The Boiler Upgrade Scheme explained

How much is the grant?

The scheme covers England and Wales only. Scotland has separate funding through Home Energy Scotland, and the Northern Ireland scheme is closed. Installing a heat pump in a home in Great Britain is also zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027, so there is no VAT on the part of the bill the grant does not cover.

Who can get it?

You can apply, through your installer, if all of these are true.

• You own the property. That includes a second home, a home you let to tenants, or a building used for your business.
• The property is in England or Wales.
• You are replacing a fossil fuel heating system (such as gas, oil, LPG or coal) or an electric system that is not a heat pump (such as storage heaters, electric panel radiators or an electric boiler).
• The new heat pump can supply all of your space heating and hot water, on its own or with non-fossil supplementary heating, and is no bigger than 45 kW thermal.
• Your installer is MCS certified for heat pumps and a member of an approved consumer code.

You cannot get it for social housing (a former council or housing association home bought through Right to Buy counts as private and may qualify), for most new builds, for a property that has already had government funding for a heat pump or biomass boiler, or to replace an existing low carbon system. A heat pump installed alongside a gas or oil boiler, a fossil fuel hybrid, is not eligible. Our eligibility checker walks through these for your home.

What changed in April 2026?

Ofgem's version 5 guidance applies to applications properly made on or after 28 April 2026, and it changed several things that older articles still get wrong.

• A valid EPC is no longer required. If your home does have a valid EPC (the most recent one, no more than 10 years old), its certificate number must still be given. Without one, your installer supplies other evidence, such as a utility bill or fuel receipt from the last three months and photos of your existing heating.
• There is no insulation condition. The old rule that your EPC had to show no outstanding loft or cavity wall insulation recommendations was already removed for applications from 8 May 2024, so ignore any article that still quotes it.
• Air-to-air heat pumps became eligible, at £2,500.
• The installer must deduct the full grant from your quote before you pay anything, and must not ask you for, or accept, the grant amount.
• MCS became the sole certification scheme for installers.
• The scheme was extended to 2030. Under the regulations, the last date Ofgem can issue vouchers is 31 December 2029.

How does the application actually work?

1. Survey and quote. An MCS installer surveys your home, carries out a room-by-room heat loss calculation and designs the system. Your quote shows the full price with the grant already deducted.
2. The installer applies. They submit the voucher application to Ofgem with the property and eligibility details.
3. You confirm. Ofgem contacts you directly to confirm your identity and your consent, and that the installer is acting for you. Answer promptly, because the application is not complete until you do.
4. Ofgem checks eligibility and issues a voucher. For an air source heat pump it is valid for 3 months, for ground source 6 months.
5. Installation and commissioning. The system is installed, tested and signed off to MCS standards, and you receive an MCS certificate.
6. Redemption. The installer claims the grant from Ofgem, and you confirm you received it as an upfront discount. Ofgem pays the grant to the installer.

An installer may commission a system before the voucher is issued, but at their own risk: the application must then be made within 120 days of commissioning, and if the home turns out to be ineligible no voucher is issued. Ofgem strongly recommends that installers wait for the voucher first.

What does a heat pump cost once the grant is taken off?

Government statistics put the median cost of an air-to-water heat pump installed under the scheme at £12,908 for April to June 2026, including the part the grant pays, with the middle half of installations between £11,128 and £15,627. Adjusted for inflation, that is 11% lower than the same quarter of 2023. The median system installed in that period was 8 kW. Costs vary widely with the size of home, the number of radiators that change, whether a cylinder is needed and how complicated the pipework is.

Our own typical range for a 3-bed semi is £8,500 to £13,500 after the £7,500 grant, including the outdoor unit, hot water cylinder, controls, pipework, commissioning, MCS certification and the grant application. How we price sets out what moves a quote up or down, and the heat pump cost guide compares the options.

Who has to own the heat pump, and can you combine the grant with other help?

• Ownership: you must become the legal owner of the heat pump when it is installed. A heat pump supplied on hire purchase, conditional sale or consumer hire does not qualify.
• VAT: the zero rate on installing a heat pump in a home applies alongside the grant, until 31 March 2027.
• Other heat pump funding: a property that has already had government funding for a heat pump or biomass boiler cannot get the grant, and the heat pump itself must not have received any other public grant.
• Insulation funding: having had funding for energy efficiency work does not stop you getting the grant.

For a wider view of what is available in 2026, see home energy grants.

How many people are using it?

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes monthly figures. The release of 27 August 2026 covers the scheme to the end of July 2026.

Smart Energie is MCS certified and handles the application on your behalf. If you want to see what the scheme means for your own home, start with the eligibility checker or the retrofit planner.

Common questions