The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has confirmed that Scottish Government proposals to require properties to be upgraded at the point of sale have been abandoned, with no specific alternative measures yet announced to deliver the target for heating to be zero emissions by 2045. The finding appears in the Committee's report on Scotland's carbon budgets, published on 21 May 20251.
The proposals sat within the Heat in Buildings Bill, which the Committee had previously described as a potential template for other parts of the UK. The Committee said it had been 18 months since the Scottish Government first consulted on the Bill, and described the abandonment as disappointing1.
"It is therefore disappointing that the proposals for regulations to upgrade properties at the point of sale have been abandoned, with, as yet, no specific alternative measures to deliver the target for heating to be zero emissions by 2045."
The report sets out the Committee's advice on four legally binding five-year caps on greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland, covering 2026 to 2045. These are given as average percentage reductions from 1990 levels1:
| Carbon budget | Period | Recommended reduction on 1990 levels |
|---|---|---|
| First | 2026 to 2030 | 57% |
| Second | 2031 to 2035 | 69% |
| Third | 2036 to 2040 | 80% |
| Fourth | 2041 to 2045 | 94% |
As of 2022, the latest year for which data exists, Scottish emissions were 50% below 1990 levels1. The Committee also recommends a fair and safe Scottish emissions budget of 1,129 MtCO2e for 2010 to 20501.
Scotland's interim targets for 2030 and 2040 were repealed in 2024, after the progress required to meet the 2030 target was judged to be beyond what was credible. The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 was amended to replace those interim targets with carbon budgets, alongside the existing target of Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, five years ahead of the rest of the UK1.
The Committee states that emissions reductions from buildings are the second largest contribution to meeting the first two carbon budgets in its pathway, and that almost half of the reductions in its Balanced Pathway come from electrification, particularly electric vehicles and heat pumps1. It adds that more efficient electrified heating, alongside energy efficiency measures, can help reduce fuel poverty in Scottish households, and that clean electric technologies can offer reduced air pollution and lower, less volatile energy bills compared with continued reliance on fossil fuels1.
Why it matters for households
The point-of-sale rules would have attached upgrade obligations to a property at the moment it changed hands, which is the point at which many households first confront the condition and running costs of a home's heating system. Their abandonment means no such trigger is currently planned, and the Committee states that no specific alternative measures have been announced to deliver zero emissions heating by 20451. The 2045 target itself remains in the Act.
The Committee's advice is that the proposed carbon budgets are deliverable and that Scotland can reach Net Zero by 2045, but that this requires immediate action at pace and scale, with contributions broadening beyond the energy supply sector that has delivered over 70% of reductions since 20091. For a household, the practical picture is that the direction of travel on heating is unchanged while the policy route to it is, at present, unset. The Committee also recommends rebalancing electricity prices to remove policy levies from electricity bills, a matter reserved to the UK Government, which it describes as essential to delivering Scotland's targets1.
What happens next
The report is advice: decisions on the exact pathway and policies within devolved powers rest with the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament1. The UK-wide Seventh Carbon Budget, covering 2038 to 2042, is due to be legislated by 30 June 20261. No replacement measures for the abandoned point-of-sale regulations have been reported.
Sources1 cited
- Scotland's Carbon Budgets - Climate Change Committee, theccc.org.uk