NAO raises red flag over low heat pump uptake

Domestic heating accounts for 18 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, and heat pumps are widely recognised as the best solution to decarbonise the country’s 28 million homes. However, the government’s flagship Boiler Upgrade Scheme – which offers £7,500 towards replacing fossil-based heating with heat pumps – has so far failed to deliver on the government’s targets.

In a new report, the NAO details how the number of heat pump installations in December 2023 was less than half of planned projections. Between May 2022 and December 2023, just 18,900 heat pumps were installed under the scheme. According to the NAO, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) had predicted the scheme to have delivered 50,000 installations by that point.

“Government needs to engage every household to achieve its objective to decarbonise home heating as part of the transition to net zero,” said Gareth Davies, head of the NAO. “DESNZ’s progress in making households aware and encouraging them to switch to low-carbon alternatives has been slower than expected.