The UK passed 250,000 certified heat pump installations in early 2026, according to MCS data covering every heat pump signed off under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme since 2009 — and the growth curve is steep: 2025 was the strongest year on record, up around a third on 2024, which itself was up 75% on 2023.
Here are the numbers worth citing, and — because this is a planning blog — what the electrification of heating means for the energy statement your council asks for.
UK heat pump installation statistics: the key figures
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Certified installations, 2023 | 32,927 | MCS |
| Certified installations, 2024 | 57,918 (up 75% on 2023) | MCS |
| Certified installations, 2025 | Record year — up 34% on 2024 (roughly 77,000) | MCS |
| First half of 2025 breakdown | 30,144 air source · 413 ground source · 46 other | MCS |
| Cumulative certified installations (since 2009) | 250,000+ (reached early 2026) | MCS |
| Share of 2025 installs supported by the Boiler Upgrade Scheme | 43% | MCS |
What is driving the surge?
- Grant support — the Boiler Upgrade Scheme's £7,500 grant funded 43% of last year's installations.
- Planning got easier — the 2025 relaxation of permitted development rules for air source heat pumps removed the old 1-metre boundary rule and raised the size limit; we explained the detail in our guide to heat pumps and permitted development.
- Air source dominates — in the first half of 2025, air source units outnumbered ground source by roughly 73 to 1.
What rising heat pump numbers mean for energy statements
An energy statement demonstrates how a scheme meets Part L and local carbon policy, normally structured around the energy hierarchy — Be Lean (reduce demand), Be Clean (efficient supply), Be Green (renewables). The statistics above change the calculation authors make at the Be Green stage:
- The carbon maths now favours electric heating. Under SAP 10.2, electricity's carbon factor reflects a cleaner grid, so replacing a gas boiler with a heat pump delivers a large share of the CO₂ savings a council wants to see.
- London's 35% target is heat-pump shaped. For London schemes, the London Plan requires a 35% on-site improvement over Part L — in practice, heat pumps are the workhorse that gets residential schemes there, with any shortfall met through carbon offset payments.
- Officers know the technology is mainstream. With installations at record levels, "a heat pump is impractical" is a much harder argument to run in 2026 than it was three years ago.
Do you need an energy statement?
Most councils require one for new dwellings and larger extensions or conversions, and every London borough expects the energy hierarchy to be followed. If your application involves creating new floorspace, check your council's validation list before you submit — a missing energy statement is one of the most common validation failures.
How Fortress Associates can help
Our automated energy statement service produces a planning-ready statement in minutes, free. It sets a Part L 2021 baseline using the SAP 10.2 notional-building method, then works through the full energy hierarchy — Be Lean, Be Clean, Be Green — with CO₂ savings calculated at each stage, and applies the London Plan's 35% on-site target and carbon-offset calculations for London schemes. Site-specific solar and energy data are fetched at report creation, for every UK local authority. See all our services or get in touch.
Sources & further reading
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