Plans for an outright ban on new gas boilers from 2035 are to be dropped, a newspaper claims this morning.

This is despite the Government’s drive to rapidly escalate the installation of heat pumps in people’s homes.

The i newspaper says gas boilers will effectively be banned in all new-build properties because they won’t meet stringent green guidelines under a new ‘warm homes plan’, set to be confirmed later this year 

But a previously planned rule introduced by the Tories – which would stop people replacing their existing gas boilers with new ones from 2035 – will now be scrapped.

The i says Labour will instead step up efforts to persuade homeowners to switch to more environment-friendly heat pumps when their existing boilers need replacing, including by extending a £7,500 subsidy.

Last week epIMS, the EPC and energy information platform developed for landlords, said that in its opinion heat pumps might not be the best way of improving private rental EPC ratings.

Analysis of government data by epIMS showed that the push for heat pumps has seen 113,555 government-supported heat pump installations take place across the UK over the last five years alone.

epIMS conceded that heat pumps may be more efficient, but not necessarily more cost effective. 

This is down to the fact that they use electricity which tends to be more expensive than gas both in terms of raw energy prices (£0.2450 vs £0.0624 pence per kWh) and standing charges (£0.6099 vs £0.3166 pence per day). .

As a result, the total estimated annual bill for heating and hot water when using a ground source heat pump is £806, just £9 cheaper than a traditional gas boiler, whilst heating a home with an air source heat pump will set you back £1,001 a year on average.