There are several routes by which heat pump readiness interventions could speed up heat pump adoption:

• Eliminating system barriers: Removing administrative delays (DNO approval, EPC requirement, and planning permission delays) will enable quick, “distress purchase” installations.
  • As heat pumps become more common, faster to install, and cheaper to run, more replacements will happen under time pressure when a boiler fails. In those cases, even small delays can be decisive. Removing these barriers could enable tens of thousands of additional distress purchase installations.
• Reducing friction: A homeowner takes some of the recommended actions, making their home more ready, and a future heat pump installation easier, faster and cheaper.
  • As with all solutions that target individual upgrades, it is difficult to predict, however, how home readiness will affect a decision to get a heat pump. Important factors – the cost of the heat pump and electricity prices – are often leading people to favour gas boilers. But for some households, removing a few hundred pounds of cost and several days of disruption may be enough to tip the decision.
• Increasing familiarity and confidence: A homeowner learns about heat pumps and the steps to get one, and is then more likely to consider a heat pump.
  • General awareness of heat pumps is still low. Giving guidance on the steps to install one could make people more likely to get a heat pump, even if they don’t implement any readiness steps.