A new Green Home Grant is essential if government is serious about meeting new carbon targets, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has said.
The countryside group said more than 800,000 rural homes were heated by oil, and would need to transition to cleaner sources of power such as heat pumps.
But the Energy Saving Trust estimates that it costs £19,000 to install one pump, with the annual bill saving of using the technology just £20 a year.
The comments come after the government announced a new climate change target to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035 based on 1990 levels.
Prior to enshrining its net zero commitment in law, the UK had a target of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050.
But the government now aims to achieve almost the same level 15 years earlier.
The new target will become enshrined in law by the end of June 2021.
Mark Bridgeman, president of the CLA, said rural homes and businesses needed a new Green Home Grant 'made available without delay'.
"If government does not help bring about a green transition for rural communities – which so often are first to suffer the impacts of climate change in this country – then we risk it never happening at all.
"A new, reformed scheme, properly thought through and adapted to serve the whole country, is required if the government is serious about embarking on a journey to net zero carbon emissions.”
