Prime Minister confirms U-turns on boiler replacement and EPC rules
Citing a more pragmatic approach to reducing carbon emissions, Sunak says boilers plans are to be watered down and EPC rules scrapped.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised more time for households to make the transition to heat pumps under plans to decarbonise the country’s homes.
The Neg reported yesterday that a delay to the ban on gas boilers was being considered by the Government.
The target was for no gas boilers to be installed in new homes by 2025, and for the phasing out of boilers altogether to begin in 2033.
PRESS CONFERENCE
But speaking this afternoon the Prime Minister told a press conference (main picture) that households will only have to make the switch when they’re changing their boiler anyway, and not until 2035.
He said the government would never force anyone to replace a gas boiler with a heat pump. Instead, householders will only be required to switch when they are due to change their boiler anyway.
Heat pumps, he said, needed to be made cheaper without imposing high costs on families at a time while technology is still expensive.
The Prime Minister also pushed back the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK from 2030 to 2035, aligning with EU countries like Germany, France, Spain and Italy.
UNWANTED PRESSURE
Michael Cook, Group Managing Director of Leaders Romans Group, welcomed the latest u-turn and says asking landlords and homeowner to spend even more money was ‘unwanted pressure’.

He says: “Whilst we recognise all individuals and industries must think differently and act differently to reduce their carbon footprint and the impact of climate change, we welcome this u-turn by the government.
“Essentially, asking homeowners and landlords to dig deeper into their pockets at this difficult time is unwanted pressure.
“Landlords in particular have been continually hit with higher taxation and legislation, coupled with inflationary pressure and higher interest rates, leading many to conclude that its is time to sell.
“This supply restriction has seen rents go up at a greater rate than in living memory. Reducing capital outlay by reversing out of policies like this is in everyone’s interest in the short to medium turn.”
Uncertainty

Ben Beadle (pictured), Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, says: “We want to see all properties as energy efficient as possible.
However, the uncertainty surrounding energy efficiency policy has been hugely damaging to the supply of rented properties.
“Landlords are struggling to make investment decisions without a clear idea of the Government’s direction of travel.
“It is welcome that landlords will not be required to invest substantial sums of money during a cost-of-living crisis when many are themselves struggling financially. However, ministers need to use the space they are creating to develop a full plan that supports the rental market to make the energy efficiency improvements we all want to see.
“This must include appropriate financial support and reform of the tax system which currently fails to support investment in energy efficiency measures.”
PICTURE: BBC News
Ideology meets reality.
Before we send ‘The West’ back to the dark ages it would be really helpful if we could have a more informed and balanced debate on the climate alarmism.
So many world renowned climate experts being cancelled because they don’t follow the narrative.
CO2 is a naturally occurring gas that makes up 0.04% of the earth’s atmosphere. Without this CO2 the average world temperature would be -20 Celsius. It is essential for the survival of life on earth and has been for millions of years. There is no credible evidence that man made CO2 is causing climate change. The UK produces less than 1% of the world’s manmade CO2, China produces 27% of the worlds CO2.
Net Zero is a con it is part of the UN’s Agenda 21 policy to limit the activity of the world’s population by control and fear. It requires us to become inactive in our lives both socially and economically. The UN expects us by the 21st Century to be locked down in 15 minute ghettos, owning nothing, eating a plant based vegan diet. Cons like Net Zero and ULEZ are the start of this journey. They are the means of making us poorer and compliant.
Rishi Sunak hasn’t U turned he is simply grabbing headlines with an eye on the election. He hasn’t ditched Net Zero he has aligned it with Europe making it easier to impose it on us at a later date. It is going to cost Trillions to achieve Net Zero more than the world has spent on any war. There are massive fortunes to be made on the way, those that really benefit from Net Zero are the already wealthy and elite. The likes of China are having none of it they want their slice of the pie too, they already have their totalitarian control over its population and our Government are waking up on how to impose it to us.
This is a sensible measure for landlords, but probably too late to stop the current mass exodus from the market, driven by justified fear of the RRB and unviable finances: many landlords with mortgages, certainly in London and the South-East, are making a loss because of high interest rates. On top of that there’s the added indignity of Section 24: even when you are making a loss and having to subsidise your tenants from your own salary, you can find yourself paying income tax on that loss because you only get a tax credit now.
And of course many landlords are sick and tired of being attacked from all directions and just want the simpler life afforded by high interest rates on savings, and investment in the stock and bond markets via ISAs and SIPPs.
Heat pumps need to be far cheaper, and there needs to be far more installers and people trained up in surveying, specifying and undertaking insulation works, to the high standard expected by Building Regulations. There also needs to be a comprehensive government-backed loan and grant scheme for landlords and owner-occupiers, to enable them to pay for the massive programme of insulation and draught-proofing that will be needed if heat pumps are ever to work properly. My suggestion would be a national easy-to-understand “Net Zero Mortgage”, with low interest rates and a 20-25 year lifespan, which would be added to a property’s existing mortgage (if any), with lenders banned from including the NZM in their affordability assessments.