UK falling behind key European markets in home electrification – new LCP Delta Index reveals

As the latest energy crisis highlights the need to accelerate home electrification, data from LCP Delta’s Household Electrification Index reveals that the UK is trailing behind – ranking last of the 8 European countries included in the analysis and likely to remain there in 2030.

The index tracks the uptake of home EV chargepoints, rooftop solar PV, household batteries and space‑heating heat pumps across eight key European markets, representing around 70% of the continent’s housing stock (see chart below).

The Netherlands has emerged as the frontrunner, on track to reach nearly half of its household electrification potential by the end of 2030. However, the story is different for the UK.

The UK ranks bottom for space heating heat pumps and places sixth out of eight for both solar PV and household batteries. The one bright spot is home EV chargepoints, taking third place due to policies that encourage installation, including being the only country in the study to apply 0% VAT.

The UK’s current pricing and policy landscape are key drivers for the UK’s lack of progress. Despite the introduction of a Heat Pump grant, the UK’s particularly high spark spread of 4.6 – the highest in Europe – means electricity is far more expensive relative to gas, making the running cost of heat pumps challenging. In comparison, the Netherlands and Germany have adjusted their electricity and gas pricing structures to bring their spark spreads down to 1.6 and 3.3 respectively and have implemented legislation to speed up heat pump deployment in both new build and retrofit homes. However, even if this is addressed, high upfront costs and limited subsidies  could still hold back wider uptake in the UK.

Other key findings from the index include:

• The rate of electrification has been highest in the Netherlands, followed by Belgium and Poland.
• A significant acceleration in the electrification rate is needed in most countries to achieve full electrification by 2050 – Italy, the UK and Spain require almost a doubling of current rates.
• The current rates of electrification forecast for 2025–2030 imply that achieving full electrification is still decades away – in countries like Italy, the UK and Spain, full electrification will not be realised until after 2070.