Do you own the property?
The scheme is aimed at property owners — homeowners, landlords, second-home owners and owners of some business premises. Tenants cannot apply for a rented home.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme
Boiler Upgrade Scheme & Heat Pump Grants
Understand the current Boiler Upgrade Scheme, see which heat-pump grants may apply to your property, and request heating support without the jargon.
Final eligibility is determined under the scheme rules when an MCS-certified installer submits the application. Nothing here confirms that a particular property qualifies.
Where to start
Could the Boiler Upgrade Scheme help with your property?
Four questions that decide whether the scheme is worth looking into. None of them settles it on its own — but between them they rule most situations in or out.
Are you replacing existing heating?
The new system generally has to replace qualifying fossil fuel or electric heating, and the old system has to go entirely rather than staying as a backup.
Is the property in England and Wales?
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme currently applies to England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own separate support.
Are you considering a heat pump?
Different grant levels apply to different technologies and circumstances. What a property can get depends on both.
Preliminary check
See whether the scheme could apply to you
Seven short questions about the property and its heating. You will get a plain-English summary of where you appear to stand — not a yes or a no, because at this stage a yes would not be honest.
Your summary
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not cover this property
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme applies to properties in England and Wales. Other heating support may be available where you live — it is worth checking what your own nation offers before making a decision.
We can still help with general heating questions, boilers and heat pumps. Send us the details and we will come back to you about your property specifically.
This would need to come from the property owner
Boiler Upgrade Scheme applications are tied to whoever owns the property, and social housing is not eligible for the scheme at all.
If you rent, it is worth raising it with your landlord — they would be the one to explore it. We are happy to answer general heating questions in the meantime.
The scheme normally cannot fund this
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is designed to move properties away from fossil fuel and electric heating. It does not normally fund replacing a low-carbon heating system that is already installed.
If your existing system is not performing as it should, that is usually a service, repair or system-design question rather than a grant one — and one we can help with.
The higher off-gas-grid value may be relevant to your property
Your answers suggest the current £9,000 off-gas-grid value could be worth exploring. That is £1,500 above the standard £7,500, and it carries extra conditions.
All of the following would need to apply:
- The property meets the general Boiler Upgrade Scheme requirements.
- The property is off the mains gas grid, as the scheme defines it.
- The heating system being replaced is fuelled by oil or LPG.
- The new system is an air-to-water heat pump or a ground source heat pump.
This uplifted value is available for applications made up to 31 March 2027.
An MCS-certified installer has to confirm all of this and make the application. Nothing here is a confirmation that the grant will be awarded.
You may meet the main initial criteria
Based on your answers, it may be worth requesting an assessment. Your answers indicate that your property may meet some of the main Boiler Upgrade Scheme criteria — a qualified installer must confirm full eligibility.
The standard grant for an eligible air-to-water or ground source heat pump is currently £7,500, applied as a reduction to your installation cost rather than paid to you.
What this check is
A preliminary look at the main criteria, not a decision. Eligibility for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is assessed by Ofgem when an MCS-certified installer submits an application, and it depends on details that only a survey can establish.
Your answers have not been sent anywhere. Enquiry submission is not connected yet — to talk to us now, use the contact page.
Current values
What the grants are worth
Each figure belongs to a technology and a set of conditions. We show both together, every time.
£7,500
Air-to-water heat pumps
The standard grant for an eligible air source (air-to-water) heat pump.
£7,500
Ground source heat pumps
The standard grant for an eligible ground source heat pump installation.
£2,500
Air-to-air heat pumps
Residential properties only. Air-to-air systems are not eligible in non-residential buildings.
£5,000
Biomass boilers
Available in limited circumstances only, with additional location and air-quality requirements.
£9,000
Air-to-water or ground source heat pumps in eligible off-gas-grid properties
For properties off the mains gas grid that are replacing oil or LPG heating. Time-limited.
Available until 31 March 2027
Read more about Air-to-water or ground source heat pumps in eligible off-gas-grid properties
Grant availability and eligibility are subject to the current scheme rules. The value that applies to a particular property is confirmed by an MCS-certified installer when they make the application — these figures are what the scheme currently offers, not a quotation. The £9,000 value is £1,500 above the standard £7,500 and applies only to qualifying off-gas-grid properties replacing oil or LPG heating.
What the Boiler Upgrade Scheme actually is
It is a government scheme, administered by Ofgem, that puts money towards replacing fossil fuel or electric heating with a low-carbon system in England and Wales. The grant is applied as a discount on the installation rather than paid to you.
The technologies it covers are heat pumps — air-to-water, ground source and air-to-air — and biomass boilers in a much narrower set of circumstances. What a particular property can get depends on which of those is being installed, and on the property itself.
The scheme is installer-led. That word does a lot of work: it means an MCS-certified installer assesses the detailed eligibility, gathers the evidence and submits the application. There is no route for a property owner to claim the grant directly, and nobody should be charging you a fee to secure one.
Read the full explanation of the scheme, including what it does not cover.
How the process works
Four stages. Only the first one is yours to drive, which is the part most people find surprising.
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Step 1: Check whether your property may be suitable
Work out whether the main criteria look like they fit: where the property is, who owns it, what heats it now, and what you would be replacing it with. This is the stage our eligibility checker is for.
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Step 2: Get quotations from an MCS-certified installer
Every scheme installation has to be carried out by an installer certified under MCS. They will survey the property and confirm what it actually needs — which is also when real eligibility gets assessed.
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Step 3: Your installer applies for the voucher
The scheme is installer-led. The installer you choose submits the Boiler Upgrade Scheme voucher application to Ofgem on your behalf, with the supporting evidence. You confirm your details and give consent as part of that.
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Step 4: The grant comes off your installation cost
If the application is approved and the installation meets scheme requirements, the grant value is applied as an upfront reduction and shown on your quotation and invoice. The money does not come to you as cash.
Technology
Heat pump options
Three types, and they are not variations on a theme. The one that suits a property is decided by the building far more than by the grant.
Air source (air-to-water)
Heat from outdoor air, warming water for radiators, underfloor heating and a hot water cylinder. The common choice for UK homes.
Ground source
Heat from buried loops or boreholes. Quieter and steadier, but viability is decided by the site rather than the house.
Air-to-air
Warm air straight into rooms. No radiators and no hot water — a genuinely different product, at a lower grant value.
Everyday heating
Heating and boiler services
Not every heating question is a grant question. Most of them are about a boiler that needs attention.
Boiler replacement
When to replace rather than repair, and whether the same boiler type still suits the household.
Boiler repair
What common faults usually mean, and the safe checks worth making before calling anyone out.
Boiler servicing
The annual check that keeps a manufacturer warranty valid and catches faults early.
Boiler installation
Fitting a boiler where there was not one, or moving an existing one.
New boiler cost
What actually drives the price, and how to compare two very different quotations.
All heating services
Boilers, heat pumps, servicing, repairs and advice, in one place.
Living with it
A heating decision lasts a long time
Whatever you install now will still be there in ten or fifteen years. It is worth an afternoon of reading.
A heating system is not really a purchase — it is the thing that decides whether the back bedroom is usable in January, how much of the winter budget disappears, and what your options look like the next time it needs replacing.
Three questions are worth settling before anyone quotes: what the property actually loses in heat, what you want the system to do in ten years' time, and whether a grant changes the arithmetic. None of them takes long, and all three are easier to answer before a boiler fails than after.
Why homeowners use Warm Home Support
We are a young website and we are not going to pretend otherwise with badges and star ratings. What we can offer is that everything here is checkable.
- Scheme facts, with the qualifier attached
- Every grant figure on this site is shown with the condition it depends on. A number without its condition is the most common way people are misled about this scheme.
- Sources you can check yourself
- Scheme pages cite the GOV.UK and Ofgem guidance they are based on, and show the date the information was last checked. Where our summary and the official guidance differ, the guidance is right.
- No pressure, and no guarantees
- We will not tell you that you qualify, because eligibility is assessed when an installer applies. A tool that promised otherwise would be telling you what you want to hear.
- Plain English, including the awkward parts
- The scheme does not fund a replacement gas boiler. Not every off-grid property gets the higher value. We would rather say so on the homepage than at the end of a phone call.
Two things worth being clear about
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not pay for a new gas boiler. The name refers to the heating being replaced, not to what is installed. If you need a conventional replacement boiler, see boiler replacement — and our guide on why the name misleads people.
Not every off-grid property gets £9,000. The higher value applies where a property meets the scheme's off-gas-grid definition and is replacing oil or LPG heating with a qualifying heat pump. A capped mains gas meter, or existing electric heating, takes a property outside it. See the off-gas-grid grant.
Guides
Helpful guides
Longer reads for the decisions a service page cannot settle in a paragraph.
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Heat pumps
Air Source vs Ground Source Heat Pumps
How air source and ground source heat pumps differ in efficiency, installation, running costs and site requirements — and which suits which kind of property.
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Grants
Does the Boiler Upgrade Scheme Pay for a New Boiler?
No — despite the name, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not fund a conventional replacement gas boiler. Here is what it does cover, and what to do instead.
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Heat pumps
Heat Pump vs Gas Boiler: How to Compare Them
A fair comparison of heat pumps and gas boilers for UK homes — how each heats a house, what changes indoors, and the questions that actually decide it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme?
A government scheme administered by Ofgem that provides upfront grants towards low-carbon heating in England and Wales. The grant is applied as a reduction in the cost of an eligible installation rather than paid to the property owner.
Does it pay for a new gas boiler?
No. Despite the name, there is no grant under the scheme for installing a conventional replacement gas boiler. It funds heat pumps, and biomass boilers in limited circumstances.
How much is the grant worth?
It depends on the technology. Air-to-water and ground source heat pumps attract the standard value, air-to-air systems a lower one in residential properties, and biomass a separate value in limited circumstances. A higher value applies to qualifying off-gas-grid properties replacing oil or LPG heating, until 31 March 2027.
Do I apply for the grant myself?
No. The scheme is installer-led: an MCS-certified installer submits the voucher application on the property owner’s behalf, and you confirm your details and give consent as part of that.
Is Warm Home Support part of the government?
No. Warm Home Support is an independent heating-services website. We are not GOV.UK, Ofgem or a government department. The scheme itself is administered by Ofgem.
What if I just need a boiler repaired or serviced?
That is ordinary heating work rather than a grant question, and we cover it. See our pages on boiler repair, boiler servicing and boiler replacement.
Information sources
The scheme details on this page are taken from the official guidance below. Where our summary and the official guidance differ, the official guidance is correct.
- Apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme — GOV.UK. Scheme overview, geography and the heating systems it covers.
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme: what you can get — GOV.UK. Current grant values and the off-gas-grid uplift.
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme: guidance for property owners — Ofgem. Eligibility, the application process and the evidence required.
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS): installers — Ofgem. The installer-led application process and MCS requirements.
- VAT rates on different goods and services — GOV.UK. The 0% VAT position on qualifying energy-saving materials.
Scheme information last checked: . Based on Ofgem property owner guidance V5.1. Scheme rules can change — always confirm the current position with your installer or the official guidance before committing to anything.
Find out where you stand
A couple of minutes of questions about your property, and a plain-English answer about whether the scheme is worth pursuing.