If you are looking for a heat pump then you are likely to know about the BUS grant, but what if you are looking to increase the performance or get help in decarbonising your home? The various subsidy schemes can be confusing to navigate while awareness of the BUS scheme and who is eligible can be low.

Responses to our initial scoping questions uncovered a recurring theme of a perceived lack of awareness as to the existence of the BUS, what it would provide, and whether households believed that they would be eligible to access it. Subsidies can only be effectively utilised if the target audience is aware of their existence.

To try and sense-check these statements we met with industry stakeholders and interviewed household members. From our scoping research, we found that stakeholders agreed that awareness was low and increased publicity was required, while our interviews with householders seemed to corroborate this lack of awareness.

We heard from installers and industry stakeholders that currently they believe the BUS and other subsidies that could be used for other retrofit measures are not commonly known about by members of the public. They indicated that a homeowner would only become aware of BUS when they were already interested in switching to a heat pump, effectively aiding those that were already in the able-to-pay market. This would imply that BUS was acting as a subsidy for those who might have adopted a heat pump anyway, rather than encouraging those who were less aware. We also heard that, aside from BUS itself, public awareness of heat pumps was considered to be quite low. We heard that increased advertising and public awareness campaigns could be used to encourage the use of BUS and the uptake of heat pumps.

Homeowners that we spoke to generally understood that BUS could provide between £5,000-£7,500 to help with the installation of a heat pump. However, none of the homeowners that we spoke to believed that they would be able to access the grant themselves due to the perception that grants are typically means-tested. We were aware that a new Government campaign had been initiated to try and increase awareness of BUS during this project and it was encouraging to see that one of the homeowners had encountered some adverts on social media. However, this homeowner had still not engaged with the advert due to their assumption that grants are normally only available for those with lower incomes. Aside from the two homeowners interviewed who already possessed a heat pump, the interviewees had low awareness of the total cost that they might expect from an installation or the associated works that might be required.

The findings from our interviews seemed to mirror previous concerns that had been raised during the inquiry led by the Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee. The inquiry highlighted that public awareness of low-carbon heating systems is very limited, and promotion of the BUS has been inadequate. Citizens Advice conducted a survey in August 2022 to try and quantify public awareness of BUS and found that, from 2,000 adults, only 33% were aware of the scheme with 10% fully aware and 23% partially aware. It is important to note that this survey was conducted in relatively close proximity to the initiation of BUS in April 2022 and we would expect awareness to have risen since then. A new up-to-date survey would be required to verify how public awareness has changed and whether increased efforts to raise public awareness by current campaigns have had the desired effect.

Since starting this project, DESNZ has launched a public campaign “Welcome home to energy efficiency” to raise awareness around actions that homeowners can take now to make their home more energy efficient. This signposts several subsidies that households can access including BUS. This kind of campaign will hopefully start to address some issues around awareness.

For households

• A lack of awareness that there is funding for low-carbon measures.
• An assumption that they are not eligible for subsidies and access to grants is means-tested.
• Understanding and accessing funding is seen as confusing and time-consuming.

For installers

• Awareness of other forms of funding that householders could access to conduct supplementary works
• A lack of awareness from the public could dampen the ability of installers to scale their businesses
• Gas engineers are not incentivised to steer households towards low-carbon heating grants.

For advice givers

• They need to be able to provide advice on forms of funding available and access for homeowners
• They need to be able to provide impartial advice as to the expected cost of installation and running costs.

What if…

• All quotes included the cost after the BUS or other subsidies, could this change the discourse on the cost of HPs and availability of funding?
• The government’s public awareness campaign is expanded? Could there be a more targeted way to reach certain demographics? Maybe with an emphasis on the fact the BUS is not means-tested and is accessible for all, regardless of income.
• There was a single place for households to receive government-backed advice on the need for heat pumps and their installation/running costs and the appropriate summaries. What would be the minimal steps required to give this accurate information?
• There was one place homeowners could go to access green home financing information.