Humza Yousaf and the SNP are considering penalising homes with boilers (Image: Getty )
Homeowners wanting to sell their home could be forced to pay out thousands of pounds to replace their boiler with a heat pump, under plans outlined by the SNP.
The Scottish National Party leader Humza Yousaf is considering proposals that would penalise sellers with boilers by slapping them with poorer Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings if they don’t make the switch.
EPC ratings consider how costly it is to heat a home and a poor rating, D or below, can potentially influence the value of a property.
It’s even been muted that to meet net zero targets the First Minister could push on with plans to force those with boilers to swap to heat pumps before they can sell.
All existing properties and new builds in Scotland are supposed to have an EPC rating of C or above by 2025 under green pledges.
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Green minister Patrick Harvie is pushing the plans (Image: Getty )
Heat pumps can cost as much as ￡10,000, compared to around ￡2,000 for a new boiler, and the efficiency of the pumps is dependent on further costly improvements to the insulation of a home.
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 also 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.”
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Installing a heat pump can cost as much as ￡10,000 (Image: Getty )
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But the Scottish Conservative Party voiced concern about how families are expected to cover the cost amid the cost of living crisis.
GB News reports 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.”
The Scottish Government has provided an initial support package of ￡1.8billion to assist homeowners with conversions, but it’s been confirmed to get all homes to zero emissions would cost around 20 times that amount.
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