Gas heating will be banned in new homes from 2025

In a bid to tackle emissions, the government has announced a ban on gas heating in all new homes from 2025.

Announced by Philip Hammond, the measures are designed to steer householders away from fossil fuel use. Speaking about the forthcoming changes, Hammond said:

“[new standards] mandating the end of fossil fuel heating systems in new homes from 2025 delivering lower carbon, and lower fuel bills too”.

Dubbed the Future Homes Standard, the announcement was made as part of the Spring Statement, but will need to undergo consultation before full details are known.

According to the Chancellors announcement, homes would still be allowed gas hobs, but heating would be provided by other means. 

The Independent Committee on Climate Change has made these recommendations as part of their pathway to an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

New build homes in the countryside should be warmed by heat pumps, they say, while those in the city should be connected to networks of warm water, also known as district heating systems.

Some of that water could be sourced from waste heat from nearby industry. In places where this is not possible, they suggest burning gas from waste to generate the heat for these networks.

Their thinking is that it’s far cheaper to install green heating at the point of build than it is to try and retrofit it later on. Their assessment concluded that the cost of low carbon heating in anew build would add £4,800 to the build cost, whereas a typical retrofit installation would be around £26,300.

As well as green heating, the proposals suggest adopting ‘world leading’ insulation standards, and more efficient appliances would be considered, such as induction hobs, at the point of the home being built.

The Chancellors announcement came in response to a nationwide strike by schoolchildren, protesting that the UK was not doing enough on climate change. Thousands of young people walked out of classes last month to demonstrate their anger.

An estimated 12,000 children across 60towns and cities took to the streets to voice their frustration. They join an estimated 70,000 schoolchildren a week who hold protests all over the world in regard to climate change. They wanted action to cut emissions from traffic, planes and homes.

Hammond’s gas ban was one of several ideas offered up by the Chancellor in response. As well as this, he said airlines could be obliged to offer carbon offsetting through tree planting and similar.

But campaigners’ have called the suggested measures ‘inadequate’ saying that more needs to be done to really tackle the issues. Friends of the Earth’s Dave Timms commented that,

"Instead of putting climate change at the heart of economic policy-making, the Chancellor is merely fiddling in the margins while the planet burns. The nation's children are calling out for tough action to cut emissions, Mr Hammond must listen harder to the lesson they’re teaching him."

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