Britain’s leading heating manufacturers, merchants, trade associations and professional bodies have today issued a stark warning to ministers: without urgent measures to tackle the systemic barriers facing households and small businesses, the UK will fall dramatically short of its flagship target of 600,000 heat pump installations a year by 2028 – potentially delaying progress by a decade.
The warning comes ahead of the Autumn Statement and in anticipation of the government’s forthcoming Warm Homes Plan, which industry leaders fear will not go far enough to unlock mass-market adoption.
At a closed-door leadership summit held during InstallerSHOW 2025, senior figures from across the sector – including the Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA); the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE), heating and plumbing merchant group, Wolseley; and leading manufacturer, Vaillant – agreed a three-point action plan to accelerate home heat decarbonisation and restore momentum to the UK’s net zero goals:
- Launch a Green Installation Credit Guarantee, delivered through the British Business Bank, to help small and medium-sized installers fund projects without crippling cash flow constraints.
- Introduce an income-contingent Heat Pump Skills Loan, modelled on student finance, to allow heating engineers to retrain now and repay once their earnings rise.
- Establish an independent Green Homes Hub – a trusted, impartial online platform backed by a national communications campaign to guide homeowners, landlords and tenants through the process of decarbonising their homes, connecting them with accredited installers and providing clear financial information.
David Ventris-Field, InstallerSHOW Event Director, said:
“An open, solutions-driven conversation about what’s really holding the market back is a vital step in establishing how we can move forward collectively. The sector has expertise and ambition in abundance. Now it’s about joining the dots and ensuring buy-in from government.”
Mike Foster, CEO of the Energy & Utilities Alliance, said:
“The industry is ready to move faster, but the policy framework isn’t keeping pace. These are practical measures that could be deployed within months, helping homeowners, supporting small businesses and delivering real progress on decarbonisation.”
Latest industry data shows that fewer than 100,000 heat pumps were installed in 2024[1], meaning the UK is currently operating at around one-sixth of the required pace. Even assuming strong year-on-year growth, deployment would not reach 600,000 per year until the mid-2030s. Domestic heat remains responsible for 18% of UK greenhouse gas emissions and 61% of household energy spend[2], while only 19% of homeowners say they are likely to install a heat pump next time they replace their boiler.[3] At the same time, the UK needs to train at least 10,000 new installers a year to meet 2035 targets.
[1] https://www.heatpumps.org.uk/resources/statistics/
[2] https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9889/CBP-9889.pdf
[3] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65fc5d5e65ca2f001b7da82c/DESNZ_Public_Attitudes_Tracker_Winter_2023_Heat_and_Energy_in_the_Home__Revised_.pdf