Heat pump grants in 2026: the Boiler Upgrade Scheme explained

Heat pump grants are the single biggest lever on what a heat pump costs you, and in 2026 there is more money on the table than at any point since the scheme began. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 towards a heat pump in England and Wales, rising to £9,000 for homes heated by oil or LPG. You never handle the money yourself: it comes off your quote as a discount before you pay a penny. Here is what is available, who qualifies, and how it reaches you.

The short answer

In England and Wales, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump. If your home is off the gas grid and currently runs on heating oil or LPG, that rises to £9,000 between 21 July 2026 and 31 March 2027. You do not apply yourself and you do not wait for a refund. Your installer confirms your eligibility, deducts the grant from your quote, applies to Ofgem and is paid directly. Scotland has its own scheme; Northern Ireland has no direct equivalent.

How much is the heat pump grant in 2026?

The grant depends on the technology you install and, since 21 July 2026, on the fuel you are leaving behind. These are the values approved by the Secretary of State and published by GOV.UK:

• Air source heat pump (air-to-water): £7,500 as standard.

• Ground source heat pump: £7,500 as standard.

• Air source or ground source heat pump in an off-gas-grid home replacing oil or LPG: £9,000, for applications made between 21 July 2026 and 31 March 2027.

• Air-to-air heat pump: £2,500, but not claimable yet. See below.

• Biomass boiler, rural off-gas-grid homes only: £5,000.

A few points worth knowing. The £9,000 uplift is specific to oil and LPG: off-grid homes leaving coal, electric heating or another fossil fuel system still get £7,500. There is no grant at all for a new gas boiler, so the comparison with a boiler replacement starts £7,500 apart before anything else is counted. Air-to-air heat pumps are a separate case, and the section below explains why.

Air-to-air heat pumps: in the scheme, but not yet claimable

Air-to-air heat pumps, which heat and cool, were added to the scheme at £2,500 on 28 April 2026. That money is not available yet. A Boiler Upgrade Scheme voucher can only be raised against an MCS certified product, and no air-to-air units are listed on the MCS product directory. MCS has brought air-to-air into the scope of its heat pump product standard, but certification is not expected to open before late 2026, and manufacturers then have to put individual models through it and on to the directory before an installer can apply for anything.

So if you are weighing an air-to-air system against an air-to-water heat pump this year, budget on the basis that the £2,500 is not there yet. The £7,500 for an air-to-water air source heat pump is claimable today.

Who can get the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant?

Most owner-occupiers with a fossil fuel boiler qualify. The conditions are short:

• The property is in England or Wales.

• You own it. Homeowners, landlords and small business owners are all eligible, with one grant per property.

• It currently runs on a fossil fuel system (gas, oil, LPG or coal) or on electric heating that is not a heat pump.

• Your installer is MCS certified and belongs to an approved consumer code, either RECC or HIES.

• The property has not already had government funding for a heat pump or biomass boiler. Other support, such as ECO insulation funding, does not rule you out.

Two long-standing barriers have gone. Since the rule change on 28 April 2026 you no longer need a valid EPC in place to apply; where there isn't one, your installer supplies alternative evidence such as a recent bill and photographs of the existing system. And there is no insulation requirement to qualify, so outstanding loft or cavity wall recommendations no longer block a grant. Your installer may still advise insulation on its merits, because it lowers what the system has to work to achieve.

New builds are not normally eligible. Self-builds can be, if you or the original owner built the property, it has never been company-owned, and you can evidence it with the title deeds.

How do you apply for a heat pump grant?

You don't. Your installer does it for you, which is the part most people are surprised by. The process runs like this:

1. Get quotes from MCS certified installers. Three is a sensible number.

2. Your installer checks the property against the scheme rules and confirms which grant value applies.

3. The grant is shown as a discount on your quote, so the price you agree is already net of it.

4. Your installer applies to Ofgem for the voucher and carries out the work.

5. Ofgem pays your installer directly. Nothing passes through your bank account.

That means the quality of your installer decides how smoothly the grant lands. Ample handles the Boiler Upgrade Scheme application as part of every install we arrange, alongside the MCS certification and the compliance paperwork, so the grant is deducted from your figure rather than being something you chase.

What does the grant leave you to pay?

Across every Boiler Upgrade Scheme install in 2025/26, Nesta puts the median cost of an air source heat pump installation at £13,041, and notes it has fallen 11% in real terms since the scheme launched. Take £7,500 off the median and you are looking at roughly £5,500 to find. Off oil or LPG, with £9,000 available, closer to £4,000.

Read that median for what it is. It covers the unit, the installer's fees and the associated work the home needs, which usually means a hot water cylinder and often pipework or radiator changes. A heat pump install is a whole-system upgrade rather than a like-for-like swap, so it is not the same job as dropping a new boiler onto existing pipework, and it should not be compared like one. That whole-system work is also where the steadier warmth and the efficiency come from, not from the heat pump on its own. Our guide to how much a heat pump costs breaks the figures down in detail.

Grants outside England and Wales

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme covers England and Wales only.

In Scotland, the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan offers a £7,500 grant plus an optional loan of up to £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump, with an extra £1,500 grant for qualifying rural properties.

In Northern Ireland there is no direct equivalent. NI Energy Advice, run by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, is the place to check what support is available locally.

What else reduces the cost?

One thing worth timing. Installing a heat pump in a home is zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027, after which the rate returns to 5%. The work needs to be completed and invoiced before 1 April 2027 to keep the zero rate, so if you are weighing up when to act, that deadline sits alongside the £9,000 uplift on the same date.

How long will the heat pump grant last?

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is funded through to 2030, with its annual budget rising to £625 million in 2026/27, so this is not a scheme running out next spring. The £9,000 off-grid uplift is the time-limited part: it applies to applications made up to 31 March 2027.

The scheme has now supported almost 80,000 heat pumps in England and Wales since April 2022, 98% of them air source, including 30,600 air source systems in 2025/26 alone. It is well established and, as Nesta notes, has tended to underspend its budget rather than run dry.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the heat pump grant in 2026?
£7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump in England and Wales, or £9,000 if your home is off the gas grid and currently heated by oil or LPG, for applications made between 21 July 2026 and 31 March 2027. Biomass boilers get £5,000 in rural off-grid homes. Air-to-air heat pumps are listed at £2,500, but that grant cannot be claimed yet, because no air-to-air product holds MCS certification.

Do I get the grant money myself?
No. Your installer deducts the grant from your quote before you pay anything, then claims it from Ofgem and is paid directly. You never have to fund the full amount and wait for a refund.

Can I get the £9,000 grant?
Only if your property is off the gas grid and its current heating runs on oil or LPG, and you are installing an air source or ground source heat pump. Off-grid homes leaving coal, electric heating or another fossil fuel system get £7,500. Air-to-air systems are listed at £2,500 whatever the fuel, but that grant is not claimable yet.

Can I get a grant for an air-to-air heat pump?
Not yet. Air-to-air heat pumps were added to the scheme at £2,500 on 28 April 2026, but a voucher can only be raised against an MCS certified product and none are listed on the MCS product directory. MCS certification for air-to-air is not expected before late 2026, and individual models have to pass through it before any installer can apply.

Do I need a valid EPC or insulation to qualify?
Neither, as of the 28 April 2026 rule change. Where there is no valid EPC your installer provides alternative evidence of the existing heating system. Outstanding insulation recommendations no longer block a grant, though insulation is often still worth doing on its own merits.

Can I get the grant if I already have a heat pump?
No. The scheme is for moving off a fossil fuel system or non-heat-pump electric heating, so replacing an existing heat pump is not eligible.

Is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme available in Scotland or Northern Ireland?
No. Scotland has the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan, worth a £7,500 grant plus an optional loan of up to £7,500, with £1,500 more for qualifying rural homes. In Northern Ireland there is no direct equivalent; contact NI Energy Advice.

How long will the Boiler Upgrade Scheme last?
It is funded to 2030. The higher £9,000 grant for off-grid oil and LPG homes is the time-limited element and runs to 31 March 2027.

See what the grant means for your home

The grant values are set nationally. What matters is the number at the bottom of your quote once yours is applied. Get an instant estimate in three minutes, with no survey and no obligation. When you want to go further, the Ample Heat Pump Plan covers you from first call to feet-up, with the grant application, the install, the servicing and the compliance handled by one company. If you are coming off oil, our guide to replacing an oil boiler is the place to start.