Gas boiler ban: debunking the myths

In 2019, the Government announced a ban on gas boilers to help the UK reach its target of net-zero emissions by 2050. It’s estimated that 14% of all CO2 emissions are produced by our homes, with gas boilers making up the majority of these emissions. The ban was originally scheduled for 2025 but has now been brought forward to 2023 and, with less than two years to go, this has sent homeowners and landlords into a panic.

One of the biggest misunderstandings – and the one that has really upset people – is that we will all have to ditch our existing gas boilers and replace them with a greener alternative by the 2023 deadline. In fact, according to a helpful myth-busting article from home repairs and maintenance website Rightio, the ban only applies to boilers in newly built homes from 2023 onwards.

While the government has not announced a requirement for gas boilers to be replaced, it is currently providing incentives for homeowners who install heating systems that run on renewable energy. The Renewable Heat Incentive pays these homeowners quarterly.

Some of the confusion came from the recent International Energy Agency (IEA) announcement that “fossil fuel boilers” should not be sold from 2025 onwards and that existing gas boilers should be replaced.  This guidance hasn’t yet been put into place, but the Government is considering implementing it with a later deadline of 2040. The IEA announcement also led to the misconception that people who still have gas boilers by 2025 will be fined, with some headlines stating the fines could be as much as £10,000. However, the government has not currently committed to the IEA’s recommendations, and there are no fines in place for people who don’t replace their gas boiler by a certain point.

This doesn’t guarantee that fines won’t be introduced in the future, but at the moment landlords and leaseholders can rest assured that the government is focusing on offering incentives to homeowners who switch to greener heating options such as electric or biomass boilers or central heating pumps rather than punishing people who don’t.

01/10/2021
Author : Maryanne Bowring

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