The Government has announced it will increase the funding available for households to upgrade gas heating systems to green alternatives as part of a new Warm Homes Plan.
The Plan will increase the budget available for grants of up to £7,500 to install heat pumps through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which had the highest number of applications ever in October according to Ofgem. Further support will also remove the need to submit a planning application for installing air source heat pumps.
The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Warm Homes: Local Grant will also increase the availability of funded energy efficiency upgrades for social housing residents, lower income householders and renters.
In total, around £3.2 billion of investment in warmer homes across 2025 to 2026 will be provided from government, social housing providers and energy suppliers, and support green heating for up to 300,000 households.
Minister for Energy Consumers Miatta Fahnbulleh said:
“The idea at the heart of our Warm Homes Plan is a simple one – all families deserve the security of a home they can afford to heat.“
Government plans have been received positively by both energy suppliers and manufacturers of green heating technology.
Greg Jackson, CEO, Octopus Energy, said:
“More than a third of customers who order a heat pump drop out because of planning issues, leaving them stuck with dirty, inefficient gas boilers. Removing outdated and unnecessary red tape is an urgent priority to grow this sector and get low cost, safe, clean heating technology into British homes.“
Daniel Särefjord, CEO of heat pump supplier Aira UK which opened a Greater Manchester site earlier this year, said:
“Today’s announcement will be a game-changer for heat pump adoption across the UK. It is a much needed and welcomed intervention from the government to ensure customers can save serious amounts of money on heating costs and enable our country to meet net zero targets. Clean heating solutions are essential for driving the UK’s transition to a lower-cost, lower-carbon, and more stable energy market, with heat pumps playing a central role in this evolution. This step highlights a strong commitment to tackling climate change while supporting the growth of the clean energy-tech sector and creating thousands of new jobs within the green skills workforce across the country.“
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