Labour must sort out confusion in heating sector

No one will pay more than necessary, even if it is for the environment.

That’s the view of Jacob Swei, Founder and CEO of air-conditioning company.

He said: ‘Net Zero is slowly gaining some traction. At the moment, 60 per cent of all carbon emissions in the UK are produced by commercial buildings.

‘And in the last two years, a lot of our clients, including government clients are coming away from carbon emitting products and using electrification.

‘But what seems to have happened with that now is it’s all been put on a hold because no one really knows what’s going on. And when you look at the residential sector with air to water heat pumps, the schemes are gone.

‘And the schemes that are there now are very difficult for contractors to actually use, so it’s stacked against them. So what you’re finding is people are just not going for it.’

Tax relief

Jacob said that businesses need incentive to adopt technological advancements.

‘Low carbon products are expensive, they do cost money. So for people to adopt expensive products, there needs to be a form of tax relief.

‘There used to be the enhanced capital allowance, which allowed companies to claim 100 per cent tax relief on these products. That’s gone.

‘And also, if you’re a property owner or if you are leasing a premises, if you have air conditioning or an air source heat pump installed, your commercial rates actually go up.

‘So that needs to be addressed if the government is serious about this. There should be some kind of relief rather than having to go down the gas alternative route.

‘At the moment, low carbon products cost two or three times more to run because of the cost of electricity versus gas. And electricity prices aren’t going down anytime soon so we really do need some kind of tax relief to go net zero.

Jacob told us that net zero is impossible without addressing cost issues.

‘It seems to be back to a race to the bottom. And when you use that phrase race to the bottom, that’s where poor quality products get installed and net zero gets ignored.

‘It’s going to be quite hard to persuade someone to use something that costs more to run, even in the name of the environment.’

Watch the interview below and check out Big Zero Show Online: 100 Days of Labour to keep up with the content this week.