This may be of interest to those of you who rely on oil or LPG for heating and, like me, may have been mulling over the need a new boiler in the near future,

One of the proposals in the government’s plans to hit their Net-Zero targets is to ban replacement oil and LPG boilers from 2026 – 10 years before an equivalent ban on replacement gas boilers.  Don’t panic – it doesn’t mean you have to stop using your existing boiler, but it does mean if it irreparably breaks down you might not be allowed to install a replacement. There’s more details of these HMG documents: an overall strategy document, and a consultation document specifically relating to off-grid heating (i.e. oil and LPG).

Both documents state 2026 is the proposed date for a ban on replacement oil and LPG boilers – which is fine if your house is suitable for a heat pump, but not so good if it’s an older property where considerable extra costs might be involved.  I’ve not seen any final decision announced yet.

I’ve raised this with Dr. Dan Poulter, who didn’t seem to be aware of the proposals either – odd, he’s only our MP and a member of this government! 

If anybody has any more information on this I’d be very interested.

Update, 10th August 2023.

Independently of me the Daily Telegraph has started campaigning over this. Their latest article on the subject points out that Suffolk CC has warned the Environment Sec. (Ms. Coffey, MP Suffolk Coastal) that the ban is a really bad idea.

It’s behind a pay wall, but I’m sure they won’t mind me copying part of it here.

Therese Coffey warned oil boiler ban will hurt her rural constituents

Environment Secretary’s own council says move to help reach net zero will entrench poverty in her constituency

By Nick Gutteridge, Political Correspondent and Amy Gibbons 10 August 2023 • 9:00pm

The Environment Secretary is facing a backlash in her own constituency over plans to ban new oil powered boilers that will “entrench” rural fuel poverty.

Suffolk County Council has told Thérèse Coffey that the proposed 2026 deadline should be delayed or significantly watered down as many families cannot afford to replace their oil boilers with pricey heat pumps.

The local authority warned that forcing families who live in remote areas to switch to electric heating would also leave them vulnerable when blackouts occur.

The council’s scathing verdict on the plans came just days after the Cabinet minister publicly defended net zero and said abandoning it would cost the Conservatives votes.

Tory members in her Suffolk Coastal seat are also urging the Environment Secretary to lobby Downing Street to abandon the policy before it is too late.

It comes as one of the party’s most senior MPs warned that the oil boiler ban risked leaving elderly people freezing in their homes and had to be ditched.

Ministers have been consulting on their proposals to ban the installation of fossil-fuel-powered heating systems, including oil boilers, from 2026.

It would be the first of a series of net zero deadlines to come into force, affecting 1.1 million homes in England that are not connected to the gas grid.

The Government wants those people to install heat pumps, but has admitted the systems would not currently work in around 220,000 households.

Almost one in five households in Ms Coffey’s constituency and the wider Suffolk area are off the gas grid, according to House of Commons library data.

That compares with an average of 15 per cent across England, Wales and Scotland as a whole.

Suffolk County Council, which is Conservative run, has said the planned ban is not “acceptable” and that it will not “achieve public acceptance”.

In its response to the consultation, the council wrote: “There is…a significant risk that existing inequalities and rural fuel poverty will be further entrenched.

“The proposed heat-pump-first approach also has significant risks in these circumstances, in terms of perceived lack of choice and public acceptance.”

Suffolk council’s evidence, which was submitted last January, said the ban should be delayed at least in part because heat pump technology was “immature”.

“The roll out date of 2026 is challenging, therefore it would be appropriate to consider a combination of both geographical and temporal phasing of this process,” it said.

It added that areas with high levels of fuel poverty needed “a more flexible approach” and that the “widespread use” of alternatives such as biofuel to power oil boilers should be allowed.

Adverse impacts

The council added: “A heat-pump-first approach will increase the vulnerability of households to the adverse impacts of extended power outages.

“Whilst the council supports the ambition of a 2026 end date for installation of new fossil fuel heating systems, it does not consider that the proposed approach is acceptable or will achieve public acceptance.”

One local Tory member said the ban would place lots of families living in remote properties in a “very nasty bind” and they accused ministers of ignoring their concerns.

“It is a real issue for real people towards the lower end of the income scale and it’s very worrying that the timescale is so short,” they said.

“It’s fine for second home owners, but for people who live here full-time and have to make ends meet it’s potentially a real difficulty for them.

“In terms of the people who live and vote here, if the Government does push it through I think it will lose the Conservatives votes in this area.”

Sir Robert Goodwill, chairman of the environment, food and rural affairs committee, became the latest senior Tory to urge No 10 to ditch the policy.

“This could have quite a disproportionate impact on rural communities, and it is something that the Government needs to look at again,” he told The Telegraph.

“We’re going to get elderly people in winter without any heating. I suspect the wait to get heat pumps installed would be longer than the wait to get a new boiler put in.

“We need to rural proof these policies. It seems once again this is a policy that is disadvantageous to rural areas that are off the gas grid.”