While boiler upgrade scheme (BUS) applications in June were down 10% from the previous month, the number was up 81% compared to the same month of the year before.
Up to the end of June 2024, 45,932 BUS voucher applications were received, the majority of which were for air source heat pumps (ASHPs), as has broadly been the case since the scheme’s beginning.
In terms of vouchers issued, June 2024 was down on the previous month (8% fewer) but still up year-on-year (YoY). There were 1,669 grants paid in June bringing the total number paid through the scheme up to 28,596.
Of those paid grants, the majority were towards installations at properties in rural areas (56%). The regional breakdown of grants paid followed the trends seen previously: the largest number were for installations at properties in the South East (20%), closely followed by the South West (19%).
Wales accounted for 5% of the total grants paid and the North East region received the fewest (3%).
Up until the end of June, 28,596 installations had BUS grants paid. Of those, the largest proportion (48%) replaced gas systems.
Daniel Särefjord, Aira UK CEO, called the latest statistics “encouraging”, adding that more needs to be done. Aira, which in June opened a £250 million mega scale plant in Poland, recently partnered with UK utility Octopus Energy to launch two green energy tariffs for UK customers. The Swedish cleantech company is focused on a Europe-wide transition away from gas heating.
Särefjord said: “Despite our best efforts, we need the new Labour government to help us secure a fairer deal for the heat pump industry. There are growing calls for the cost of electricity to be brought in line with some of our European neighbours, such as those in Scandinavia, and for unnecessary planning red tape, which has become a bureaucratic burden for businesses and the local authorities, to be removed.
“In the coming weeks, there are many opportunities for the government to positively impact our sector and move us closer to achieving the country’s national net zero targets – we call for action and eagerly await their next steps.”
In March this year, the Conservative government delayed the so-called “boiler tax” until April 2025. The clean heat market mechanism would see boiler manufacturers have to match or substitute 4% of their boiler sales with heat pumps or face a £3,000 fine for each missed installation.
The Tory line was that delaying the mechanism would make heat pump grants easier to access; April 2024 saw a 93% YoY increase in BUS applications.
Yesterday (25 July), Prime Minister Keir Starmer was pushed on his heating plans. He said: “I’m not going to tell people what to do with their boilers. This is not about bearing down on individuals, imposing a disproportionate burden on them. I don’t think that’s the way that we take anybody through a transition.”
