Scottish Government Considers Mandatory Switch to Heat Pumps By 2033

Scottish Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie, dated Oct. 28, 2023 Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Scottish homeowners face mandatory heat pump installation by 2033 as the government considers linking compliance to mortgages, under plans unveiled by the Scottish Greens.

In a consultation published on Thursday by the Scottish Greens, co-leader and minister Patrick Harvie said he wants to introduce a new law that will require homeowners to ensure their property meets net zero standards by 2033.

From 2028, private landlords will also need to ensure their properties meet the minimum energy efficiency standards, after which they will not be allowed to lease to a new tenant if standards are not met.

The Scottish government will prohibit the use of what it calls “polluting heating” from 2045,  and is considering introducing a requirement for existing homes to be retrofitted with heat pumps or other similar systems by the same date.

The government also said that it is “exploring is whether banks and buildings societies can—or already do—make complying with laws relating to your property a condition of mortgage and/or home and buildings insurance.”

It said that it has considered additional charges on council tax and non-domestic rates for those buildings that haven’t met the net zero heating standards when they are required to.  It added that “additional charges are something which we may wish or need to consider in future.”

‘Unrealistic’

Patrick Harvie, who is also zero carbon buildings minister, also extended the original 2028 date. In 2021, the SNP and Scottish Greens entered a power-sharing arrangement to govern Scotland.

“The timeline I’m outlining today sees Scotland on by far the most ambitious path within the UK, with the deployment of clean heating systems at scale and pace very much faster than the prevailing take-up rate,” said Mr. Harvie.

“Our intention for clean heat to play the maximum possible role in our 2030 climate plans would have meant more than a million homes decarbonising by 2030.

“The single timeline that I’ve now set out from 2028 means that scale of change is not achievable by that date and more of the transition to clean heat shifts into the early 2030s instead,” he added.

Conservative MSP Miles Briggs said “Patrick Harvie’s unrealistic and hugely expensive plan marks the start of a ten-year timebomb for over half of Scotland’s homeowners.”

“He has a timescale but not a plan on how it will be achieved,” he added.

Binning of Deadlines for Landlords

In Oct. the UK net zero secretary defended the government’s binning of deadlines for landlords to improve energy efficiency including by installing heat pumps.

Claire Coutinho, the secretary of state for energy security and net zero, said at the time that ministers didn’t want to put more pressure on rents after opposition MPs criticised the government for the U-turn, saying it will raise household bills for renters.

The Conservative government began back-pedalling on a range of net-zero policies after it avoided a by-election wipeout in July, with the Labour loss attributed to London’s expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone.

Ms. Coutinho said the reason the government didn’t pursue the policy is that “it could have cost property owners up to £15,000, and we did not want to put further pressure on rents at a time when families are really struggling.”

PA Media and Lily Zhou contributed to this report.