Where are heat pumps going into new builds fastest?
Ahead of the 2025 ban on gas boilers in new-build property, new research has revealed which areas are transitioning quicker.
From the end of next year, gas boilers will be banned in new build homes and will be replaced with low-carbon systems, the most realistic of which will be heat pumps
Confused.com have examined the trend toward heat pump installations in new builds over the last five years and have found that in that time, only 4.5% of new builds had air source heat pumps installed and only 0.4% received a ground source heat pump.
Newly built homes in England and Wales that have been constructed with heat pumps between 2019 and 2023
| New builds by type | Number of new builds | % of total new builds |
| Air source heat pump | 49,489 | 4.53% |
| Ground source heat pump | 4,270 | 0.39% |
| Total | 53,758 | 4.92% |
So adoption of heat pumps in new builds is improving but very slowly.
Installation of air source heat pumps went from 2.68% in 2018 to 7.58% in 2023, a jump of 4.9 percentage points. Ground source heat pumps rose from 0.21% to 0.47% in 2023, a change of 0.26 percentage points.
Confused.com looked at which local authorities are leading the way for heat pump installations in new builds (City of London not included as they had no new builds)
Local authorities in England and Wales with the largest per cent of new builds with air source heat pumps (ASHP) between 2019 and 2023
| Local authority |
New builds with ASHP |
% of new builds with ASHP |
| King’s Lynn & West Norfolk | 1293 | 52.12% |
| Ceredigion | 307 | 39.26% |
| Breckland | 1213 | 38.58% |
| Tandridge | 440 | 36.24% |
| Mid Suffolk | 1047 | 28.20% |
| Isle of Anglesey | 289 | 26.93% |
| Babergh | 586 | 26.15% |
| East Cambridgeshire | 638 | 25.57% |
| Powys | 436 | 24.99% |
| Cornwall | 3359 | 24.42% |
Local authorities in England and Wales with the largest per cent of new builds with ground source heat pumps (GRHP) between 2019 and 2023
| Local authority | New builds with GRHP | % of new builds with GRHP |
| Pendle | 83 | 7.78% |
| Rhondda Cynon Taf | 114 | 6.65% |
| Warrington | 177 | 4.77% |
| Cornwall | 477 | 3.47% |
| Bury | 34 | 3.37% |
| Cardiff | 168 | 3.00% |
| Swansea | 73 | 2.84% |
| Newark and Sherwood | 83 | 2.83% |
| Luton | 87 | 2.49% |
| Ceredigion | 19 | 2.43%
|
Local authorities in England and Wales with the largest per-cent increase of new builds with air source heat pumps (ASHP) between 2018 and 2023
| Local authority | New builds with ASHP in 2018 | % of new builds with ASHP in 2018 | New builds with ASHP in 2023 | % of new builds with ASHP in 2023 | % change, last 5 years |
| Bromsgrove | 3 | 0.59% | 109 | 46.58% | 46.00% |
| Cotswold | 20 | 2.29% | 167 | 47.31% | 45.02% |
| Isle of Anglesey | 13 | 5.56% | 134 | 50.38% | 44.82% |
| Pembrokeshire | 15 | 4.08% | 186 | 44.08% | 40.00% |
| Dacorum | 9 | 2.02% | 206 | 39.85% | 37.82% |
| Powys | 20 | 6.97% | 118 | 37.46% | 30.49% |
| Rutland | 33 | 14.22% | 31 | 44.29% | 30.06% |
| Gwynedd | 32 | 8.27% | 53 | 38.13% | 29.86% |
| Cheltenham | 12 | 2.26% | 83 | 32.05% | 29.78% |
| North Norfolk | 49 | 9.90% | 65 | 39.39% | 29.49% |
Local authorities in England and Wales with the largest per-cent increase of new builds with ground source heat pumps (GSHP) between 2018 and 2023
| Local authority | New builds with GSHP in 2018 | % of new builds with GSHP in 2018 | New builds with GSHP in 2023 | % of new builds with GSHP in 2023 | % change, last 5 years |
| Pendle | 1 | 0.95% | 79 | 28.52% | 27.57% |
| Luton | 0 | 0.00% | 87 | 15.00% | 15.00% |
| Cardiff | 2 | 0.27% | 90 | 7.86% | 7.59% |
| Boston | 0 | 0.00% | 22 | 7.17% | 7.17% |
| Herefordshire, County of | 7 | 0.90% | 43 | 5.76% | 4.86% |
| Huntingdonshire | 0 | 0.00% | 59 | 4.43% | 4.43% |
| Cotswold | 1 | 0.11% | 16 | 4.53% | 4.42% |
| Bristol, City of | 0 | 0.00% | 50 | 4.00% | 4.00% |
| Cornwall | 85 | 2.53% | 154 | 6.40% | 3.87% |
| Brighton and Hove | 0 | 0.00% | 42 | 3.06% | 3.06% |
