Heat pump grant applications increase

New figures have shown that applications for government heat pump grants have increased 39 per cent compared to January 2023.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has seen its third best month for applications in its history.

There were over 2,000 applications for heat pump grants in January 2024, the only months that have exceeded this were October and November last year.

Last autumn, the government increased the grant by 50 per cent. Grants for the installation of air source and ground source heat pumps rose to £7,500. The scheme also offers £5,000 off the cost of a biomass boiler.

As of the end of January, the scheme has received 33,424 applications in total and has issued more than £133 million in vouchers to customers.

Energy Security Secretary, Claire Coutinho, said: "I don’t want families to have to choose between cutting costs and cutting emissions. I want families to feel supported, not forced, to make changes that are right for them.

"After we made our heat pump scheme one of the most generous in Europe, applications have soared by 40% year on year - showing that our approach is the right one."

Chief Executive of the Heat Pump Association, Charlotte Lee, said: "It’s great to see interest in the Boiler Upgrade Scheme increasing, supporting the installation of over 20,200 heat pumps to date across England and Wales.

"The uplift in the grant value for air source and ground source heat pumps in October 2023 to £7,500 has been well received by both the sector and consumers and we hope this increasing interest will be a trend which continues forward as we move to decarbonise home heating in line with the government’s legally binding net zero targets."

Image by IntelligentVisualDesing from Pixabay