The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced on 2 March 2023 that more than £14 million is being made available to accelerate the installation of heat pumps and heat networks across the country, alongside a new scheme to train thousands of installers1. The announcement was made by the department and Lord Callanan, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the department1.
Over £9.7 million has been awarded to four projects in the second phase of funding under the Heat Pump Ready Programme, two in Oxfordshire and one each in Bristol and Cambridgeshire1. The programme, which is making up to £60 million available across three streams of work, aims to develop innovative solutions to reducing barriers to the rollout of low carbon technology in homes and businesses across the UK1. The four projects will design and demonstrate solutions intended to deliver more cost-effective, high-density deployment of domestic heat pumps, following feasibility studies in eleven locations in the first phase1. Work on installing heat pumps purchased through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme will begin in the successful projects from late December this year1.
A new £5 million Heat Training Grant will support 10,000 trainees over the next two years, with grants of up to £500 towards training1. The grant could cover most of the cost of a level 3 heat pump course, which takes one week or less for an experienced gas or oil heating installer to complete1. Heating manufacturers including Baxi, NIBE, Panasonic, Vaillant, Ideal Heating and Worcester-Bosch are expected to offer additional discounts and offers to participating trainees, which could be worth up to a further £500 in product vouchers, additional training and other support1. The government is now seeking expressions of interest from training providers who wish to offer the new grants1.
Lord Callanan said:
"This funding will give the rollout of heat pumps a huge boost by making them cheaper and easier to install, and importantly helping more households move away from costly fossil fuels."
The funding sits alongside the £450 million Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which provides grants of £5,000 towards an air source heat pump and £6,000 for a ground source heat pump, and a zero rate of VAT1. One distributor source states the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is only available in England and Wales, with the Home Energy Loan the main option in Scotland3. The government expects heat pump deployment to reach 600,000 per year in 2028, a tenfold increase from 20211.
| Measure | Funding |
|---|---|
| Heat Pump Ready Programme, phase 2 | Over £9.7 million for 4 projects |
| Heat Training Grant | £5 million for 10,000 trainees over 2 years |
| Training grant per trainee | Up to £500 |
| Boiler Upgrade Scheme, air source | £5,000 |
| Boiler Upgrade Scheme, ground source | £6,000 |
Why it matters for households
The money announced is aimed at the two things that determine what a household actually pays and how quickly a heat pump can go in: the cost and disruption of installation, and whether a qualified installer is available locally. The Heat Pump Ready projects concentrate deployment in specific areas, which the government says reduces disruption to consumers by coordinating the rollout1. The training grant addresses the supply side, extending support for heat pump training until at least 2025 and adding heat networks training for the first time1. For a household weighing a switch away from a gas or oil boiler, the practical effect is on installer availability and on the size of the upfront grant, not on running costs, which the sources do not address. The £15 million already committed to skills in energy efficiency and low carbon heating since 2020 is separate from this announcement1.
What happens next
The government is seeking expressions of interest from training providers who wish to offer the new grants for heat pump training1. Work on installing heat pumps purchased through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme will begin in the four successful Heat Pump Ready projects from late December this year1. A new low carbon heating technician apprenticeship scheme will launch later this year, and apprentices can also learn about heat pumps as part of the existing Plumbing and Domestic Heating Technician apprenticeship1.