Heating industry trade body, the Heating and Hotwater Industry Council (HHIC) sees the strategy as providing clarity and direction for the heating industry and consumers alike. However, environmental organisations and opposition parties have pointed out a lack of ambition and adequate funding in the newly released plans, with Labour condemning the strategy as “more of Boris Johnson’s hot air.”

Stewart Clements, Director of HHIC, said: “As an industry, we have worked collaboratively to provide government with the information they needed to make policy decisions on the future of heat in domestic buildings in the UK. I am pleased that the key evidence outlined by HHIC has been acknowledged by BEIS.”

“HHIC today welcomes the publication of the Heat and Buildings strategy. HHIC and its members will continue to support the government and consumers with the transition to a mix of new, low-carbon heating solutions for different property types in different parts of the country – such as electric heat pumps, heat networks, and hydrogen boilers.”

“The strategy from government allows the HHIC membership to make the investment choices required to facilitate the manufacturing, installation, and training for low carbon heating products.”

The Chair of the Heat Pump Association, Phil Hurley, said: “The heat pump industry warmly welcomes these bold steps forward. The industry in the best shape it has ever been, with sales this year already double those seen ever before.

“Today's announcement will give industry and installers a huge confidence boost that now is the time to scale-up and retrain in preparation for the mass roll out of heat pumps, as well as making heat pumps more affordable, so all consumers can soon access and enjoy the benefits of reliable low carbon heating that stands the test of time.”

Laura Bishop, Chair of the Ground Source Heat Pump Association, said: “The Ground Source Heat Pump Association warmly welcomes the release of the Heat and Buildings Strategy. We look forward to a consistent policy environment which will drive growth in our sector and the UK economy on the path towards achieving Net Zero.

“Ground source heat pumps represent a long-term infrastructure asset which delivers unrivalled efficiencies in generating clean heat, and we hope the policy will underpin the mass market roll out we have been anticipating for some time.”

Jan Rosenow, European Programme Director for the Regulatory Assistance Project, a clean-energy NGO, welcomed “many positive elements” in the plans, but added: “Providing grants for installing heat pumps is essential as they are more expensive than gas boilers.

“But the level of funding is too low. Under the plans, only 30,000 homes would be able to benefit from the government grant, just enough to support current installation levels. Given that the target is to install 600,000 heat pumps per year, this is clearly not enough.”

Caroline Jones, of Greenpeace UK, said: “More money must be provided to rapidly increase the number of homeowners switching to heat pumps over the next few years, with full costs covered for families on low incomes.

“A clearer signal would have been a phase-out of new boilers before 2035. And all of this must be delivered with a fully funded, nationwide programme to insulate our homes at a scale and speed that the government hasn’t fully grasped.”

Neil Sawers, Grant UK’s Commercial Technical Manager, also introduced a note of caution in his reception of the strategy: “Grant UK welcomes this step on the journey to net-zero for the UK, however there are some barriers to overcome before we can truly begin to roll out some of the Government’s proposals.

“Positive steps towards resolving the current skills shortage are being taken with both the CIPHE Low Temperature Heating Course in addition to the Heat Pump Associations (HPA) LCL Heat Pump Training course, both of which will be available from Grant UK towards the end of this year. It is imperative that both the government's funding initiatives and retraining/up-skilling of the workforce work in parallel.

“We are concerned that as yet there has been no announcement regarding other off-gas heating alternatives, such as biofuels (HVO) and hybrid heating, which would have a major impact on reducing carbon emissions, and are more practical in terms of an immediate roll out.

“Grant will continue to work with industry and government to develop affordable solutions that focus not only on new-build and retrofit homes, but on the harder questions such as off-gas and hard to heat homes.”

The Hot Water Association (HWA) pronounced itself disappointed that the strategy manages to ignore the significant potential of hot water storage and heating.

Isaac Occhipinti, Director of External Affairs at the HWA, explained: “The government fails to recognise the untapped potential of hot water storage-estimated to be around seven times the capacity of the UK’s largest pumped hydro power facility (Dinorwig in Wales), instead, focusing on the heat source and forgetting the rest of the heating and hot water system.”

“In order to meet net-zero all UK homes will need low to zero carbon heating. Most currently available low carbon heating solutions require a hot water cylinder. We are in desperate need of a strategy to stop the decline in hot water storage population in the UK. If the Government are serious, about decarbonisation then we need to encourage homeowners, at the very minimum, to keep their hot water cylinder in order to future proof their heating system and maximise the UK’s energy storage potential.

“The energy storage potential associated with the UK’s installed capacity of domestic hot water cylinders is comparable to our entire fleet of pumped-hydro-electric storage and with just a fraction of this resource; it would be possible to absorb the largest surpluses of renewable power that arise from offshore wind and solar PV.”

Carl Arntzen, Chief Executive of Worcester Bosch, was disappointed by hydrogen largely being omitted by the strategy. He commented: “Although the government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy does look like a clear indication of ongoing investment, it doesn’t go far enough.

“When considering a heat pump there are many factors to assess which are not considered here, such as the property’s suitability. A home may need to be adapted to accommodate a heat pump, such as resizing radiators and making space for hot water cylinders, which carry cost implications. Therefore, the proposed grants may help with the cost to purchase a heat pump, but there will still be costly investment required from homeowners in existing properties.

“As for boilers, the strategy does not refer to any legislation behind a boiler ban, so it’s not surprising that there is confusion among installers and homeowners.

“While it is encouraging to see that hydrogen is still on the agenda and is referred to within the strategy, it is a shame to see that a decision around hydrogen won’t be made until five years from now. With hydrogen-ready boilers already successfully trialled, they could be a strong alternative to fossil fuel boilers on the market today – yet this strategy seems to omit them.

“We are committed to the decarbonisation of heating and hot water in the UK and will continue to work with government and industry to offer a technology agnostic future, while educating and inspiring homeowners to make greener choices for home heating.”

Mark Howard, Regen’s Heat Expert, concluded: “Heat decarbonisation is one of our biggest challenges. It is also a huge opportunity to provide secure jobs and warm, comfortable homes for everyone. We therefore welcome the Heat and Buildings Strategy and the commitment to phase out fossil fuel boilers as step in the right direction. What we now need is a programme of long-term investment in well-insulated homes as a way of cutting bills, creating future-proof jobs and providing certainty for industry and homeowners.”