The government has named the first 10 lenders in its Warm Homes Loan Scheme, which offers homeowners no- and low-interest loans for solar panels, batteries and heat pumps with nothing to pay upfront. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) published the list on 27 October 2026, with loans of up to £35,000 for a ground source heat pump and repayment terms of up to 30 years with som…
The Government has launched its Warm Homes Loan Scheme with ten lenders offering finance for solar panels, batteries, heat pumps and other low-carbon home upgrades across the UK. The first products include no- and low-interest loans, with households able to spread the cost of installations over several years instead of paying the full amount upfront. Individual technology limits range from £7…
Severe drought has been declared across parts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex after the driest April-to-September period in more than a century depleted reservoirs across southern England. The Environment Agency said on 15 October that 82% of England remained in drought and that some areas would need around 120% of typical rainfall over the next six months to re…
Thirty-five communities across the Great Ouse catchment have developed local flood plans and received emergency response kits as the Environment Agency expands community-level preparations ahead of the winter. The programme combines practical equipment with local planning and remote monitoring, giving volunteer flood groups tools they can use before and during an incident. Nine flood-monitoring c…
Silbury House in Milton Keynes has achieved a 5 Star NABERS UK Energy for Offices Whole Building rating following the refurbishment of the 1998 office building, with the assessment based on measured operational energy performance rather than design-stage predictions. Owner RO Group says Silbury House is currently the only building in the UK holding a 5 Star NABERS UK Whole Building rating and…
Homes England and Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority have signed a Strategic Place Partnership covering housing and regeneration priorities across Hull and East Yorkshire, bringing the region’s two councils into a shared long-term delivery framework. The 9 October agreement is not a main construction contract, a funding award or a construction start. It is intended to build a coordinated …
London office sustainability is increasingly judged through several systems at once, but BREEAM, NABERS UK and Energy Performance Certificates are not interchangeable ratings . One assesses broad environmental performance, another tests how efficiently an occupied building actually operates, while the third is a statutory asset-energy assessment used in property transactions and Minimum Energy Ef…
