Scottish minister announces Heat in Buildings Bill plans

Acting Minister for Climate Action Alasdair Allan told the Scottish Parliament last week that the revised legislation will include powers to set minimum energy efficiency standards for owner-occupier and non-domestic properties.

The Scottish government has announced plans to introduce a revised Heat in Buildings Bill that will include a target to decarbonise heating systems by 2045.

The proposed legislation, which is due to be introduced in year five of this Scottish parliamentary session, will sit alongside the Scottish National Party’s related work on a social housing net zero standard and energy performance certificate (EPC) reform under existing powers.

Announcing the move in the Scottish Parliament on 3 April, Acting Minister for Climate Action Alasdair Allan cautioned that progress in the housing sector depended on the UK government taking several ‘vital actions’ to accelerate the move towards buildings decarbonisation.

"That is why I hope that members will join me in calling for the UK government urgently to clarify its intentions on phasing out gas boilers in existing homes and the future role of the gas grid in heating our buildings…,’ he said.

The minister also asked Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to support the Scottish National Party government’s request for the Labour administration in Westminster to rebalance policy costs from electricity to gas bills to incentivise the installation of clean heating so that it alleviates fuel poverty as well as reform Great Britain’s energy markets to help bring down the cost of electricity more generally.

"Without those and other changes, we are severely hampered as we attempt to deliver this societal and economic transformation," he told MSPs.

Allan explained to the Scottish Parliament that nearly 90% of homes in Scotland are reliant on gas or other fossil fuels for heat. At the same time, fuel poverty is an even more significant issue for communities that are off the gas grid.

Having outlined a range of proposals in a consultation that closed last year, including the requirement for energy efficiency standards, Allan said the announcement of a revised Heat in Buildings Bill charted ‘a new course’ that he argued was consistent with the Scottish government’s goal of removing emissions from buildings by 2045 while responding to concerns about the risk of exacerbating fuel poverty.

"[The revised legislation] will send a strong signal to homeowners, landlords and other building owners about the need to prepare for change, while outlining collective actions to help do that, and that will give the supply chain confidence to invest," he told MSPs.

"The bill will underpin our existing work to progress to net zero through the range of support measures and interventions that is already available to households seeking to transition their homes to non-polluting heating systems."

Allan argued the proposed legislation, which builds on the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019, would boost heat network development by creating particular requirements for large, non-domestic premises. It would also include powers that require public sector buildings to connect to district heating when it becomes available.

The minister added that the Scottish government would work with affected building owners to ensure that appropriate safeguards are developed.

Adding further detail to the proposals, he went on to explain how the bill will be technology neutral in a move designed to enable and support flexibility.

"Different properties and people will require different solutions," he explained. "For example, the clean heating solutions in some remote and rural areas may vary from those in urban areas. Reaching our target is likely to need a range of technologies, including bioenergy."

While the Scottish government proposes powers to set minimum energy efficiency standards for owner-occupier and non-domestic properties, it also plans to make regulations under existing powers to introduce a minimum energy-efficiency standard in the private rented sector, not only to improve overall standards but also to reduce fuel poverty.

"Those regulations would mean all privately rented properties, as far as possible, reaching the equivalent of EPC rating C,’ he told MSPs.

"That would improve those homes, reduce energy costs for tenants and
support the transition to clean heating."

On the issue of financial support, Allan told the Scottish Parliament that the Scottish National Party administration is investing a further £300m in its heat in buildings programme during 2025.

This, he said, includes "support to more than 20,000 Scottish households to save up to £500 a year on their energy bills".