A number of homeowners could soon find themselves in limbo when planning to sell their home as properties with gas boilers may very well be banned from being sold north of the border under fresh plans being mooted by the Scottish government.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) sees a potential ban as key to encouraging Scots to swap gas boilers for heat pumps.
The potential move would force properties in Scotland to meet the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or above at certain trigger points by 2025, including during a sale.
But it is being reported that the EPC ratings system will undergo further changes which will enforce stricter green standards.
The change will likely ensure properties which currently meet the C grading will be downgraded.
Possible lower scores could be handed out homeowners across Scotland with additional pressure for homeowners to install low carbon sources of heating, such as a heat pump, at a cost of up to £10,000.
EPC ratings currently consider how costly it is to heat a home. But reforms mean the revamped rating could also include the type of heating.
Patrick Harvie, the green zero carbon buildings minister, said the Scottish Government wanted “all homes to reach new energy efficiency standards by no later than 2033”.
Writing in the Herald on Sunday, Harvie, the Scottish Green Party co-leader, said: “Improved energy efficiency is essential but nowhere near enough. We can’t insulate our way to zero carbon buildings. To do that we need to change the way we heat homes.
“To meet our 2030 targets alone, more than one million Scottish homes will need to change to a climate-friendly heating system: a massive transition – as big as the shift from coal to gas last century, but in a shorter timescale.”
The estimated cost of converting all homes to zero emissions is £33bn, the Scottish government has confirmed.
But Holyrood will provide an initial support package of around £1.8billion during the current Parliament.
Heat pumps costing around £10,000, four times as much as the £2,500 needed to install new fossil fuel boilers.
However, the Scottish Conservative Party voiced concern about how families are expected to cover the cost amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Douglas Lumsden, the Scottish Tories’ shadow net zero secretary, said: “The green minister is typically acting like he knows best by ploughing ahead with these plans.
“This is hugely naive considering he has put in a pitiful amount of the funding required to support homeowners to replace gas boilers.
“Penalising them during a cost-of-living crisis is simply unacceptable. While we all want to see a just transition, policies must be fair and measured.”
