LONDON, 27 October 2026 — The public wants energy Britain can rely on, and one of the surest routes to energy security is helping households to break free from gas dependency, local leaders said today, as new government figures show demand for energy security rising sharply on the eve of the Budget.

The DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker, published today and carried out among 3,242 people in July and August, found that the importance people place on the UK becoming self-sufficient in energy has jumped in a year: 78% now rate it as highly important, up from 69% in summer 2025. Nine in ten (92%) are concerned about steep rises in energy prices in the years ahead.

Homegrown energy increasingly means clean electricity: four in five people (79%) support renewable energy, and the government is aiming for clean power by 2030. Electrifying heat is how households share in that security. Every gas boiler replaced by a heat pump is one less home exposed to international gas prices.

People know change is coming, but not how

On the back of several years of gas price volatility and rising bills, almost nine in ten people (88%) recognise that the way we heat our homes will need to change, up from 84% in the spring. Yet only 39% say they know a fair amount or a lot about it, a level that has barely moved since tracking began in 2021. Half (51%) want to know more about the most effective ways to cut energy use at home, rising to 61% of private renters.

And when it comes to getting free from gas, without support and policy certainty, undecided households are being lost. In 2021, 39% of homeowners said they did not know enough to decide whether to install an air source heat pump; that has fallen to 19%, but most have moved to saying they are unlikely to install one (up from 35% to 47%). DESNZ’s own research shows support shifts the dial: cutting the upfront cost of a heat pump by £1,000 lifts demand by around 10 percentage points. And 91% of people who have used the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme are satisfied, while demand for local authority schemes is outstripping the funding available.

Demand outstrips the support, and the signals keep changing

Councils bid for £1.7 billion of Warm Homes: Local Grant funding and were granted £500 million to 2028. Schemes from York to Sheffield, Lewisham and Cambridge are paused, oversubscribed or rationing by need, as UK100 members said earlier this month.

For the second Budget in a row, ministers are reportedly considering cuts to heat pump grants, in November 2025 and again this month. Last November the grants survived, and in July the grant rose to £9,000 for homes heated by oil. Meanwhile, the Clean Heat Market Mechanism, which requires boiler manufacturers to sell a growing share of heat pumps, has been delayed by a year and the charge for each missing heat pump cut from £3,000 to £500. A government consultation closing on 8 November proposes keeping the lower rate until 2031.

Who gets left behind

The Public Attitudes Tracker shows those who are getting left behind by the current situation. Among homeowners, 37% earning £45,000 or more already have, or are likely to install, an air source heat pump, compared with 21–22% of those earning under £30,000. More than half of renters (54%) say a new heating system is not their decision to make. A quarter of renters (26%) are very worried about paying their energy bills, twice the rate among homeowners (13%), and 23% of renters pay through a prepayment meter, against 3% of homeowners.

Christopher Hammond, chief executive of UK100, said:

“People want energy Britain controls, and energy security starts at home. Every home that stops leaking heat and moves away from gas represents energy we no longer have to buy and import from volatile international markets.

“People recognise a change in the way we heat our homes is needed. What they are missing is someone they trust to help and support them fairly. Without it, heat pumps stay out of reach for lower earners and renters.

“Councils have shown the demand is there, with schemes oversubscribed from York to Sheffield. Tomorrow the Chancellor can keep us on the right path and protect the Warm Homes Plan. Put it in local hands and fund the people who deliver it, so that the families on those waiting lists get help sooner.”

What UK100 is asking for at the Budget

• Protect it. Commit to fully funding the Warm Homes Plan, including allocating the remaining £3 billion of its low-income budget to strategic and local government and social housing delivery partners, with multi-year certainty.
• Devolve it to every postcode. Make good on the promise to devolve the Warm Homes Plan, with area-based, non-competitive, multi-year funding that reaches every local leader, not only mayoral areas.
• Staff it. Pair capital with revenue funding for the local staff and trusted advice that turn money into upgraded homes.

ENDS

More information: Liam Ward, UK100, media@uk100.org

Christopher Hammond is available for interview, and UK100 can put journalists in touch with local leaders delivering Warm Homes schemes.

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Notes to editors

About the survey

DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker, Summer 2026, published 27 October 2026. Fieldwork 7 July to 12 August 2026; 3,242 UK adults aged 16 and over (Verian, push-to-web). Figures are as published by DESNZ; income figures refer to annual personal income.

Energy self-sufficiency, reliable supply and price concerns: energy infrastructure and energy security report. In 2026 DESNZ relabelled the end points of the 0 to 10 importance scale; DESNZ reports the change against 2025.

Heating awareness, heat pumps and income: heat and energy use in the home report. Heat pump trends for owner-occupiers, Winter 2021 to Summer 2026, are from the published time series.

Bills, prepayment and wanting to know more: energy bills and tariffs report.

DESNZ research on heat pump uptake

Impact of heat pump costs on uptake; Evaluation of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, 2026.

Heat pump grants

Reported cuts ahead of the November 2025 Budget: The Guardian, 13 November 2025. Grant raised to £9,000 for homes heated by oil from 21 July 2026: GOV.UK, 26 June 2026. Reported cuts ahead of this Budget: The Guardian, 12 October 2026.

Clean Heat Market Mechanism

Charge per missing heat pump set at £3,000 in November 2023 (government response); start delayed from April 2024 to April 2025 (Carbon Brief, 15 March 2024); charge reduced to £500 for the first scheme year. The current consultation on scheme years 3 to 6 proposes keeping £500 and closes on 8 November 2026.

About the funding figures

Councils bid for £1.7 billion of Warm Homes: Local Grant funding and were granted £500 million to 2028 (i Paper, September 2026). Local schemes: UK100 release, 12 October 2026.

UK100’s three tests

For the devolved Warm Homes Plan: protect the funding at the Budget, reach every postcode, and invest in the people who deliver it (UK100, 29 September 2026). The remaining £3 billion ask follows the Renew Our Neighbourhoods coalition, of which UK100 is an active member.

About UK100

UK100 is the only network of ambitious strategic and local authorities led by all political parties working together to tackle climate change. We help local leaders overcome challenges and turn innovation into solutions that work everywhere. We build the case for the powers needed to make change happen. From cities to villages, we help communities across the UK create thriving places powered by clean energy, with fresh air to breathe, warm homes to live in, and a healthy natural environment. UK100.org

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