DEFRA minister says no final decision made on wood-burning stove ban

Emma Hardy, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), said in January 2026 that no "final decision" had been made on a wood-burning stove ban¹. DEFRA has launched a public consultation on proposals designed to reduce emissions from domestic burning¹. A total ban on wood burners was not among those proposals¹.

The consultation covers stricter emission limits on new stoves, mandatory labelling on new stoves including information about health impacts, and increased enforcement penalties for fuel suppliers¹. The proposed restrictions on emissions and labelling apply only to new stoves and would not affect households that already own and use a wood burner¹. The government has also confirmed it will continue to allow wood burners to be added to new build homes as a secondary heat source¹. The Scottish government has temporarily dropped restrictions on installing wood-burning stoves, following concerns about how the change would affect users in rural areas¹.

Rules already apply to existing stoves, chiefly to the fuel that may be burned. In England, since the summer of 2023 it has been illegal to burn coal, excluding smokeless coal, or wet wood in the home¹. Scotland and Wales, which hold devolved powers on environmental matters, are still considering this ban; in those countries coal and wet wood cannot be burned in smoke control areas¹. Smoke control areas cover most towns and cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and local authorities hold the detail of what applies locally¹. In a smoke control area, smoke may not be released from a chimney, so wood can only be burned in a DEFRA-exempt stove, or a smokeless fuel such as anthracite coal must be used instead¹. DEFRA-exempt stoves are built to stop wood smouldering, which reduces the smoke released¹. A carbon monoxide alarm is a legal requirement in any room containing a wood-burning stove¹.

Enforcement carries fixed figures. Councils can issue on-the-spot civil penalties starting at £175 and up to £300 where a chimney emits too much smoke in a smoke control area, and burning the wrong fuel in a non-regulation appliance can bring a fine of up to £1,000¹. Repeated breaches can result in a criminal conviction¹. For new appliances, all stoves placed on the market after January 2022 must be Ecodesign compliant, meeting limits on particulate matter (PM), organic gaseous compounds (OGC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), and reaching a set efficiency level¹. Stoves bought or placed on the market before January 2022 are not covered by that requirement¹. Voluntary certification schemes also exist: HETAS Cleaner Choice stoves are DEFRA-exempt and emit at least 50 per cent less particulate matter than DEFRA exemption requires, while Clearskies has five levels, with level 3 stoves DEFRA-exempt and Ecodesign compliant, level 4 stoves releasing 15 per cent fewer pollutants than Ecodesign requires and level 5 stoves 15 per cent fewer than level 4¹. Nordic Ecolabel or Nordic Swan certification may also appear on stove brands from Nordic countries¹.

Why it matters for households

For a household that relies on a stove or an open fire as part of its heating, the practical position is unchanged by the consultation: existing stoves are not covered by the proposed emission limits or labelling¹. What constrains a home today is location and fuel. Inside a smoke control area, burning wood in an ordinary stove is not permitted, and the choice narrows to a DEFRA-exempt appliance or a smokeless fuel¹. Outside those areas, the fuel rules for England still bar house coal and wet wood¹. The regulation-policy hub sets out how these rules sit together, and the fine for burning unauthorised fuel in a smoke control area covers the penalties in more detail. For homes weighing a stove as a secondary heat source, the confirmed position is that wood burners may still be added to new build homes¹. The direction of travel on new appliances is towards tighter emission limits and more prominent labelling, which would shape what is available to buy rather than what is already installed¹.

What happens next

The consultation is open, and no outcome has been reported¹. No date has been given for a decision on a ban, and no final decision has been made¹. The Scottish government's restrictions on installing wood-burning stoves remain temporarily dropped¹.

Sources1 cited

1. Wood burning stoves: fines and regulations - Which?, which.co.uk