Why there is no free heat pump for most homes
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays a fixed amount. Installations are not fixed. A bungalow with a cylinder already in place and radiators that are big enough needs very little beyond the heat pump itself. A four-bedroom house with a combi boiler, small radiators and a long pipe run needs a cylinder, several new radiators and more labour. The grant is the same for both, so the balance is not.
Air source heat pump
£7,500
A fixed deduction from the installer’s quote for an eligible air-to-water heat pump. The same amount whatever the installation costs.
Enhanced off-gas value
£9,000
For homes off the mains gas grid replacing oil or LPG heating. Also a fixed deduction.
For applications properly made by
The grant is one per property, applied for by your MCS-certified installer and taken off the amount you pay for installation. It is never paid to you.
What the balance is usually made of
The grant was designed around the heat pump and the work of fitting it. What is left to pay tends to be the parts that depend on the home:
- Larger radiators. A heat pump runs cooler water, so some rooms need more radiator surface. This is the biggest variable and the usual reason two similar homes get different balances.
- A hot water cylinder, if you have a combi boiler now, plus the space and pipework for it.
- Pipework changes, where existing pipes are too narrow for the lower-temperature flow.
- Electrical work: a dedicated circuit, sometimes a consumer unit change, occasionally a main fuse upgrade through the network operator.
- Controls and making good: the controller, any plastering or redecorating where pipes have been run.
We do not publish price ranges for any of these, because a figure that does not come from your own survey is not worth having. The quote has to show them.
What Warm Home Support says about the balance
Set by the scheme · Ofgem and GOV.UK
What the scheme sets
These decide whether the grant applies at all. They say nothing about the balance, which depends on the home.
- The Boiler Upgrade Scheme covers England and Wales only.
- The scheme is aimed at property owners, including homeowners, landlords and owners of business premises.
- The scheme supports replacing fossil fuel heating — gas, oil or LPG — or electric heating, but not an existing heat pump.
- Every scheme installation must be carried out by an MCS-certified installer.
Our service · not a scheme rule
How we look at what is left to pay
These describe how we look at an enquiry. They are not Boiler Upgrade Scheme requirements, and they do not change what the scheme itself allows.
- We help property owners and landlords. If you rent, the owner needs to be involved before anything can progress — we can explain what to share with them.
- We ask what heats the property now, what type of property it is and whether there is space outside for a heat pump before suggesting a next step.
- Where it looks appropriate, we can help progress your enquiry to an MCS-certified installation partner. Their survey decides what is actually recommended and installed.
- Depending on the property and the installation proposal, a customer contribution may be identified. The exact amount is confirmed after assessment, never before.
- Not every enquiry will suit our service, even where the scheme itself may apply. If that is the case, we will say so plainly.
In many of the homes we look at, the grant covers the heat pump and the work of installing it, and what remains comes down to the items above, most often the radiators. That is our experience of the enquiries we handle, not a rule of the scheme, and the only figure that counts is the one on a quote written after a survey of your home.
Who can get a heat pump fully funded
Two schemes can pay all of the cost for households that qualify. Both are means-tested, and neither is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
| Scheme | Where | Who qualifies | What it can fund | Until |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECO4 | England, Wales and Scotland | Households on a qualifying means-tested benefit, or declared eligible by their council (Flex), in homes rated EPC D to G | Insulation and heating, including some heat pumps, through an energy supplier’s installer | 31 December 2026 |
| Warm Homes: Local Grant | England | Lower-income households (benefits, income of £36,000 or less, or an eligible postcode) in homes rated D to G, where the council has funding | Insulation, solar and low-carbon heating through the council | Delivery runs to March 2028 |
| Nest | Wales | Owner-occupiers and private tenants on benefits or a low income, in poorly rated homes | Free improvements chosen after a home assessment, which can include a heat pump | No closing date announced |
Ofgem’s household guidance sets out who can qualify for ECO4, and GOV.UK’s guidance the Warm Homes: Local Grant routes. Our guide to the heat pump grant without benefits puts all the schemes side by side, and our Wales and Scotland pages cover the nations.
One heat pump, one source of public money
A property that has already had public funding for a low-carbon heating system is usually not eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and the same installation cannot be funded twice. If you may qualify for ECO4 or the Warm Homes: Local Grant, decide the route before any installer applies.
What the quote must show
The scheme makes this a rule, not a courtesy. The installer’s quote must show the total cost before the grant, the value of the grant, what you pay after the grant is deducted. The same deduction appears on the invoice.
A good quote goes further and itemises what makes up the balance: the cylinder, each radiator being changed, the electrical work. If a quote gives one figure with the grant somewhere inside it, ask for it to be broken out before you sign.
Installed heat pumps in homes currently have 0% VAT, until 31 March 2027. That should already be in the price.
Watch out for “free heat pump” offers
Some adverts promise a free heat pump to anyone. Three questions sort the genuine from the rest:
- Which scheme? If it is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, the grant is £7,500 and there is almost always a balance. If it is ECO4 or a council scheme, the household has to qualify. If no scheme is named, ask why.
- Is a survey involved? No survey means no real design and no real price.
- What is being financed? “Free” sometimes means the balance is on a finance agreement. That can be reasonable, but it is not free, and the total repayable and the APR should be in writing.
Nobody should ask you for a fee to reserve a grant, and the grant is never offered as cash. Our guide to energy grant scams lists the warning signs.
Next step
Answer the three checks on our Boiler Upgrade Scheme eligibility page. If they pass, a survey is the only way to find out what your own balance would be, and our step-by-step guide to getting an air source heat pump through the scheme shows what happens from there.
Check your property
Pick the grant you want to check. Three quick checks, then our team calls you back. It is free, with no obligation.
