The £450m Boiler Upgrade Scheme is part of more than £3.9bn of new funding being announced today by the Government for decarbonising heat and buildings.

It wants to incentivise people to install low-carbon heating systems by providing subsidies to make the technology more affordable.

But the current plan only has enough funds to adequately help 30,000 homes upgrade their heating systems when the target is to install 600,000 heat pumps annually in order to reduce the UK’s household carbon emissions.

Greenpeace UK’s head of climate, Kate Blagojevic, said: “While £5000 grants and a 2035 boiler phase-out date are a decent start, they aren’t ambitious enough to adequately tackle emissions from homes or support low income households to switch.

“What’s also missing from these reports is any mention of a programme to insulate the UK’s millions of draughty homes. Low-carbon heating must go hand-in-hand with improving energy efficiency, you can’t have one without...