UK worst in Europe for clean heating, claims Greenpeace

BRITAIN is lagging behind the rest of Europe in installing low-carbon heat pumps to clean up emissions, a charity has claimed.

Figures provided to Greenpeace UK by the European Heat Pump Association show that the country is joint last in installing the devices in homes.

Just 1.3 heat pumps for every 1,000 households were sold in Britain last year, which compares with 42 for every 1,000 in Norway.

The UK came joint last with Hungary and the figures also showed that just 1 per cent of homes had the devices installed at the end of 2020.

Doug Parr, the Greenpeace UK policy director, said: “The UK already has the draughtiest homes in western Europe, now we’re last when it comes to clean heating, too.

“The Government [needs] a proper strategy and enough cash to clean up our homes on a massive scale.

“This means [grants] for heat pump installations, especially for the poorest families, removing VAT on green home technologies and a phase-out of gas boilers early next decade,” Mr Parr said.

A Business Department spokesman said the Government was committed to “[accelerating] the UK’S deployment of heat pumps”.