PM urged to scrap ban on new oil boilers

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The proposed ban on new oil burners has been described as a ‘rural Ulez’ by former environment secretary George Eustice in a Daily Telegraph article.

The ban is set to affect 1.7 million mostly rural households that are not connected to the gas grid, and would come in at least a decade before similar restrictions on other homes, according to the Countryside Alliance.

Mr Eustice said air-source heat pumps would cost four times more than a new boiler and urged the government to look at expanding the supply of renewable liquid fuels.

‘For just a couple of hundred pounds, an existing kerosene boiler can be converted to run on hydrotreated vegetable oil made from waste cooking oil or vegetable waste. Facilitating that switch would reduce carbon emissions by 88%, far faster than the current approach could and at a fraction of the cost,’ he wrote.

The Countryside Alliance has warned that many older homes commonly found in rural areas are ill-suited to heat pumps, which require thorough insulation to work efficiently. Some homeowners have also been told they would have to replace their radiators to accommodate the heating devices.

Mr Eustice has drafted an amendment to the Energy Bill, which is said to have the backing of at least a dozen Tory MPs, introducing effective subsidies on such oil.

Sir Geoffrey Cox, the former attorney general, said the 2026 cut-off date has left rural households with an “extremely invidious choice”.

“They don’t have an alternative in which they yet which they currently have any confidence,” he said. “Those of us who live in small rural communities are going to be plunged disadvantageously and prematurely into making a decision like this in two and a half years.”

Countryside Alliance public affairs director James Legge said in a statement: “We recognise the need to move away from fossil fuels in all its uses, but the Government must recognise the disproportionate impact this transition will have in rural areas.

“The Government needs to work with rural communities, rather than imposing change from Whitehall, to deliver affordable alternatives and the infrastructure needed to support increasing dependence on electricity, especially as we move to electric vehicles as well.”

Mr Legge warned that the current infrastructure cannot support the increase in demand that the proposed changes will bring. Alternatives to existing oil boilers often require substantial up front capital investment and may not be suitable for some properties.

Confidence in the alternatives is also important, he concluded, calling for the increasing use of alternative fuels as part of the mix when moving away from oil boilers.