Households To Get Grants To Set Up Low Carbon Heating Appliances

From April next year, homeowners in England and Wales will be eligible for £5,000 in subsidies to help them replace outdated gas boilers with low-carbon heat pumps. The payments are part of a £3.9 billion government strategy to cut carbon emissions from heating houses and other structures. After 2035, it is hoped that no new gas boilers will be sold. The money will also be used to make public buildings and social housing more energy efficient.

According to experts, the funding is too low, and the approach is not ambitious enough. "We expect low-carbon heating systems to become the clear, affordable choice for customers as technology improves and costs fall over the coming decade," Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said.

While homeowners will be encouraged to switch to a heat pump or other low-carbon technology when their current boiler needs replacing, there is no requirement to remove boilers that are still working, the government emphasized. Mr. Johnson also sought to reassure voters about the government's ambitions by stressing that the costs of low-carbon heating systems would go down over time while their introduction would help create thousands of new job opportunities.