The Government is attempting to boost its Warm Homes Plan with a raft of tweaks.

These include an extra £30m for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to support the switch to heat pumps and almost doubling the budget to £295 million for the next financial year.

However, the most controversial measure is allowing households install an air source heat pump without needing to submit a planning application in England and removing the limitation that a heat pump must be sited 1m from a property boundary.

In particular there and concerns around the noise heat pumps can produce if sited without regard to acoustics or having inadequate baffles in place where needed to prevent noise pollution.

There are also measures for social housing residents, lower income householders and renters to receive funded energy efficiency upgrades including insulation and low-carbon heating through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Warm Homes: Local Grant respectively

In terms of manufacturers, the revised Clean Heat Market Mechanism will be introduced on 1 April 2025, with changes to make sure manufacturers have the time they need to scale up supply chains, without penalising those buying a gas boiler. There will also be government support available for heat pump installation that is required under the mechanism in 2025 to 2026.

---