Current status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 17 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that Scotland will remain at net zero emissions, should it achieve its legal target by 2045, in light of reports of inefficient heating measures in traditionally built homes.
My recent statement to Parliament confirmed that we intend to introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill in Year 5 of this Parliamentary session. This will create a target for decarbonising heating systems by 2045, and send a strong signal to homeowners, landlords and other building owners on the need to prepare for change.
We know that certain types of buildings might be more challenging to decarbonise, such as traditional and protected properties, for example. We will therefore ensure that any regulations we bring forward will provide suitable flexibility to account for this.
We continue to work with key partners, including Historic Environment Scotland, to support the best solutions to transition Scotland’s traditional buildings to be more energy efficient and to use clean heating systems while being sympathetic to their character and features.
We are investing over £300m in heat and energy efficiency programmes in 2025-26, including support for traditional properties.
We are also considering how we could provide for a more bespoke assessment of the technically-suitable energy efficiency and clean heating measures available for owners of traditional buildings.