The show must go on: Housebuilders challenge on heat pumps to continue
Despite Rishi Sunak’s plans to water down net zero targets on gas boilers, the goal to fit new homes with heat pumps by 2025 still stands.
In a surprising turn of events, industry experts are more concerned about the number of qualified installers available rather than the government’s recent decision to drop the ball on helping to address the climate emergency.
Last week the UK Prime Minister announced a ‘pragmatic approach’ to achieving net zero by 2050. With this Mr Sunak scrapped his plan to ban the installation of gas boilers in properties and has claimed he wants industry experts and the government to persuade consumers of the benefits of heat pumps.
However, currently there are around 3,000 qualified installers available to fit heat pumps but innovation foundation Nesta has calculated the country will need 27,000 if they are expected to meet targets.
Mike Foster, chief executive of the Energy and Utilities Alliance, which represents heat pump manufacturers, described the pool of labour as ‘limited’.
‘The demographics of transitioning to net zero is incredibly challenging. There’s a disproportion of heating engineers aged over 50,’ Mike said. ‘It will require fresh entrants to the labour force and a large number will have to be trained quickly and well so that high-quality installers go into properties and people feel confident.’
In addition, the National Federation of Builders (NFB) has also expressed concern about the lack of installers. The organisation highlighted that just a handful of companies accounted for the 60,000 pumps fitted last year.
Rico Wojtulewicz, NFB housing policy and head, said: ‘We don’t have enough installers and we only have a few years to get ready.’
Against this backdrop, another factor that could potentially interfere with targets is money. Buying and installing heat pumps costs around £16,000 compared to a gas boiler which works out at just over £2,000 for buying and installing.
News of industry experts deciding to plough on with heat pump targets has come after the government have recently announced plans to boost green sector jobs. Authorities have revealed thousands of new, low-cost training positions have been made available to help sustainably insulate properties.
Creating new training positions could help recruit more workers that would be able to install heat pumps, helping to meet climate targets, but only time will tell if this scheme becomes a success.
Image: Martin Adams
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