28 July 2025
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Ambient’s July Electrified Heat Transition Tracker (EHT Tracker) will be published on Thursday 28 July.
This reveals a surge in heat pump demand across the UK — with the data showing a record May for MCS certified heat pump installations and 43% year on year growth in Boiler Upgrade Scheme voucher activity. As well as this, 1 in 5 new homes are now built with heat pumps – double this time last year. However, there remains a gap between registered demand for heat pumps and actual installations, showing that households are facing barriers in their adoption journeys.
Key insights include:
- Regional trailblazers: Just 30 of 344 local authority districts (8%) account for a ⅓ of installations. Rural and oil-reliant areas (e.g. Powys, Highland, Cornwall) are leading the way, highlighting where targeted policy could replicate success and rapidly scale uptake.
- System innovation: Well-installed and well-run heat pump systems tracked on Heat Pump Monitor show an average efficiency of 360% so far this year - leading to lower bills and comfortable heating.
- Demand outstripping adoption: While 1 in 4 homeowners will consider a heat pump as their next heating system, only 4% of heating systems sold today are heat pumps—making it critical to address adoption barriers in areas where demand already exists.
Commenting on the EHT Tracker:
George Stone, Policy Officer, Ambient, said: “The latest data shows that momentum is building, but specific barriers are preventing households from adopting heat pumps even when they want to. Crucially, ⅓ of installations to date have taken place in just 30 out of 344 UK local authority districts. With granular data on localised socio-economic factors and housing types, we can learn from these regions where heat pump installations are clustered to accelerate progress elsewhere”.
Katy King, Deputy Director of Sustainable Future, Nesta, commented: “This data shows an encouraging picture of rising demand for heat pumps. However, while some areas of the UK are becoming heat pump leaders, others are lagging behind. While tariffs are available that can help people with low-carbon heating cut their energy bills, cost still remains a barrier - which is why the Government must look to reduce electricity costs by reforming its unequally applied levies.”
Leo Vincent, Senior Policy Advisor, E3G, said: “Ambient’s latest EHT Tracker shows that thirty local authorities are leading the charge when it comes to decarbonising home heating. From this insight, we can now look to establish what the conditions are that facilitate clean heat transition at pace in these regions, compare these case studies, and look to build a model to supercharge heat pump deployment across the country.”
To read the EHT Tracker in full visit: www.projectambient.org
