The Challenge of Decarbonising Domestic Heating

Study the summaries of Extracts A, B, C, D and E below before answering the question.

• Extract A: A statistical projection showing that the UK's residential housing stock accounts for over 15% of national greenhouse gas emissions. To meet statutory net-zero targets by 2050, the annual installation rate of low-carbon heat pumps must scale rapidly from approximately 30,000 in 2023 to 600,000 by 2033.
• Extract B: Evidence showing that the capital cost of retrofitting insulation and installing a heat pump remains prohibitively high (typically between £12,000 and £18,000 per property). As a result, low-to-middle-income households are effectively locked out of the transition, risking a rise in "green fuel poverty" as natural gas prices rise relative to electricity.
• Extract C: A macroeconomic report warning that funding a massive national retrofitting scheme through higher general taxation or additional levies on electricity bills would depress household disposable incomes, weaken labor market incentives, and disproportionately penalise poorer households who spend a larger share of income on energy.
• Extract D: Analytical data highlighting the external costs of delayed decarbonisation. This includes escalating climate-related damage and the public health costs of damp, poorly insulated housing, which is estimated to cost the NHS upwards of £1.4 billion annually.
• Extract E: An independent proposal suggesting that rather than relying on direct taxpayer-funded grants (such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme), the Government should mandate a phased ban on gas boilers in existing properties, support low-interest "green mortgages," and standardise a national carbon tax on residential natural gas to drive private-sector investment.