The government’s decision to introduce even more ambitious environmental targets aimed at slashing emissions by 78% by 2035 is certainly a bold move and reflects the UK’s plans to become a global leader in this area.

However, it does also highlight the size of the task. Clearly, collaboration and long-term strategic planning will be essential if serious progress is to be made in this area.

Mortgage finance can play its part: research carried out by Imla last year found that 20% of consumers would be willing to pay an extra £100 a month for a green mortgage if it helped to lower their carbon footprint. Of the lenders we spoke with, 74% also expected demand for green mortgages to grow over the next few years.

But mortgages are just one small piece of the jigsaw. With greenhouse gases produced by homes accounting for around 15% of all emissions in the UK, improving the energy efficiency of our buildings – both existing stock and new-build – is critical.

Housing policy over recent months has centred on stimulating demand for homes to prevent the sector from stalling, but much less has been said about government’s long-term vision and how it proposes to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock.

We saw some modest action from the government last year in the shape of Green Homes Grant, but the design and delivery of that scheme was not sufficiently clearly thought through – which led to its premature collapse. For consumers, the upfront cost and relatively long pay-back periods associated with making home energy efficiency improvements will now present a clear barrier.

We believe the government could look at doing more to incentivise property owners to improve the Energy Performance (EPC) ratings of their homes. Robust, reliable, but – most importantly – simple schemes which are easily understood and regulated, would go a long way to giving homeowners the reassurance and confidence they need to invest in improvements.

In principle, the Green Homes Grant was intended to help address these challenges, but any new version of the scheme should be greatly simplified. That means outlining more clearly the types of home improvements that are in scope and also providing additional funding for residents in listed or period properties, which cannot be easily remediated.

The trader registration process for the scheme must also be streamlined so that it is quick and cost-effective for traders to sign up.  An efficient registration process will help traders of all sizes to offer their services and ultimately boost trust in and engagement with the scheme.

It is also important to consider that while there are now well over 20 green mortgage products on the market, consumer awareness of these options remains low. Government would do well to work with industry to help educate consumers about how these mortgage options could support home efficiency improvements.

The government needs to ‘think big’ on all this: taking measures to draught-proof homes may have a very small impact – but big ticket changes such the type of fuel that heats and powers our homes in future, as well as how this power is generated, is also key. Such changes are beyond the control of individual homeowners – but they are what will be needed if the government is to achieve its net zero target.

Policy needs to be joined-up and co-ordinated on a vast scale, so that homes – whether existing or new-build – are not only served by fuel-efficient utilities, but are also linked in to smart infrastructure which enables easy access to shops, schools, medical and leisure facilities.

The government has stated that its ambition is to ‘build back better’:  it’s a huge and complex issue but now is the time to face up to the post-Brexit and (nearly) post-Covid challenges and show what can be done.

The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association executive director Kate Davies