UK households may soon encounter a ‘boiler tax‘ of up to £120.
Leading boiler manufacturers, including Vaillant and Worcester Bosch, are set to adjust gas boiler installation costs in anticipation of fines for not meeting government heat pump targets.
This response precedes the initiation of the Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM) in April, penalising manufacturers for falling short of specified quotas for heat pump installations.
A spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We are not imposing a boiler tax and any suggestion otherwise is completely inaccurate. We have looked into the figures from manufacturers and do not recognise their reason for imposing these costs onto hardworking families.
“Targets under the CHMM are realistic and achievable, and manufacturers have failed to recognise they can carry over up to 35 per cent of their heat pump targets under the scheme into the subsequent year.
“We’ve also made for it easier to get a heat pump by increasing the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant by 50 per cent to £7,500 – tripling applications in the week after it was rolled out.”
Mel Butler, Founder of BOXT, said: “Whilst the move to cleaner heating in the UK is something we are absolutely supportive of, the people who are ultimately paying with this policy are homeowners. In particular, lower income households looking to upgrade their old boiler to a new, more energy efficient one to help save on energy bills, are now facing as much as a 10% price increase on entry level models.”
