The big story this week: consumer protection is being rebuilt around home upgrades
On 17 June 2026 the UK Government published a package of reforms designed to tighten consumer protection for government-backed home upgrades — the kind of work many homeowners are currently considering (or already having installed) like loft and wall insulation, ventilation improvements, and heat pumps.
The headline isn’t just “more rules”. It’s a direct response to a problem the industry has to face honestly: too many households have been left with poorly specified, poorly installed, or poorly supported measures — and when something goes wrong, the complaints process can be slow, confusing, or ineffective. The new proposals aim to make it much harder for bad actors to operate, and much easier for homeowners to get clear advice and fast redress.
What exactly was announced?
According to the Government release, the package includes several key elements aimed at improving the experience from start to finish:
- A transparent public register of government-approved installers, so households can check who is eligible to work on projects connected to government schemes.
- A single end-to-end advice and support service, intended to prevent households being passed between different bodies when trying to choose measures, find an installer, or resolve issues.
- Powers to ban non-compliant installers from government schemes — a practical lever that makes enforcement meaningful.
- A strengthened Energy Ombudsman with faster and fairer redress, so homeowners can resolve disputes without being worn down.
- Enhanced cover for solid-wall insulation failures under ECO4/GBIS: the Installation Assurance Authority will cover repair costs up to £25,000 (up from £20,000) where guarantees fail, plus additional remediation support.
This is not a minor tweak. It’s a clear signal that the Government wants upgrades to accelerate — but only if households feel safe saying “yes”.
Why this matters (and why it’s happening now)
Home energy upgrades are supposed to do three things: make your home warmer, cheaper to run, and lower carbon. When they’re designed and installed properly, they can. When they aren’t, they can create some very real problems:
- Cold homes that are still expensive to heat because insulation is incomplete, poorly fitted, or not matched to the property.
- Damp, mould and condensation triggered by tighter fabric without correct ventilation strategy.
- Heat pumps that underperform because the system design (radiators, flow temperatures, controls) doesn’t match the house heat loss.
- Long disputes about remedial work, guarantees, and who pays when something fails.
Those issues don’t just affect the unlucky households involved; they damage trust for everyone else. In practice, many homeowners in places like Farnham and Haslemere have the appetite (and often the property value) to invest in upgrades, while households in Bordon and Whitehill may be relying more heavily on scheme support — either way, confidence is essential.
What it means technically: quality assurance will start to shape the design, not just the paperwork
Most homeowners hear “consumer protection” and think complaints handling. That’s part of it, but the deeper technical point is this: the reforms are trying to push the market towards better specification and better commissioning, because those are the moments that decide whether an upgrade works for the next 15–25 years.
1) Insulation isn’t just “more is better” — it’s “right material, right method, right moisture control”
Take solid-wall insulation, which is specifically mentioned in the Government announcement. Solid walls behave differently to cavity walls. They manage moisture differently, they often have older brickwork, and they’re more sensitive to how vapour moves through the building.
If solid-wall insulation is poorly specified or installed, you can end up with:
- Cold bridges (patches that stay cold) around window reveals, eaves, and junctions — which then become condensation points.
- Trapped moisture if the wall can’t dry as designed, raising the risk of internal damp and mould.
- Cracking or detachment on external wall insulation systems if fixing, substrate prep, or detailing is wrong.
The uplift to £25,000 repair-cost cover matters because solid-wall remedial work can be expensive and disruptive. It also tells you the Government recognises the risk profile of these measures and wants a stronger “backstop” if guarantees fail.
2) Heat pumps succeed or fail on heat loss calculations and emitter design
Heat pumps aren’t mentioned in the repair-cost line, but they’re clearly part of the wider “home upgrades” trust problem. A heat pump is not a like-for-like boiler swap. It’s a whole-system change. The key technical pieces are:
- Heat loss survey: room-by-room calculations that determine the heat required at design conditions.
- Flow temperature: the lower it can be while still keeping you comfortable, the higher the efficiency (COP/SCOP) tends to be.
- Radiator/underfloor sizing: many homes need larger radiators or different zoning to deliver the same comfort at lower temperatures.
- Controls and commissioning: weather compensation, correct curves, and balanced flow rates are where the running costs are truly won or lost.
These reforms matter because a proper register and stronger enforcement should, in theory, reduce the number of installs that skip the detailed design work and leave households with disappointing performance.
3) Airtightness without ventilation is a recipe for mould
One of the most common technical mistakes in retrofit is treating measures as isolated: “insulate the loft”, “change the windows”, “block up the drafts”. If you reduce uncontrolled ventilation (leaks and draughts) without providing planned ventilation (trickle vents, extractor upgrades, continuous mechanical ventilation where appropriate), humidity rises and condensation follows.
This is particularly relevant in the older housing stock you see across Alton, parts of Liphook, and villages around Haslemere, where building fabrics are often more traditional and moisture movement matters. A consumer-protection overhaul won’t stop physics — but it can push installers and schemes to treat homes as systems, not checklists.
What it means financially: fewer “cheap now, costly later” outcomes
The financial impact of these reforms is two-sided: it’s about reducing risk for homeowners, and it’s about raising professionalism across the supply chain.
Reduced downside risk (the bit people forget to cost)
Homeowners usually focus on the upfront quote and the projected energy savings. But the real fear — and the real financial pain when things go wrong — is remedial work.
Solid-wall insulation remediation can involve scaffolding, removing/rendering systems, repairing substrates, redecorating internally, and addressing damp damage. The increase to £25,000 for ECO4/GBIS solid-wall insulation repairs where guarantees fail is meaningful because it acknowledges real-world costs rather than optimistic averages.
Potentially higher “good” installer costs — but better value
If enforcement tightens, some low-quality operators may exit scheme work. That can mean:
- Higher baseline pricing for competent installations (because proper surveys, design, and commissioning take time).
- More predictable performance, which is where the value really is: a heat pump designed to run at lower flow temperatures will typically cost less to run than one that’s effectively forced to behave like a boiler.
For homeowners in Farnham and Haslemere who may be blending private spend with any available support, the key financial takeaway is: paying for correct design and commissioning generally beats paying later for troubleshooting, additional radiators, or remedial building work.
What it means locally: why these changes matter in East Hampshire and the border towns
The places we serve around Bordon and Whitehill, and over towards Liphook, Alton, Farnham and Haslemere, have a mix of property types that can make upgrades either straightforward or surprisingly complex:
- Newer and redeveloped homes (including areas influenced by regeneration) can be well suited to heat pumps and high levels of insulation — but only if system design matches the building.
- Older cottages and solid-wall homes in the surrounding villages often need careful moisture-aware insulation choices and a ventilation plan.
- Commuter-belt semis and detached houses may have the space for cylinders and external units, but radiator sizing and zoning need doing properly to hit comfort and cost targets.
The practical benefit of a public installer register and a single advice/support pathway is that households doing “the right thing” won’t have to become retrofit experts just to avoid being caught out.
What homeowners should do next: protect yourself before you sign anything
Whether you’re planning an insulation job, considering a heat pump, or mixing measures (which is usually the best approach), the reforms are a reminder to tighten up your own process. Here’s how to do that in plain, practical steps.
Start with the building fabric — but insist on a ventilation plan
Insulation and draught-proofing can be excellent investments, but only when moisture and ventilation are treated as part of the specification. Ask your installer:
- What changes will this work make to airflow in the home?
- Will existing extract fans be upgraded, repositioned or put on humidity controls?
- Are trickle vents required after window changes?
- How are cold bridges being handled at junctions and reveals?
If you get vague answers, slow down. Damp problems are expensive, and they often show up months after the installers have left.
For heat pumps: demand design evidence, not reassurance
A good heat pump installation starts on paper. Before you commit, ask for:
- Room-by-room heat loss figures and the design temperatures used
- Emitter schedule (what radiators will be used, where, and why)
- Target flow temperature and how it will be controlled (weather compensation curve)
- Hot-water strategy (cylinder size, reheat time expectations, legionella cycle plan)
In homes around Alton and Liphook with mixed extensions, converted garages, or different construction types, room-by-room matters. “Rule of thumb” design is where performance problems begin.
Use the new direction of travel: check approval, check complaint routes, check who pays for what
As these reforms come forward, expect greater visibility. Even now, you should:
- Verify installer credentials for the scheme involved and check they’re genuinely eligible for the work they’re selling.
- Get guarantees and warranties in writing and keep copies of certificates, commissioning sheets, and handover packs.
- Clarify the escalation path before work starts: who do you contact, by when, and what evidence will they require if something fails?
If you’re offered “free” or heavily subsidised work but the paperwork is unclear, treat that as a warning sign. Genuine scheme-funded work should be transparent about standards, responsibilities, and remediation.
Plan upgrades as a sequence, not a single job
The best outcomes usually come from a staged plan:
- Address insulation and draught reduction with ventilation provision
- Then size and optimise the heating system to the new heat loss
- Then consider low-carbon heat (heat pump) if it fits the property and budget
This approach is especially sensible locally because many homes in Farnham, Haslemere and the surrounding areas have been improved in phases over decades. Matching the heating system to the building you actually have today (not the one you had 20 years ago) is the route to comfort and predictable bills.
Where this leaves us as an industry
These reforms are a push for professionalism. The most important shift isn’t the register or the ombudsman in isolation — it’s the idea that households deserve upgrades that genuinely deliver, and that the industry must stand behind its work with clear accountability.
If you’re a homeowner weighing up insulation, ventilation improvements, a heating upgrade or a heat pump, the smartest move is to treat the next step as a design and verification exercise, not just a search for the lowest quote.
For help checking a proposal, planning an upgrade sequence, or getting a properly designed heating solution, book with Embassy Gas: (01420) 558993 | helpdesk@embassygas.com | https://www.embassygas.com/book