The Australian Government will provide affordable loans to support homeowners who want to improve their energy efficiency, such as installing solar panels or upgrading their water heaters.
The program is designed to incentivise households to invest in these upgrades, which will eventually pay off in energy savings.
The government has allocated $1.3 billion towards the creation of the Household Energy Upgrades Fund.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will receive $1 billion from the fund to team up with banks and other lenders to help over 110,000 households lower their energy bills.
The remaining $300 million will support upgrades to social housing, which has some of the lowest energy efficiency in Australia.
The Property Council welcomed the $1.3 billion dollar investment in home energy efficiency through the Household Energy Upgrade Fund outlined in the budget.
“The game-changing investment in the energy performance of Australian homes, which will help households slash energy bills and help the country reach its net zero goals,” Property Council of Australia Chief Executive Mike Zorbas said.
Around 60,000 social housing properties are expected to save up to one-third of their energy consumption annually following the upgrades.
The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme will also receive $36.7 million to expand and upgrade to apply to existing homes.
The government said this will allow homeowners to have access to information about the energy efficiency of their homes, helping them make better decisions when it comes to energy upgrades, renting, and purchasing homes.
The funding will also expand and modernise the Greenhouse Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS), which currently cover only half of the products compared to other countries. Expanding GEMS, the government said, will assist households and businesses to save money and reduce emissions.
“A big part of making sure that energy bills are more affordable into the future is improving the energy efficiency of Australian homes – and not just new builds,” Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
“Through this Budget, we are investing $1 billion to help provide low‑cost loans for double‑glazing, solar panels and other improvements that will make homes easier – and cheaper – to keep cool in summer and warm in winter.
“A common‑sense program that will help family budgets – and reduce emissions.”