Households replacing a gas boiler this winter may pay more for the same box on the wall. That is not because copper or labour jumped overnight. It is because manufacturers who sell gas boilers in volume now have to buy or generate “clean heat” credits under the Clean Heat Market Mechanism.
The scheme started on 1 April 2025. For the year running to 31 March 2027 the target is 8% of qualifying gas-boiler sales above a high threshold. Miss it and there is a penalty. Baxi has already said it put a surcharge on residential boilers to cover that risk. Trade coverage this month has put a possible extra in the region of £120 to £300 on a new boiler. That figure is an industry warning, not a line item printed by the Treasury on your quote.
At the same time the state already pays large grants to push heat pumps. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme in England and Wales is £7,500 off an air-to-water or ground-source heat pump, and £9,000 for some off-gas-grid homes until March 2027. That money comes from tax. People who keep a gas boiler — because the house, the radiators or the budget will not take a heat pump — still help pay for those grants, then face a manufacturer levy on the boiler they actually need.
We fit and service gas boilers in Marlow. We are not going to pretend a heat-pump grant is a gas-boiler grant. It is not. If a client asks about grants we will say what the scheme actually funds. If they need a replacement combi this winter, the honest conversation is the installed price, the warranty and a Gas Safe registration — plus the fact that policy is loading extra cost onto the appliance most homes here still use.
Get more than one quote. Ask what is in the price. A yearly service still keeps most guarantees intact and is cheaper than bringing the swap forward because a bill looks ugly.
For a straight replacement or service quote, call 01628 901902.