What the policy targets
Policy here has consistently aimed at new-build housing first, meaning new homes built without fossil-fuel heating. It has not aimed at existing households.
The picture for existing homes has been announced and revised more than once, and anybody telling you they know exactly what the rules will be in ten years is guessing. What has stayed constant is the direction of travel, and the absence of any requirement to remove a working boiler.
Dates in this area have moved before. We'd sooner tell you it's uncertain than quote you a deadline that shifts again next year.
What it means in practice
- If your boiler fails, you can replace it with a gas boiler. That still holds
- A boiler fitted today will very likely reach the end of its natural life before anything obliges you to change approach
- If you're replacing anyway and your house happens to suit a heat pump, the numbers are worth a look. There's a substantial grant and it won't be there forever
- If your house doesn't suit one, fitting one anyway to get ahead of a rule that doesn't exist is an expensive way to be cold
The grant, if you're curious
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme currently puts £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump, rising to £9,000 for eligible properties off the mains gas grid that heat with oil or LPG. It has to be installed by an MCS certified installer for the grant to apply.
Whether that makes a heat pump right for your house is a separate question, and one we'll answer straight rather than commercially.