Labour has ditched plans to ban new gas boilers from 2035, despite its drive to ramp up the use of heat pumps.
Ministers will press ahead with a de facto ban on installing gas boilers in new homes, but have scrapped a plan that would have stopped people replacing existing gas boilers with new ones.
However, the Tories warned it could be a ‘bait-and-switch’ move by the Government, ahead of the introduction of a ‘boiler tax’.
A total ban on new gas boilers from 2035 had been promised by the last Tory government.
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said at the time that people would not be ‘forced’ to rip out their existing boiler and replace it with a heat pump, but would ‘have to make the switch’ when replacing a boiler.
Before the election, Labour energy spokesman Ed Miliband suggested he would scrap the rule, adding: ‘We haven’t stuck with the Government’s 2035 target when you can’t replace your gas boiler. I know that we’ve got to show that heat pumps are affordable and are going to work for people.’
Ministers are now set to formally ditch the plan, the i newspaper reported.
But Labour is preparing to impose swingeing taxes on boiler manufacturers if they fail to meet targets for installing heat pumps.
Labour has ditched plans to ban new gas boilers by 2035, opting instead for a de-facto ban on the appliances in new homes (file photo)
A total ban on gas boilers had been planned for 2035 in a bid to drive up installations of heat pumps
Industry sources branded the targets ‘unachievable’, but Mr Miliband signed them off regardless and they are set to come into force in April.
A similar plan was scrapped by the Conservative government last year after the sector warned it would add £120 to the cost of a new boiler – leading it to be dubbed the ‘boiler tax’.
Tory energy spokesman Claire Coutinho told the Mail last night: ‘I’m afraid this is just a bait-and-switch from Labour as next week Ed Miliband will be introducing a boiler tax which will allow him to meddle with the price of boilers – effectively pricing families out of installing one by adding hundreds of pounds to the cost.
‘Consumers should be allowed to choose what works for them. Instead, families are facing a storm of new costs from a new grocery tax to the family holiday tax and the eye-watering price tag of Ed’s energy plans.
Labour is still preparing to impose swingeing taxes on boiler manufacturers if they fail to meet targets for installing heat pumps
The new targets are set to come into force in April, amid previous warnings that they could hike the cost of a new boiler by £120
‘There is no justice in making ordinary Britons poor in the name of Net Zero.’ Labour will lay secondary legislation next week to introduce the targets.
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: ‘The energy shocks of recent years have shown the urgent need to upgrade British homes and our warm homes plan will make them cheaper and cleaner to run, rolling out upgrades from new insulation to solar and heat pumps.
‘We will not force anyone to rip out a working boiler and are making heat pumps more affordable by providing £7,500 towards the cost through the boiler upgrade scheme. We recognise there is still more to do to encourage consumers to switch to low-carbon alternatives such as heat pumps and have recently announced plans to remove planning constraints to make them easier to install.’
More details on how the switch to low-carbon heating methods will work will be set out later this year in the ‘warm homes plan’. It will include a ‘future homes standard’, which is expected to require all new homes to be heated with heat pumps or other forms of renewable-powered heating.
