Government will water down 2035 new gas boiler ban for landlords, Michael Gove confirms

A proposed ban on new gas boiler installations by 2035 will be “eased off” for private rental landlords, Michael Gove has said.

In a major watering down of the government’s net zero plans, the Levelling Up Secretary said the government will give landlords a “greater degree of breathing space” and lift the strict deadline for compliance.

It is the clearest signal yet that ministers are rethinking their green agenda in the wake of the Uxbridge by-election.

Boris Johnson introduced the deadline for phasing out of gas boiler installations by 2035 when he was prime minister, proposing that heat pumps and other new environmentally friendly technology could replace them.

But with high inflation still raging and the cost of heat pumps seen as unaffordable for many families, the Prime Minister said this week that the government wanted to relieve “pressure” on households to comply with net zero policies and that the green agenda should be made more affordable.

Mr Gove told Radio 4’s Today programme: “It is certainly the case that phasing out gas boilers, and at the moment moving towards heat pumps, does impose costs.

“We are looking at how we can mitigate the impact on individuals. There are different ways in which we can make sure that we decarbonise heating in people’s homes, there is a particular pressure that’s been placed on the private rented sector.

“They have to move faster than others in order to meet energy efficiency standards. I think that we’re asking a little too much of them and therefore we will give them a greater degree of breathing space.

“Because we started quite rightly by talking about the housing pressures that people face, the cost of housing, whether that’s renting or buying, so we need to to ease off that.”

Mr Gove said the government would announce exact details of the changes later, but added: “It does mean moving away from the strict deadline that we have at the moment… I wanted to signal to people in the private rented sector that we have heard their concerns at this point.”

While ministers have been reviewing the imposition of the gas boiler plans for some months, the outcome of last week’s by-election in Uxbridge, when Labour failed to turn over a marginal majority due to opposition to the expansion of the ULEZ low emission zone, debate around the affordability of green pledges has shot to the top of the political agenda.

The 2035 deadline for gas boiler installations is seen as particularly onerous for private landlords who will have to spend thousands of pounds complying with energy efficiency regulations.