the challenges they face. He also noted that “cheap electricity” is the way to “eradicate fuel poverty”.

Ms McElroy said: “Rural communities have so much to gain from the transition to zero emissions heating. People living in rural areas are far more likely to be living in fuel poverty – 47% of households in remote rural Scotland are classed as being fuel poor, compared with 31% across Scotland as a whole.

“Around 65% of rural homes are not on the gas grid and are often dependent on expensive oil heating systems with high and fluctuating upfront fuel costs. This, alongside the fact that homes are often older, stone built and with lower levels of insulation – means they’re already facing higher heating bills.”

 The goal of Scarf to "alleviate fuel poverty and provide comfier homes for households in the North East of Scotland" and it knows the struggles of rural homes well.

“Some of the rural homes in the region,” Mr Mackay noted, “are in are some of the harshest conditions in the country.”

“Some of them, built in rural villages, are over 100 years old and they require a lot of work and general insulation as well. Whereas most of the urban homes we are looking at are relatively new by comparison.”

Most of the properties are off the gas grid, heated with either electricity, or oil, which can also be expensive and is delivered through an unregulated market. “People who have to buy oil can be paying hundreds of pounds more than people who rely on gas as a heating system. We know of some households who have paid £5-600 for oil for a month.”

He also highlighted that heating is just one amongst other additional costs that rural homes face – another being travel.

By using UK and Scottish government schemes, he said, Scarf has found it can "dramatically bring the rural homes annual bills down”.

Already the social enterprise has channelled £9 million of funding into 495 predominanly rural homes, delivering retrofits that, he noted, have  “changed their EPC rating from an E, F or G to an A or a B," with savings of around £1600 a year for many of the homes. 

Heat pump in DunblaneHeat pump in Dunblane

The homes frequently are installed with  a system of solar photovoltaic panels, linked to an air-source heat pump and battery. “A heat pump," he said, " is not going to be the answer for every home. But if a house can be well insulated and can provide an affordable way to pay for the electricity just now, which would be the solar PV and battery storage, then it can be a really positive solution.”

Two years ago EHA published its Rural Homes Just Transition Package, which included policies and measures designed to support people living in rural and island areas to insulate their homes and install zero emissions, renewables-based heating systems.

Since then the Scottish Government introduced the rural uplift, a higher rate of Home Energy Scotland grants for people in rural areas. The recent Heat in Buildings consultation also included proposals to apply new energy efficiency and heat standards to holiday lets and agricultural tenancies, to ensure no homes are left behind.

READ MORE: 

 

However, the coalition noted, beyond this, progress has been “limited”. 

“Action is needed to make this happen,” said Ms McElroy. “Many households will need financial support.” She acknowledged the existence of grants and funding programmes, including Warmer Homes Scotland and the Energy Efficiency Scotland Area-Based Schemes (EES: ABS), which already help to bring down the upfront costs.

“Alongside this,” she said, “people need to be able to access the right kind of advice and support, including locally based handholding services to help people improve their homes. We also need to grow the supply chain in rural areas and that requires policy certainty."

A Scottish Government Spokesperson said: “Heat from our homes and buildings represents around 20% of Scotland’s carbon emissions and we continue to work with stakeholders across the public and private sectors to ensure that a just transition to net zero is delivered for households across the country. We also continue to ensure those living in rural areas are supported in the transition through our funding and delivery programmes.

“We recognise that the pace of the Heat in Buildings transition requires a substantial growth in supply chains and are working in partnership with the sector to ensure that the appropriate support and training provision are aligned at a local level with business needs and future local demands.

“We have been considering responses to our consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill, and separately a Social Housing Net Zero Standard. The Scottish Government’s legislative programme will be set out in the new parliamentary term.”