Red tape cut means homeowners could slash energy bills by £240 every winter

The government has removed one of the main stumbling blocks preventing millions of UK households from making their homes greener and more energy efficient - opening the way for more people to save around £240 every year on their energy bills.

Up until now, homeowners who wanted to reduce their heating system's energy consumption by installing a heat pump faced large installment costs, as rules requiring cavity wall and loft insulation stopped people from moving to the more efficient way to heat their homes. This could tack as much as an extra £2500 onto the cost of an upgrade.

New regulations in the government Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which provides money towards these green upgrades, removes this insulation requirement and opens the scheme to people in older properties that might not be as well insulated. The government initiative provides up to £7500 for households to replace their boiler system with a heat pump, which is 65 per cent more efficient than a gas boiler.

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The Eco Experts’ Senior Writer, Tamara Birch, said: “By removing the requirement to install cavity wall or loft insulation, families are given greater choice on how they improve their home.

"The government said by doing this, households will be able to spread out the costs of changes at a pace that works for them, but warns properties should still be well-insulated to keep costs down.”

Over the past year, applications for heat pump grants have increased by 75 per cent, with the two-year scheme already paying out around £127 million to more than 36,000 households to enable them to upgrade to a greener heat source. Unlike boilers, which typically last for a decade