The government has promised an extra £1.5 billion for its Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which landlords can access to fund heat pump installations.

It reports that an increase in the heat pump grant to £7,500 has already led to a 57% rise in applications. The cash boost comes on top of the £6.6 billion capital funding already committed until 2025 and will provide extra help for up to 200,000 families in poorly insulated, low income or social homes.  

Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho reports that it has made excellent progress towards making homes more energy efficient, with nearly 50% of properties in England now having an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of C – up from 14% in 2010.

Cheap claim

Greg Jackson (pictured), CEO of Octopus Energy, says heat pumps are rapidly becoming cheaper and quicker to install. He adds: “We’re planning on hiring 2,000 new engineers next year alone to try to meet rocketing demand. This increased certainty from government enables us to invest with confidence and will unlock cheaper, cleaner heating for the UK.”

To be eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, a property must have a valid EPC with no outstanding recommendations for loft or cavity wall insulation.

Landlords need to contact installers to get quotes for the work; the installer will then apply on their behalf on the Ofgem website and the grant’s value is taken off the amount paid for installation. Heat pump retrofit costs vary widely, but costs can often exceed £10,000.

The government scrapped its policy to force landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties by 2028 earlier this year; landlords will only need to replace gas boilers with heat pumps once they have worn out and even then, not until 2035.

Pic credit: Shutterstock/Ruslan Ivantsov