Top adviser warns Ministers they’re ‘nowhere near’ heat pump target
Sir John Armitt tells ministers there has been very little progress towards target of 600,000 heat pumps per year.
A leading government adviser has slammed ministers and officials for falling well short on targets to install heat pumps.
Sir John Armitt, who chairs the National Infrastructure Commission, says the Government is guilty of failing to drive through boiler upgrades across the country.
The Government’s aim is for at least 600,000 heat pumps to be installed each year by 2028, but only around 55,000 were fitted in 2021, according to a new report from the commission.
A House of Lords committee recently criticised the Government’s record on boiler replacements in both rented and owner-occupied homes demanding urgent changes.
Also, nine in 10 property sector leaders surveyed by the British Property Federation and JLL do not believe current government policy will deliver a carbon-free property sector in less than 30 years.
Many property owners lack the confidence to invest in major energy efficiency upgrades without robust evidence of a return on investment, they said.
‘Negligible advances’
Armitt says: “There have been negligible advances in improving the energy efficiency of UK homes, the installation of low carbon heating solutions.
“A further year of prevarication risks losing momentum on critical areas like achieving the statutory net zero target. Rarely has the need for speed been more evident.”
Rarely has the need for speed been more evident.”
The report says: “Key policies remain missing, and government funding is insufficient to deliver the required change. In 2021, over 1.5 million gas boilers were installed.
“Unless the growth rate of installations increases significantly , the 600,000 heat pump installation target will be missed,” it says.
