Politics Home Article | Matching heat pump ambition with action

There is much to do. Mitsubishi Electric surveyed UK homeowners last year and found that just 5.5 per cent are currently heating their homes with a heat pump.¹ In the commercial sector, heat pump adoption data hasn’t been tracked, meaning we don’t even know the true size of the challenge, let alone the decarbonisation opportunity it offers.

The targets which have been set out now give us something to aim for, but making sure heat pumps are being adopted at the pace needed will only happen if:

1. homeowners and business owners know about them
2. they make financial sense
3. we can meet the demand for installing them

The opportunity to transform the UK’s building stock, boost its manufacturing base, and recruit and train renewable heating engineers cannot be underestimated.

Now is the time for a clear strategy for reaching these milestones.

1. Drive public awareness

Adoption cannot be boosted without people knowing about heat pumps.

We know there is an untapped market of homeowners open to new clean heating technology. When we asked those surveyed about the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, we found that 31 per cent of homeowners said they were unaware of it, but that it would make them more likely to switch.¹

The new Warm Homes Agency has been tasked with improving awareness, and it must be treated as a priority objective. We’d like to see funding and resources committed to creating targeted awareness campaigns. And the same has to be done for businesses for us to see the necessary rise in demand.

With a quarter of people being influenced by negative news about heat pumps, it’s even more important that misconceptions are challenged.² Without that, the public won’t be convinced of the opportunity of adopting a heat pump for their home or business.

2. Make heat pumps make financial sense

The billions in grants and loans available through the Warm Homes Plan will make heat pumps, solar panels and batteries a possibility for millions more households. This funding is ringfenced for its designated purpose, to provide the public with certainty that potential future decisions will be covered.

Beyond the upfront costs, we have to make the running costs of heat pumps cheaper.

Currently, UK electricity prices are typically linked to the cost of volatile gas prices, despite the majority of electricity coming from renewable sources, and electricity levies put a greater burden on consumers. The government’s moves on reducing the energy price cap are to be welcomed, but more is needed to further rebalance these levies and reduce the price of electricity compared to gas.

This would create a huge step change and make clean heat a truly economical option. There’s no better advertising than word of mouth, and money saved on bills would create conversation and stimulate demand.

3. Preparing installers to meet surging demand

Having enough installers to meet the scale of ambitions for installations is a challenge which must be addressed – but is also a huge opportunity to provide skilled renewable jobs across the UK.

The expansion of the Heat Training Grant funding will help make this possible, and government must follow through on its commitment to collaborate with industry to make training a success. A well-trained workforce will mean positive experiences for customers and create more goodwill for the sector.

Installers will also play a big role in raising awareness about heat pumps and supporting interested homeowners to invest. This means arming installers with the right information so that they can educate homeowners and guide them towards heat pumps as an option for their home.

Creating demand and making an impact

To truly accelerate the adoption of clean heat in the UK, we need more homeowners and businesses to know about the benefits, more people to be able to afford to buy and run them, and more people to install them.

Mitsubishi Electric is already supporting heat adoption in the UK by manufacturing low-carbon, highly efficient heat pumps at its Livingston plant and by training the workforce at its training sites across Britain. To achieve its targets, the government must work with us and the wider industry to drive action and deliver for the economy and the environment.

References

1. An Opinion Matters survey of 2,000 homeowners in August 2025, commissioned by Mitsubishi Electric
2. Opinion Matters, August 2025