The following is expert commentary from Mitsubishi Electric‘s Russell Dean, reacting to the news from the Conservative party conference that if back in power, they would scrap the Future Homes Standard, and news today that the government may cut funding to support heat pump uptake.
Russell is a residential heating expert with over 20 years’ experience in home heating.
Future Homes Standard at the Tory party conference
Russell argues that this would be the wrong decision, and would risk creating a generation of outdated homes that lump homeowners with costly upgrades in years to come.
“Scrapping the Future Homes Standard would be a backwards step for UK housing, and risks creating new homes that are outdated almost as soon as they are built.
“We absolutely need to make new homes more affordable, but taking away measures designed to make them more energy efficient is not the answer. Buyers will be paying to heat and run a property for decades, and building homes now that need costly upgrades or retrofitting later simply pushes that burden onto future homeowners.
“We already have the technology to build homes that are efficient, comfortable, and equipped with low-carbon heating from day one. Rather than rowing back on those standards, we should be looking at how we can deliver them at scale while bringing down costs.
“Making homes affordable to buy is vital. But we shouldn’t achieve that by building homes that could ultimately cost people more to live in.”
Government may cut funding to support heat pump uptake
Russell argues that the cut would be a serious mistake, and put clean, affordable heating out of reach for many homeowners.
“Slashing the Boiler Upgrade Scheme would be a serious mistake. Households need help to move away from gas. Cutting that support would make cleaner heating far less affordable for many families and undermine the government’s commitment to tackling the climate crisis.
“Instead of cutting support, the government must continue to focus on reducing the upfront cost of a heat pump, while finding ways to cut the cost of running one. That means protecting grants like the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and also rebalancing electricity bills so households can benefit fully from more efficient heating.
“Cutting support now would be a false economy, sacrificing progress on affordable heating just as the market is starting to gain momentum.”
