[buro9]

For where I live in London, ground heat pumps are infeasible and air heat pumps would produce too much noise and not be permitted under conservation area rules.

What most of the UK needs is an effective drop-in replacement to a combi boiler, ideally one that doesn't need a large water storage cylinder. It could even be a combination of a slow boiler (for radiators) and a fast water heating unit (for bath/shower/taps).

Any retrofit of air or ground heat pumps into Victorian terraces just wouldn't work or be acceptable.

The UK needs to replace millions of these style boilers https://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/products/boilers/directory...

As yet no comparable electric version exists at similar price, size, capability. This is where a govt can incentivise innovation to both create what we need, and then help it be deployed (first with a stick like banning things, and second with a carrot like helping those in poverty get it for cheap/free).

[martincollignon]

For dense, urban environment I think district heating should we the way to go. Works very well in Denmark!

[buro9]

Still unrealistic.

Requires land for the district heating facility, and then ripping up the road to lay plumbing, etc.

For the UK the solution is known: create and mass produce an electric alternative to the combo boiler.

The numbers required, and the time to fit them offers at least a decade of mid-skilled manufacturing and trades employment, as well as recycling opportunities for the old boilers (aluminium, steel, brass).

The cost can also be spread over time and you can start anywhere once the boilers exist.