Boiler Upgrade Scheme FAQ

£7,500 is the standard grant for an air-to-water or ground source heat pump. £9,000 applies where the property has no mains gas connection and the heating being replaced runs on oil or LPG, for applications properly made from 21 July 2026 to 31 March 2027. Off-gas homes on electric heating, new builds and self-builds get £7,500. Source: Ofgem property owner guidance v5.1.

The installer. GOV.UK: “The installer will apply on your behalf on the Ofgem website.” You confirm consent when Ofgem emails you, within 14 days.

No. Ofgem pays the installer when the voucher is redeemed. The installer must deduct the grant from your quote and invoice upfront, so you pay only the balance.

3 months from approval for air-to-water heat pumps, air-to-air heat pumps and biomass boilers; 6 months for ground source. The installer must install, commission and redeem within that time or reapply. Source: Ofgem v5.1, 4.54.

Yes, if you take the grant. Ofgem says any existing fossil fuel heating system must be fully replaced and you cannot keep one alongside a grant-funded installation. That is also why hybrids are not funded.

Yes. GOV.UK says you must own the property, “including if it’s a business, a second home, or a property you rent out”. Landlords should tell their tenants about the installation. Social housing and shared ownership are excluded.

No. It funds heat pumps and, in limited rural off-gas cases, biomass boilers only. See what the scheme does not cover.

Hybrids, no. Air conditioning, only in one form: an air-to-air heat pump in a home that replaces the existing fossil fuel or electric heating can get £2,500 (since 28 April 2026). Cooling-only and portable units are not covered.

No. The insulation condition was removed on 8 May 2024, and a valid EPC stopped being required on 28 April 2026. If there is an EPC, the installer includes its reference; if not, other evidence is used.

No — England and Wales only. Scotland has Home Energy Scotland’s grant (£7,500, plus an optional interest-free loan of up to £7,500 and £1,500 more for rural homes). GOV.UK says Northern Ireland’s boiler replacement scheme has closed.

DESNZ’s median installed cost for an air source heat pump was £12,908 in 2026 Q2, leaving £5,408 after £7,500, or £3,908 after £9,000. Ground source: £27,232 median, £19,732 after £7,500. The Energy Saving Trust quotes around £12,000 for air source.

The government-funded Electrification of Heat trial (742 heat pumps) found no property type or architectural era that is unsuitable for a heat pump. Older homes may need larger radiators or insulation; the installer’s room-by-room heat-loss calculation decides.

Roughly level on a standard tariff. At the 1 October to 31 December 2026 cap, heat costs about 8.8p per kWh from a heat pump at SCOP 3 and 8.9p from a 90% gas boiler. It is clearly cheaper than oil (12.4p) or direct electric (26.3p). A heat-pump tariff or removing the gas standing charge tips it further.

Usually not in England. An air source unit on a house is permitted development within limits: one unit (two on a detached house), up to 1.5 cubic metres, meeting the MCS noise standard of 37.0 dB(A), not on a pitched roof, not on a listed building. Wales and Scotland have their own rules.

0% on installing a heat pump in a home until 31 March 2027, then 5% from 1 April 2027 (HMRC VAT Notice 708/6). Equipment bought without installation is standard-rated.

Applications close on 30 December 2029. Budgets are set each year — £400 million for 2026 to 2027 — and paid first come, first served; Ofgem showed £199,563,000 unallocated on 9 September 2026. The off-gas £9,000 band ends for applications after 31 March 2027.

Search the company on the MCS “find an installer” tool at mcscertified.com. The result shows the certification number, the technologies it is certified for, its certification body and whether it is “Boiler Upgrade Scheme Registered”. Then confirm its consumer code: RECC, HIES or MCS.

Raise problems with the installer first, then their consumer code (RECC, HIES or MCS). Ask before signing how your deposit is protected and what warranty covers the heat pump and the workmanship. Only the installer can ask Ofgem to review a grant decision, within 28 days.

Yes. GOV.UK says you are still eligible if you have already had funding to make the property more energy efficient. Previous government funding for a heat pump or biomass boiler is what rules a property out.

Probably. A self-build is eligible if you or the original owner built it or paid a builder to, and it has never been owned by a business or organisation. It can get £7,500 for a heat pump, but not the £9,000 uplift and not a biomass grant.