The recent round of UK party conferences revealed sharply contrasting visions for the country’s housing, energy, and net-zero strategy with Labour emphasising scale and state partnership, the Conservatives advocating targeted reform and fiscal caution, and the Greens and Liberal Democrats pushing for transformative environmental standards. The majority of parties now recognise the interdependence of clean energy, grid modernisation, flexibility and affordable homes.

The upcoming budget provides an opportunity to show a new focus on delivering warm homes through actionable measures and support for the “squeezed middle” with tax incentives.  

Labour: High ambition, industrial strategy integration

Labour’s conference reaffirmed its mission-led approach building 1.5 million homes, fully decarbonising the power system by 2030, and rewiring Britain’s grid. Its Warm Homes Plan drives a retrofit of 5 million homes and integrates solar, heat pumps, and battery storage from the outset explicitly linked to the new Future Homes Standard. By positioning GB Energy as an active co-investor in local clean energy and grid projects, Labour set out a framework where energy infrastructure, housing, and industrial policy operate cohesively.^[1]

However, its biggest challenge is delivery realism. While Labour’s industrial pledges on giga‑factories and “30 GW of zero‑carbon storage” signal ambition, we need to ensure there are measures and support in place to ensure this can be delivered.

Conservatives: Pragmatism and market mechanics

The Conservatives continue to focus on planning acceleration, brownfield prioritisation, and maintaining fiscal control. Their vision remains incremental: maintaining offshore wind expansion and backing carbon capture while relying on market incentives for retrofit and ESG progress.

This approach appeals to investors but lacks urgency on grid reform and battery storage an area notably underdeveloped in their manifesto. Without major system flexibility targets or an explicit energy storage policy, the Conservatives risk being seen as administratively competent but strategically reactive in the energy transition and lacking true ambition.

Greens and liberal democrats: Ethical leadership and system reform

The Green Party offers the most radical trajectory, proposing Passivhaus‑level building standards, total phase‑out of fossil heating, and £10 billion grid and storage upgrades. Their decentralised model promotes local ownership, community energy, and storage co‑benefits philosophically compelling but financially and logistically challenging.

Liberal Democrats take a middle path: a push for zero‑carbon homes, deep public‑sector retrofit, and community‑scale renewable deployment. They show strong ESG alignment but remain less defined on industry‑scale delivery mechanisms.

Reform party conference: Scepticism and caution

Reform calls for a pause or outright ban on battery storage expansion in the UK, citing unresolved safety concerns. Their position is notably more critical than any other major party, opposing net-zero mandates and questioning the economic viability of renewables at scale. While some individual Reform MPs have personally invested in solar and battery projects, this is not representative of the official line. Policy speeches and fringe sessions featured critiques of high building standards for new homes, arguing that the upfront costs could diminish affordability and threaten national grid reliability.

On grid upgrades and storage, Reform is notably silent beyond general calls for “energy security” and greater use of domestic fossil supplies leaving their conference proposals light on detail compared to the plans of Labour, the Conservatives, Lib Dems, or Greens. This lack of ambition is paired with the argument that constraints on fossil energy or over-targeting renewables would harm consumers and UK competitiveness.

Lessons and expectations for the budget

The upcoming budget provides the Labour Government with an opportunity to provide a practical bridge between rhetoric and delivery. The Chancellor’s Autumn Budget should integrate the following recommendations:

1. Technology-led efficiency – Shift focus from purely fabric-first retrofit to home energy systems combining solar PV, heat pumps, and 10 kWh minimum storage capacities for new builds.
2. Inclusive incentives – Expand ECO4 and zero‑VAT eligibility to stand‑alone battery systems and introduce a clean‑tech salary sacrifice scheme for home storage and heat electrification.
3. Energy poverty – Target schemes to support lower income families with public/private sector partnerships to decarbonize social and local authority housing and support private landlords with mechanisms to lower energy bills for tenants.
4. Flexibility market reform – Guarantee minimum payments to households for flexible grid participation, separate from fixed tariffs.
5. Fair energy taxation – Rebalance the 6 p/kWh green levy from electricity to gas to lower bills and encourage electrified heating.
6. Targeted GB energy finance – Direct GB Energy investment toward retrofit loans and Energy‑as‑a‑Service models in social housing, linking returns to real household savings.
7. UK Supply Chain priority – Tie public funding to British manufacturing of energy storage and clean‑tech systems, strengthening domestic green jobs.
8. Resilience for the vulnerable – Extend backup power provisions in homes of medically dependent or vulnerable occupants.

Closing perspective 

The UK’s energy and housing debate is no longer about ambition but execution. Labour leads on integration and scale; the Conservatives on process continuity; and the Green on moral clarity. The Chancellor’s task is to translate ambition into bankable infrastructure, where every pound spent and every watt generated warms homes, strengthens national resilience, and rewards the emerging British clean-tech economy.

20th October 2025