Does the Boiler Upgrade Scheme Pay for a New Boiler?

No. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not provide a grant for installing a conventional replacement gas boiler.

It is a grant scheme for low-carbon heating. It funds heat pumps, and biomass boilers in a narrower set of circumstances. If your gas boiler has failed and you want another gas boiler, the scheme has nothing to offer you — and it is worth knowing that before you spend time on an application that cannot succeed.

Why the name is so misleading

The scheme is named for what it replaces, not for what it installs. Its purpose is to move homes away from fossil fuel heating, and the boiler is the thing being upgraded away from.

Read that way the name makes sense. Read the way most people first encounter it — as a government scheme that helps with the cost of a new boiler — it does the opposite of what it says. It is the single most common misunderstanding in this area, and it is not the public’s fault.

What the scheme actually covers

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme applies to properties in England and Wales and supports:

• Air-to-water heat pumps — the common type that heats water for radiators, underfloor heating and a hot water cylinder.
• Ground source heat pumps, including qualifying water-source systems.
• Air-to-air heat pumps, which deliver warm air to rooms rather than heating water. These are eligible in residential properties only and attract a lower value.
• Biomass boilers, in limited circumstances, with additional location and air-quality requirements.

A higher grant value is currently available for properties off the mains gas grid that are replacing oil or LPG heating with an air-to-water or ground source heat pump. That uplift is time-limited.

The current amounts and the conditions attached to each are listed on our Boiler Upgrade Scheme page, which is generated from a single source of scheme data so that the figures stay current.

So there is no gas boiler grant at all?

Not under this scheme. A conventional gas boiler is a fossil fuel appliance, and the whole point of the scheme is to reduce the number of them.

Other forms of help exist in the UK for households in specific circumstances — energy efficiency schemes aimed at low-income households, local authority programmes, and support offered by some energy suppliers. Those are separate from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, they have their own criteria, and they change from time to time. We do not list them here, because pointing people at a scheme whose current rules we have not verified would be worse than saying nothing.

If you think you might qualify for support on income or benefits grounds, the place to start is your local authority and your energy supplier.

What if a heat pump is not realistic for you right now?

That is a perfectly reasonable position, and it is more common than heat pump advocacy tends to admit. A failed boiler in January is not the moment for a designed low-temperature heating installation.

If you need a boiler, you need a boiler. Two things are worth doing while you are at it:

1. Ask for the radiators to be sized generously. A boiler installed today can be run at a lower flow temperature, which improves its efficiency now, and it leaves the property far better placed if you do move to a heat pump later.
2. Think about the cylinder. If you are replacing a system boiler and cylinder, the decision to remove the cylinder entirely in favour of a combi is the decision that makes a future heat pump hardest.

Neither costs much at the time. Both remove obstacles later.

If you are off the gas grid, read this before deciding

The case is materially different for properties heated by oil or LPG. Running costs are higher, deliveries are a fact of life, and the scheme currently offers a higher grant value for these properties — an uplift above the standard heat pump value, available for a limited period.

If that describes your property, it is worth taking the comparison seriously rather than replacing the oil boiler by default. Our off-gas-grid heat pump grant page sets out the conditions and the deadline.

Common follow-up questions

Can I get the grant if I install a hydrogen-ready boiler? No. The scheme’s eligible technologies are heat pumps and, in limited circumstances, biomass boilers. A gas boiler described as hydrogen-ready is still a gas boiler.

Can I get it for a new-build? Most new builds are excluded. There are narrow provisions for certain self-build properties, which cannot claim the off-gas-grid uplift.

Does the money come to me? No. The scheme is installer-led: an MCS-certified installer applies for the voucher on the property owner’s behalf, and the grant value is applied as a reduction in the installation cost shown on your quotation and invoice. You do not receive cash.

Am I eligible? The main criteria are on our eligibility page, and the checker there walks through them. Final eligibility is assessed by the installer at application, not in advance.

In short

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is a heat pump grant with a confusing name. If you want a new gas boiler, look at our boiler replacement page. If you are open to a heat pump, the scheme may well be relevant, and the eligibility checker is the quickest way to find out whether it is worth pursuing.