1 September 2026, Edinburgh: Today the Scottish Government has published its Programme for Government, which includes a commitment to introducing the Heat in Buildings Bill during 2026–27, alongside supporting clean-heating and energy-efficiency measures in 100,000 properties and enabling the expansion of heat networks.   

Responding to the Programme for Government, Dr Garry Felgate, CEO of The MCS Foundation, said: We welcome the Scottish Government’s continued commitment to bringing forward the Heat in Buildings Bill, which will be essential to ensure Scottish homes benefit from being carbon-free.  

Tackling emissions from Scottish homes and buildings will require ambitious, long-term policy. In particular, a 2035 commitment to clean heat, meaning all new heating systems installed after that date would be zero-emissions, is essential to provide certainty to households and industry. It would also be popular – our polling shows that nearly three in five Scots would support such a policy.   

The Heat in Buildings Bill is an opportunity to provide that commitment to clean heat. The Scottish Government must now move at pace to publish the details of the Heat in Buildings Bill, and set out how they will deliver on its ambitions. The MCS Foundation and MCS look forward to working with the Scottish Government to ensure consumer confidence and quality in installations as more homes transition to renewable power and heating.