The Boiler Upgrade Scheme, explained.

The £7,500 grant for switching from gas to a heat pump — what's covered, who qualifies, and the application gotchas no one mentions until it's too late.

What you can get

BUS grant amounts as of April 2026:

• £7,500 — air-source heat pump (ASHP)
• £7,500 — ground-source heat pump (GSHP)
• £5,000 — biomass boiler (only for off-grid rural properties)
• £2,500 — air-to-air heat pump (added late 2025 — new for many homeowners)
• £2,500 — heat battery (also added late 2025)

The grant is paid directly to your installer, not to you — so it's deducted from the quoted price upfront. You don't apply for it yourself; your MCS-certified installer handles the application on your behalf.

Who qualifies

The eligibility criteria are simpler than most grants:

• You own the property (homeowners and small landlords) — England or Wales
• The property has a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) issued in the last 10 years
• The EPC has no outstanding recommendations for loft insulation or cavity wall insulation (unless an exemption applies)
• The property is not a new build (with limited exceptions)

There's no income or savings test. A homeowner earning £200k qualifies on the same terms as one earning £25k. This is unusual for UK government schemes and is a deliberate decision to drive heat pump adoption broadly.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

BUS only covers England and Wales. Scotland uses Home Energy Scotland grants and interest-free loans (often more generous than BUS for low-income households). Northern Ireland has its own Affordable Warmth and Boiler Replacement schemes administered by the NI Housing Executive.

What air-to-air means and why it matters

Until late 2025, BUS only covered "wet" heat pumps — systems that heat water and deliver heat through radiators or underfloor pipes. Air-to-air systems (essentially reversible air conditioners) blow heated air directly into rooms, don't connect to your existing plumbing, and don't typically heat your hot water.

Adding air-to-air at £2,500 makes the technology accessible for properties where a full ASHP isn't practical — flats, smaller homes, properties with very tight installation footprints, or homes where the radiator system would need expensive upgrading. Hot water still needs a separate solution (usually a heat pump cylinder or immersion).

If you're trying to choose: a wet ASHP delivers a more complete solution (heating + hot water) and tends to have a higher SCOP, but air-to-air is far cheaper to install and may get you most of the running-cost benefit at a fraction of the disruption.

The MCS requirement

The grant is only paid out for installations done by an MCS-certified installer using MCS-certified equipment. This isn't optional. You can verify any installer's certification at mcscertified.com before signing anything.

MCS certification matters beyond the grant: it's also required for Smart Export Guarantee registration (if you're pairing with solar), and most insurers require MCS for warranty claims on heat pump installations.

Application gotchas

Things that catch people out:

EPC recommendations must be addressed

If your EPC says you should add loft insulation or cavity wall insulation, you generally need to do that first (or get an exemption — typically that the cavity isn't suitable, or the loft is already insulated to the latest standard despite what the EPC says). Otherwise the BUS application fails.

The grant covers part of a quote, not the whole job

A typical ASHP install runs £10,000–£14,000. After the £7,500 grant, you're paying £2,500–£6,500 — roughly the cost of replacing a high-end gas boiler. But if your installer quotes £18,000 because your radiators all need replacing, the grant is still capped at £7,500.

Get multiple quotes

Heat pump installation prices vary hugely between installers — sometimes by £4,000–£5,000 for the same job. The grant doesn't cap installer pricing, so getting at least three quotes is essential.

Radiator sizing is the hidden cost driver

Heat pumps deliver heat at a lower flow temperature than gas boilers (typically 35–50°C vs 70–80°C). For your existing radiators to deliver the same heat output, they may need to be larger. A good installer will run a heat-loss calculation room-by-room and identify which radiators need upgrading. A bad one will skip this and you'll end up with a cold house.

Combine with the 0% VAT

Heat pumps are also covered by the 0% VAT on energy-saving materials until 31 March 2027. The grant + VAT exemption together can take the cost of an ASHP from £14,000 (with VAT) down to around £4,000 net.

Will a heat pump actually save you money?

Honest answer: it depends.

• Replacing an oil or LPG boiler: yes, almost always — running costs typically drop 20–40%, and payback can be under 5 years even before the grant.
• Replacing a mains gas boiler in a well-insulated home (EPC C or better): yes, but more marginally — savings of £100–£300/year are common, with payback running 10–15 years on the incremental cost.
• Replacing a mains gas boiler in a poorly-insulated home (EPC D-G): tricky — running costs may go up, not down, unless you upgrade insulation alongside.
• Replacing direct electric heating: huge savings — often 50–60% off your heating bill — because a heat pump delivers 3-4 kWh of heat per kWh of electricity.

The variable that dominates is your home's heat loss. A leaky home demands more kWh of heat regardless of how it's produced, and at electricity rates higher than gas (about 4× per unit), inefficient heat pumps in inefficient homes can cost more to run than the gas boiler they replaced.

How to apply

You don't apply directly. The process:

1. Get an EPC if you don't already have one (£60–£120, lasts 10 years)
2. Get quotes from at least 3 MCS-certified heat pump installers
3. Choose your installer — they handle the BUS application
4. Installer quotes you the price net of the £7,500 grant
5. You pay your share; installer claims the grant from Ofgem

Funding is uncapped within the scheme's annual budget but allocated first-come, first-served. Practically speaking, this hasn't been a constraint in most months but is worth knowing if you're aiming for a peak season install.

Should you do it?

If you're on oil, LPG, or direct electric heating: almost certainly yes, and the maths is compelling even with imperfect installation.

If you're on mains gas with a working boiler in a well-insulated home: you're choosing between a £3,000 gas boiler replacement and a £4,000–£5,000 heat pump (after grant) that costs slightly less to run. The carbon argument is strong; the financial argument is finely balanced.

If you're on mains gas with a poorly-insulated home: fix the insulation first. A heat pump in an EPC F house will cost a fortune to run. Use our grants checker — ECO4 or Warm Homes Local Grant may cover insulation upgrades for free.

Updated 28 April 2026. Based on current Ofgem BUS guidance and 2026 grant rates. Always confirm current scheme details with your installer before committing.