New figures released from the Department of Energy and Climate Change show that the uptake of the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive has reached 21,932

The statistics from DECC also show that there has been a total of 6,244 new accreditations since April 2014, when the Domestic RHI was officially launched.

A breakdown of the figures showed that the Domestic RHI is mainly being used by homeowners but 8 per cent of all accreditations were to social landlords.

Paul Thompson, Head of Policy at the REA said:

"The REA welcomes the latest statistics for Domestic RHI accreditations which show that there is huge demand for affordable and low-carbon heating in UK households. It is encouraging to see that not only has the 20,000 accreditations milestone been reached but the rate of uptake is rapidly increasing. This is hopefully a trend that will continue"

DECC's statistics show that 75 per cent of the Domestic RHI installations are displacing fossil fuel heating in homes, making a significant carbon saving.

By 2050, emissions from heating will need to reduce significantly to meet the UK's goal of reducing emissions across the economy by 80%. In the shorter-term, heating also needs to make a contribution towards the UK's 2020 target of 15% of energy from renewable sources.