Gas boilers are to be banned in new build homes from 2025 as part of plans to tackle climate change, the government has announced following advice from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC).
Alternative heating systems such as air source heat pumps and ground source heat pumps are set to be installed in the place of natural gas boilers.
Despite following guidance from the CCC on gas boilers, Chancellor Philip Hammond didn’t follow their recommendation to also ban gas stoves from 2025.
The CCC’s report earlier in the year, highlighted that installing a low-carbon heating system in a new home would cost around £4,800. However, retrofitting the same system into an existing home could amount to £26,300.
It’s estimated that homes are responsible for around 14% of UK greenhouse gas emissions, with an increase in 2019, mainly due to gas boilers. With that in mind, meeting the UK’s ‘zero’ emissions target by 2050, would require all homes, not only new builds, to lower emissions to almost nothing.
In response to the announcement, Professor Sam Fankhauser of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, said: “To be fully effective, stringent standards for new homes need to be complemented by more funding for energy efficiency upgrades in existing homes, such as for insulation and better boilers.”
