Rural support for Rishi Sunak’s green policy shift

Farm and countryside groups have applauded the announcement from prime minister Rishi Sunak that there will be some slowing down of the drive towards achieving “net-zero” carbon emissions by mid-century.

As well as delaying the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars by five years, Mr Sunak has announced a nine-year delay in the ban on new fossil fuel heating for off-gas-grid homes, to 2035.

He has also raised the grant for changing from gas boilers to heat pumps by 50% to £7,500, and will introduce exemptions to the ban on new gas boilers from 2035 for poorer households.

The government is also scrapping the requirement on landlords to ensure all rental properties have an Energy Performance Certificate of grade C or higher, from 2025.

See also: Renewable energy investment on farm – what to expect and what to avoid

Country Land and Business Association (CLA) president Mark Tufnell welcomed the changes.

“The proposed 2026 ban on off-grid oil boilers would have affected one million, largely rural households,” he said.

“While heat pumps are an option for some, they are not feasible or cost-effective for all.”

While the CLA strongly supported efforts to improve the environment, Mr Tufnell said some of the earlier proposals were simply unachievable and counterproductive.

“Due to the nature of their construction, many rural properties cannot be suitably upgraded,” he said.

“Forcing many landlords to spend at least £10,000 on works with no guarantee such investment would actually improve carbon emissions risked damaging the supply of rural housing during a cost-of-living crisis.”

Ill-suited 

The Countryside Alliance echoed these views, pointing out that many older homes commonly found in the countryside are ill-suited to heat pumps, which require thorough insulation to work efficiently, and in some cases replacement radiators.

Countryside Alliance chief executive Tim Bonner said: “The prime minister is right to provide significantly more time for people to transition to heat pumps, understanding that in some circumstances it just won’t work.

“It is also right, in a cost-of-living crisis, that further financial support will be offered to those switching to heat pumps.”

The group also called for greater electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the countryside, for those wishing to transition away from petrol and diesel vehicles.

Unimpressed

But environmental groups are far from impressed.

Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “The UK government has consistently undermined efforts to address the climate crisis and has proved to be utterly incompetent at tackling the scale of the emergency.

“Science tells us that our climate needs action much faster. We suffered the hottest June ever this year, the North Atlantic Ocean experienced a severe and unprecedented marine heatwave, and unseasonably wet weather caused problems for this year’s harvest for UK farmers in August. 

“All the while, the government’s net-zero policies on carbon-storing habitat recovery, peatland restoration and prevention of nature loss are far too little and too slow.”