30 October 2024

Measures to support decarbonisation of home heating in today’s Budget have been welcomed by The MCS Foundation, although 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 today announced an initial £1 billion for the Warm Homes Plan for next year, covering energy efficiency and heat pumps, and a guarantee of investment of an initial £3.4 billion 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. However, detail of this is yet to be announced. 

Responding to the Budget, 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.” 

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Further information from: 

Jamie Osborn, Communications and Media Manager  

[email protected] | 07975 881585 

Notes to editors 

About the MCS Foundation 

The MCS Foundation’s mission is to decarbonise homes, heat and energy. We were founded to oversee the MCS standards scheme which is run for public benefit and certifies the quality of renewables and their installation across UK homes. In addition, we support and develop programmes to address critical issues like retrofitting UK homes at scale, expanding the skills-base the sector needs, and commissioning independent research that informs and shapes better decision making to drive a carbon free future for all UK homes. For more information: https://mcsfoundation.org.uk/