Initial Response to the Launch of the Heat and Building Strategy

18 October 2021

Ian Rippin, CEO at MCS, initially responds to the government’s long-awaited Heat and Building Strategy.

“We welcome the launch of the Heat and Building Strategy, which will see households benefit from £5,000 government grants to help install low-carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps.

“For our installers, it’s encouraging to see the launch of this grant being lined up to follow the closure of the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive, which ends in March 2022. This should provide much-needed policy support that we hope is part of a longer-term commitment from the government.

“The £450million allocated over three years is more than the rumoured £100million, and this should deliver up to 90,000 new heat pump installations over the period – a boost for the sector.

“However, when you look at the figures, this sum is still nowhere near enough to transform the heating of 29 million properties across the UK.

“Government funding must increase exponentially if we are to achieve the government’s target of 600,000 total heat pump installations a year by 2028 – of which half we expect to be installed in existing homes. Effectively, from 2025 there will be just three years to make this jump happen in line with this current policy.”