The MCS Foundation said it welcomes measures to support decarbonisation of home heating in the Autumn Budget, although it noted that there is still a long way to go to get the UK on track for 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028.
The Chancellor announced an initial £1bn for the Warm Homes Plan for next year, covering energy efficiency and heat pumps, and a guarantee of investment of an initial £3.4bn towards heat decarbonisation over the next four years.
The Chancellor also announced increased funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme following the success of this grant scheme over the last year, and funding to support UK heat pump manufacturing. Detail of this is yet to be announced.
David Cowdrey, acting chief executive at the MCS Foundation, said: “17% of the UK’s total carbon emissions comes from heating our homes, so measures to support energy efficiency and the manufacture and installation of heat pumps are very welcome.
“Heat pump deployment has accelerated recently with the help of government funding in the form of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, so it is encouraging to see this success recognised with additional funding.
“Nevertheless, the UK is still lagging at the bottom of European league tables for heat pump deployment. We need a comprehensive set of funded policies to remove barriers to the rollout of heat pumps, including moving social and environmental levies off electricity bills to reduce costs.
“Despite the government’s promise of certainty, we are still awaiting the Future Homes Standard and the Clean Heat Market Mechanism, two essential drivers for increasing heat pump deployment.”