The Warm Homes Plan: recommendations for supporting homeowners
Affordable, comfortable, low carbon homes:
Recommendations for supporting homeowners through the Warm Homes Plan.
The UK government is expected to launch its Warm Homes Plan in October, setting out the government’s strategy for heat in buildings over the next decade. [1] An important objective of the plan will be to support homeowners in the transition from gas and oil heating to electric heating, such as a heat pump. For some homeowners the transition to warmer, more comfortable homes will also include improvements to insulation, draught proofing and ventilation, whilst installing solar panels and batteries will help to reduce bills.
Grants available through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and other schemes have led to an improvement in heat pump installations, however progress is still significantly below the numbers required for the UK to meet its net zero commitments. The government's fiscal position reduces the potential to significantly increase subsidies, and whilst regulatory targets or requirements would provide greater certainty, it would still be important that homeowners are assured of good outcomes and have the support they need to make the required changes.
Recognising this context, our recommendations identify government reforms, as well as actions from businesses, that remove barriers and make heat pump adoption and other improvements as straightforward and attractive as possible for those homeowners ready to embrace this transition.
A successful Warm Homes Plan will need to set out a comprehensive and long term plan to give homeowners and businesses confidence that these changes are achievable. In particular, Which? is calling for the government to support homeowners in three areas:
- Improve awareness, information and advice. The government should raise awareness about the changes needed to make homes affordable, comfortable and low carbon, and ensure households have access to good quality information and advice so that they can make informed choices.
- Address affordability barriers. The government should provide direct financial support to low income households and work with financial providers to develop financial products and financing models that make heat pumps and insulation improvements affordable for other households. In line with the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations the government should rebalance energy prices, whilst protecting low income and vulnerable households from increased energy costs.
- Make it easier to find reliable and trusted installers. The government should support recruitment and training of installers and introduce mandatory certification to ensure that installers of low carbon heating and insulation are qualified and reliable. High quality installations will also help to reduce energy bills.
Our recommendations are primarily targeted at homeowners. This group accounts for the largest proportion of UK households (61.7%) [2] Within this group, homeowners will face different challenges depending on their income, the energy efficiency of their home and its heating system. Flats, apartments and historical properties can also create additional challenges.
Tenants are another important group of households who face unique challenges due to their reliance on their landlord to make changes to the property. The private rental sector has the highest number of fuel poor households and the worst rates of energy efficiency. The government has consulted on proposals that would require all private sector housing to meet EPC C (on a scale of A-G) by 2030, or by 2028 in the case of new tenancies. The same requirements would also apply to the social housing sector, however social housing has benefitted from government funding over a number of years and as a result, levels of energy efficiency are higher than in other sectors.
Improving awareness, information and advice
Limited awareness, and a lack of information and advice, are significant barriers to households considering heat pumps and insulation. Which? research shows that nearly half of homeowners are unaware of what heat pumps are (43%). Amongst those that are aware of heat pumps, there continues to be an information deficit with a third thinking the technology would not be good enough to heat their homes. This is despite evidence that heat pumps are a good heating option for most homes.
Consumers are more aware of the insulation measures that they can take to improve their homes, but our research at the height of the energy crisis in 2023 found that only 4 in 10 (37%) homeowners took the first step of looking for information about insulation, and the majority (63%) of those looking ultimately chose not to proceed with any work. If a property is old or has already had changes made to it, then it can be hard to know what to do. 68% of homeowners that had searched for information online said that they wanted more personalised information that was specific to their home. And 46% said that it was difficult to know where to start.
The government has been making improvements to its online home energy information service and is currently running a public campaign to raise awareness of heat pumps. Households benefiting from government or energy company funding schemes receive a home assessment which provides them with information about the changes that are required.
- Raise public awareness. The government should raise consumer awareness about the benefits of low carbon heating, such as heat pumps, and insulation. Awareness campaigns should have consistent messaging and be run in collaboration with local authorities, businesses and organisations that can help to make this information available at the times and in the places where consumers need it.
- Support households to plan ahead. The government should help households to plan ahead and make changes when it is most convenient for them. This would involve working with companies and organisations that are engaged with consumers when they start to think about moving home, replacing an old heating system, or making other home improvements.
- Reform Energy Performance Certificates. EPCs can help consumers to understand the energy efficiency of a property they are looking to buy or rent, and the changes they can make to a property they own. However, Which? research shows reforms are needed to make them more accessible, relevant and trusted.
- Provide accessible and reliable information. The government should provide core information about heating systems, insulation and solar panels as well as the grants that are available and how to identify qualified and reliable installers. For further information it should signpost consumers to One Stop Shops and other sources of trusted information and advice, such as Which? Trusted Traders or Which? Home energy service.
Addressing financial barriers
The high upfront costs of heat pumps and insulation measures can be a major barrier to uptake. The average cost of installing a heat pump is £13,000, though most households will be eligible for a £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant.The cost of insulation measures can vary considerably, but cheaper measures such as loft insulation and cavity wall insulation are a good investment for most households. Similarly, heat pumps can reduce households' energy bills when used with a suitable tariff.
Recent Which? research found that seven in 10 homeowners said a heat pump would be too expensive for them to install and almost half (46%) of those who think they need more insulation said they can’t afford it. We are currently undertaking research to understand the extent to which concern about heat pump costs reflects ability to pay or willingness to pay, but low incomes and low levels of saving mean that affordability will be an issue for many households.
Low income households can access grants through schemes run by the government and energy companies. The 2025 Spending Review included funding to meet the government’s manifesto commitments for these programmes. Homeowners that aren’t eligible for these schemes will generally have higher incomes, however many will still not have the savings or income to make significant changes to their homes. These households can benefit from grants available through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS), [3] though uptake of GBIS has been disappointing.
- Support for Fuel Poor households. The UK government should ensure households in fuel poverty have access to grants to improve the insulation of their homes and install heat pumps. More work is needed to address trust issues, and access to grants for low income households that are not in receipt of benefits.
- Improve affordability for other households. In line with their manifesto commitment, the UK government should work with the private sector to support the development of financial products and new business models that meet consumers’ needs and have strong consumer protections that protect consumers from harm.
- Reduce running costs for electric heating. The government should reduce the price of electricity compared to gas by addressing the outdated allocation of policy costs. This should be done in a way that protects low income consumers from higher energy bills. The availability of smart tariffs that meet consumer needs and high quality installations of efficient heat pumps will also be critical to reducing energy bills.
Making it easier to find reliable and qualified installers
Currently there is a major shortfall in the number of qualified installers available to install heat pumps and insulation. This will need to be addressed by giving companies the confidence to invest in training and making the right apprenticeships and courses available. However, the availability of installers is not the only issue, poor quality installations are also undermining trust in making changes that could benefit households.
The government has recently suspended 39 companies from the ECO scheme due to poor quality installations, and previously the Competition and Markets Authority has expressed concern about the complexity of the standards landscape and the ‘emerging gap in consumer protections for Able to Pay households’. Which? research has found that 42% of consumers find it hard to know what experience or qualifications to look for when looking for a trader in the home improvements sector, and 55% of consumers say they find it hard to trust trader information, including traders' own claims and customer reviews. Recent Which? research has also found that many local authority trading standards services face a number of challenges including very low staffing levels in many parts of the country. This makes it difficult for them to effectively carry out essential work such as investigating and prosecuting rogue traders.
- Increase the availability of installers. The government should work with the heating and insulation sectors to ensure there are enough qualified installers to meet demand for home insulation work and provide choice and competition in the market across the UK.
- Introduce mandatory certification. The government should set a date by which all tradespeople that install low carbon heating, micro generation and insulation are certified by MCS (for low carbon heating and micro generation) or TrustMark (for insulation). They should ensure that these schemes are focused on delivering good consumer outcomes and abide by the CMA’s Good Practice Principles for Standards Bodies. In advance of this date the government should clearly recommend that consumers use installers that are members of these schemes.
- Improve oversight of schemes. The government should set standards and improve oversight to ensure schemes deliver a high quality service to consumers. Costs should be monitored to ensure they don’t create a barrier to companies entering the market.
- Protect consumers from rogue traders. The government should conduct a fundamental review of Trading Standards Services to ensure the appropriate balance of resources and skills at central, regional and local levels to effectively tackle rogue traders, including necessary consumer awareness campaigns, intelligence-sharing and effective regulatory powers.