Homeowners to lose heat pump subsidies in budget

Hundreds of thousands of homeowners will lose their right to subsidies for eco-friendly heat pumps as a result of government plans to bring down energy bills at the budget.

- Kiran Stacey

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is planning to announce a series of measures to bring down energy bills amid concerns the country's stubbornly high cost of living is driving millions of voters to Reform UK.

Among those measures, according to sources briefed on the budget preparations, is a plan to take energy efficiency levies off bills and fund them through the government's existing warm homes plan.

The move will mean restricting heat pump subsidies so that only those receiving certain benefits will be allowed to claim them, sharply bringing down costs to the government.

Supporters of the change say that the subsidies, which can be as high as £7,500, were largely going to middle-class households that could have afforded them anyway. Energy industry experts warn that by taking the support away, ministers will slow the transition from gas boilers to more expensive but cleaner heat pumps.