How to use this page
The numbers and rules below come from Ofgem's BUS guidance and the scheme regulations, as read by Energy Pages. Energy Pages is not an MCS-certified installer — for technical advice on whether a heat pump fits your house, use your installer.
What is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme?
BUS pays a chunk of your install cost when you swap a fossil-fuel heating system for a low-carbon one. The fossil fuels in scope are gas, oil, LPG, and direct electric. The low-carbon kit in scope is heat pumps — air source (air-to-water), ground source, and air-to-air, in the regulations since April 2026 but not yet claimable — and biomass boilers.
England and Wales only — Scotland runs the Home Energy Scotland grant instead, Northern Ireland has its own schemes (heat pump grants in every nation). The grant is paid to your MCS-certified installer, not to you. They apply, they receive, they deduct it from your invoice. You see the discount.
What the grant pays
Air source
Air source heat pumps
An outdoor unit plumbed into your wet heating system — gov.uk also calls this an air-to-water heat pump. The most common BUS application.
- Works in most properties with outdoor space for the unit
- Lower install cost than ground source
- Less disruption to the garden
Ground source
Ground source heat pumps
Pipework laid in trenches or boreholes, drawing heat from the ground. Higher upfront cost, higher running efficiency. Water source heat pumps and those on a shared ground loop are funded at the same rate.
- Needs garden space for trenches, or a borehole drilling budget
- Higher install cost than air source
- More efficient across the heating season
Air-to-air
Air-to-air heat pumps
The newest addition, and not claimable yet: the grant needs an MCS-certified installation, and MCS says no installer is yet certified for air-to-air (read 26 October 2026). It heats the air directly rather than water, so there are no radiators and no cylinder — a route for homes with no wet heating system to replace, once installers are certified.
- Added to the scheme in April 2026
- Homes only — not eligible for a non-residential building
- Claimable once an installer is MCS-certified for air-to-air
Biomass
Biomass boilers
Wood pellet or wood chip boilers. GOV.UK sets three tests, and all must be met.
- The property is off the gas grid
- It is in a rural location, as Ofgem's guidance defines it
- The boiler has an emissions certificate
- Not in a self-build property
- You need dry storage for the fuel
- Sustainable fuel, but requires regular deliveries
Boiler Upgrade Scheme Eligibility
Check Your Heat Pump Grant Eligibility
What the Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays and the tests it sets, from GOV.UK and Ofgem's guidance
Key eligibility factors:
- Replacing gas, oil, LPG or electric heating
- England or Wales
- You own the property (owner-occupier, landlord, business premises or second home)
- +£1,500 on an air-to-water or ground source heat pump if on oil/LPG with no mains gas, until March 2027
Check your property against the live MHCLG EPC register to see your current band and the schemes you may qualify for — free, in under a minute.
Check your propertyWho can apply?
You must own the property you are applying for — as an owner-occupier, a landlord, or the owner of a business premises or second home — and the property must meet these tests:
Property
Property requirements
- Property in England or Wales
- Fossil fuel or electric heating system being replaced
- Not social housing (a business premises or second home can qualify)
- Not most new build properties
- Not already given government funding or support for a heat pump or biomass boiler
- No EPC rating requirement since 28 April 2026 (SI 2026/390)
Notes
Important notes
- No income restrictions
- Owner-occupiers and landlords eligible
- Must use MCS-certified installer
- One grant per property
- No grant for a hybrid system, such as a gas boiler paired with an air source heat pump
- No grant to replace a low carbon heating system
Talk to an MCS heat pump installer
The grant application has to come from an MCS-certified installer — there's no homeowner-facing form on Ofgem's side. Use this to start the conversation with installers who handle BUS applications as part of the job.
One matched MCS-certified installer will pick up the enquiry. No obligation, no pressure.
How the application works
Find your installer
MCS certification is the gate — only MCS-certified installers can submit BUS applications.
Grant application
The installer applies for the grant through Ofgem's portal before installation starts. Ofgem then contacts you directly to confirm the installer is acting for you and to take your consent.
Install and pay
The grant comes off the invoice. You pay the balance.
What can stop an application
- Timing. The heat pump must not have been commissioned more than 120 days before the application is properly made, so the application cannot wait long after the install.
- Your consent. Ofgem contacts you to confirm the installer and your consent: “If we do not receive your confirmations of the above within 14 calendar days, we may reject the application.”
- The installer's deadline. Once the application is approved, the installer has three months to complete the installation, or six months for a ground source heat pump.
- The system and the property. A hybrid system and a property already funded for a heat pump are outside the scheme, as the eligibility list above sets out.
Source: Ofgem, Boiler Upgrade Scheme information for property owners, read 26 October 2026.
There is no homeowner application form
You can't apply for BUS yourself. Only MCS-certified installers can submit applications through Ofgem's portal. If a website offers to "process your BUS application" without an installer on the other end, walk away.
What the quote should show
The median air source (air-to-water) install paid under the scheme in 2026 Q2 (April to June), from Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) monthly statistics, England and Wales: July 2026 (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, published 27 August 2026):
- Full price
- £12,900
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, deducted
- −£7,500
- What you pay
- £5,400
Off the gas grid and replacing oil or LPG, with an application made by 31 March 2027, the grant is £9,000 and the balance £3,900.
You never pay the installer the grant amount. Citizens Advice: “It’s against the rules to ask you to pay the whole cost of the work including the BUS grant”, even with a promise to refund it later.
To compare quotes like with like, ask each installer for the price before any grant and the grant they have assumed.
Common questions
How much grant can I get for a heat pump?▾
You can receive £7,500 for an air source (air-to-water) or ground source heat pump, or £5,000 for a biomass boiler. An air-to-air heat pump gets £2,500 once installers are MCS-certified for it; MCS says none is yet. Until March 2027 there is an additional £1,500 towards an air-to-water (air source) or ground source heat pump, not an air-to-air one, if the property is heated by oil or LPG and has no mains gas connection — £9,000 in total for those households. The grant is deducted from the installation cost, so you pay the reduced amount.
Who is eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme?▾
The scheme is available to homeowners and landlords in England and Wales, including for a business premises or second home, where a fossil fuel (such as oil, gas or LPG) or electric heating system is being replaced. There are no income restrictions and no EPC rating requirement. You must use an MCS-certified installer.
Can I apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme myself?▾
No, homeowners cannot apply directly. Only MCS-certified installers can submit applications through the official Ofgem portal. You need to find a certified installer who will apply on your behalf.
Other schemes worth checking
Open until 31 Dec 2026
ECO4 scheme
Energy-efficiency measures funded by energy suppliers, means-tested. Insulation, heating, sometimes solar. Still open, but every installation has to be finished by 31 December 2026 — not just started.
Learn more →Whole-home
Warm Homes Plan
The government's plan for upgrading homes, not a scheme you apply to. In England its council route is the Warm Homes: Local Grant — read the dedicated page for the current state.
Learn more →Wales
Wales energy grants
Nest is the Welsh Government's own scheme. BUS and ECO4 also apply in Wales. The combined picture is different from England.
Learn more →Ready for the next step?
An MCS-certified installer handles the £7,500 grant on your behalf. Find one, or read the heat pump guide first.