The UK government is preparing to cut the budget for heat pump grants to help fund increased defence spending, according to sources cited by the Guardian. The reported plans concern the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which supports heating system replacements in England and Wales. They are proposals, not changes that have already taken effect.
According to the newspaper, the energy department has been asked to find more than £2 billion in savings. Some of that money would come from the grant scheme, whose £2.7 billion budget would be reduced by hundreds of millions of pounds. The Guardian’s sources say the programme would not be scrapped altogether, but neither the precise size of the cuts nor a timetable for introducing them has been disclosed.
The scheme’s budget is not the same as an individual grant
For households considering a heat pump, the important distinction is between cutting the overall programme budget and reducing the amount awarded for each installation. The Guardian’s reporting does not confirm a reduction in individual grants. According to the newspaper, the standard grant for an electric heat pump is £7,500, while some off-grid properties may qualify for support of up to £9,000.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has been running since 2022. The Guardian reports that it has helped fund almost 80,000 heat pumps since its launch. The reported plans concern the programme covering England and Wales, rather than the whole of the UK.
Department promises details as industry criticises possible cuts
In a response quoted by the newspaper, a spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the government department responsible for energy security and the transition to net zero emissions, said details of how investment in national security would be funded would be set out in the autumn. The spokesperson also said the savings represented a small proportion of the department’s overall budget. That response does not, however, confirm specific cuts to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
Madeleine Gabriel of Nesta and Greg Jackson, chief executive of Octopus Energy, have criticised the possible reduction in funding, warning of risks to the growing heat pump industry. These are assessments of the potential effects of the plans, not outcomes of changes already implemented.
For now, there is no confirmation that the grant rules have changed. The key questions remain whether the government will adopt the reductions described by the Guardian and how they would affect the availability of support for households.
