Heat pumps installed in less than 5% of new builds, study finds

Comparison website Confused.com has conducted an analysis of heat pump installations in newly constructed homes across England and Wales that sheds light on the trends in this market sector.

The data shows that between 2019 and 2023, only 4.92% of new builds in England and Wales were fitted with heat pumps: 4.53% of new homes had air source heat pumps, while ground source heat pumps were installed in just 0.39% of new homes. This means that approximately 54,000 new homes are using these green heating alternatives.

 

The study also revealed an upward trend in the adoption of heat pumps. From 2018 to 2023, the installation rates of air source increased from 2.68% to 7.58%, marking a significant rise of 4.9 percentage points. Ground source heat pumps experienced a more modest increase, going from 0.21% to 0.47%, a change of 0.26 percentage points.

When examining regional variations, certain local authorities stood out. King’s Lynn and West Norfolk led the way, with over 50% of new homes built between 2018 and 2023 incorporating air source heat pumps. Ceredigion followed closely with 39.26%, and Breckland with 38.58%.

On the other hand, areas like Liverpool, Halton, and Sandwell had very low adoption rates of air source heat pumps in newly constructed homes. When it came to ground source heat pumps, Pendle (7.78%), Rhondda Cynon Taf (6.65%), and Warrington (4.77%) showed higher rates of adoption, while most areas had lower rates, often below 1%.

The study also identified the most improved areas over a five-year period. Local authorities such as Bromsgrove, Cotswold, Isle of Anglesey, and Pembrokeshire experienced significant increases of over 40% in the number of new builds incorporating air source heat pumps.

Pendle stood out with a jump in ground source heat pump installations, going from 0.95% to 28.52% over the same period. In Luton, no new builds had these pumps in 2018, but had increased to 87 in 2023.

All other areas in England and Wales saw less than a 10 percentage point increase over five years, suggesting a much slower take-up of ground source heat pumps compared to air source heat pumps.