Michael Gove signals potential U-turn on gas boiler ban

Michael Gove signals potential U-turn on gas boiler ban as the Tory minister admits it would ‘impose costs’ on families and needs to be reviewed

•  Current proposals mean installing new gas boilers will be outlawed from 2035

Plans to ban gas boilers will ‘impose costs’ on families, Michael Gove admitted yesterday, as he hinted at a rethink.

The Housing Secretary said he would provide ‘breathing space’ for landlords, who face having to upgrade the energy performance of their properties by 2025 under current rules.

And he suggested there could be a wider rethink of plans to phase out gas boilers in favour of costly heat pumps.

Under current proposals, the installation of new gas boilers will be outlawed from 2035, forcing households to replace their heating systems.

Gas boilers will be banned in all new build properties from 2025, despite mounting concern about their cost.

Minister for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove (pictured), has said he will give landlords ‘breathing space’ on gas boilers policy

Mr Gove yesterday said this was ‘one area that I do think that we need to review’.

Landlords are due to be required to upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties from a minimum of Band E to Band C by 2025 for all new lets, prompting warnings that many may remove them from the market altogether.

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps warned this month that the dream of simply replacing gas boilers with alternatives powered by hydrogen was unlikely to work leaving heat pumps as the main alternative.

READ MORE: Lord Frost claims climate change could be ‘beneficial’ for Britain 

Asked whether the ban on gas boilers would place ‘excessive costs’ on households, Mr Gove told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘It is certainly the case that phasing out gas boilers and moving, at the moment, towards heat pumps, does impose costs.

‘We are looking at how we can mitigate the impact on individuals. There are different ways to decarbonise heating in people’s homes.

‘There is a particular pressure on the private rented sector – they have to move faster than others to meet energy efficiency standards.

‘I think we are asking a little too much of them and we will therefore give them a greater degree of breathing space.’

Rishi Sunak ducked questions this week about whether he remains committed to the timetable for phasing out gas boilers.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (pictured) has signalled a shift in the government’s approach

Signalling a shift in the government’s approach yesterday, the Prime Minister said that in future the UK’s Net Zero ambitions would be pursued in a ‘proportionate and pragmatic way that doesn’t unnecessarily give people more hassle and more costs in their lives’.

Downing Street later said the 2035 target remained in place.

But ministers are concerned that the high cost and unpopularity of heat pumps will make the target unworkable.

Last year, just 55,000 heat pumps were sold in the UK. At the current rate it would take more than 400 years to replace the UK’s stock of 23 million gas boilers.

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