Every route at a glance
Scheme status as read on 26 October 2026. A status is a dated reading, so check the scheme's own page before you rely on it.
| Scheme | Where | Means-tested? | Who applies | Towards a heat pump |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boiler Upgrade Scheme | England and Wales | No | Your MCS-certified installer, for the property owner | £7,500 for an air-to-water or ground source heat pump; £9,000 off the gas grid replacing oil or LPG, for applications made by 31 March 2027. £2,500 for air-to-air once installers are certified for it (none is yet). Applications close 31 December 2029. |
| Warm Homes: Local Grant | England only | Yes | You start on GOV.UK; your council decides | A heat pump can be part of a free whole-home package for an EPC D to G home |
| Home Energy Scotland grant and loan | Scotland only | No | You, after a call to Home Energy Scotland | Up to £7,500 grant for clean heating, £1,500 more in rural and island areas, plus an optional interest-free loan of up to £7,500. A replacement heat pump gets the loan only |
| Nest | Wales only | Yes | You, through Nest | A free package that can include an air source heat pump |
| ECO4 | England, Scotland and Wales | Yes | Through an energy supplier, an installer or your council | No set amount; what is offered varies by supplier. The work must be finished by 31 December 2026 |
| NISEP | Northern Ireland only | Depends on the scheme | You, to each scheme's Scheme Manager | Varies by scheme; the heat pump schemes named in the 2026/27 list were full as at 18 September 2026 |
Not heat pump grants, though often listed as if they were: Northern Ireland's Affordable Warmth Scheme does not fund heat pumps, and Northern Ireland's Home Heating Oil Support Scheme is a £100 card for buying heating oil.
Nation by nation
England
If you own the home and are replacing gas, oil, LPG or electric heating, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 towards an air-to-water or ground source heat pump, with no income test and no EPC rating needed. Off the gas grid and replacing oil or LPG, it is £9,000 for applications made by 31 March 2027. Your MCS-certified installer applies and takes the grant off the quote. Social housing and most new builds are excluded.
On a lower income, or in a lower-income postcode, the Warm Homes: Local Grant (England only) can fund a heat pump as part of a free whole-home package for an EPC D to G home. Owner-occupiers and private tenants qualify; you start on GOV.UK and your council decides.
Wales
If you own the home, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme applies in Wales on the same terms as England: £7,500 towards an air-to-water or ground source heat pump, applied for by your MCS-certified installer.
On a means-tested benefit or a low income, Nest (Wales only) offers a free package that can include an air source heat pump, if you own or privately rent the home and it is rated EPC E or below, or D or below where someone in the household has an eligible health condition. Ring Nest free on 0808 808 2244. Heat pump grants in Wales in full
Scotland
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not run in Scotland. The Home Energy Scotland grant and loan (Scotland only) does the job instead: up to £7,500 grant towards clean heating such as a heat pump, £1,500 more in rural and island areas, with an optional interest-free loan of up to £7,500 alongside. You must own the home and live in it.
A replacement heat pump gets no grant, only the loan, and air-to-air and hybrid heat pumps are excluded. You cannot apply direct: ring Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282 first. Funding is first come, first served within the financial year.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has no universal heat pump grant. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme covers England and Wales only, and the Affordable Warmth Scheme does not fund heat pumps.
Some NISEP schemes in Northern Ireland have funded heat pumps for priority households, through individual Scheme Managers. As at 18 September 2026, the two heat pump schemes named in the 2026/27 programme list, Green Heat NI's and McGaffin's, were full. The Utility Regulator publishes the full list of schemes and who runs each one.
What it costs after the grant
The middle half of air source heat pump installs paid under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in 2026 Q2 (April to June) cost £11,100–£15,600. With the £7,500 taken off, that is £3,600–£8,100. Source: Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) monthly statistics, England and Wales: July 2026 (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, published 27 August 2026).
The grant comes off the quote, so you never pay it to the installer. Citizens Advice: “It’s against the rules to ask you to pay the whole cost of the work including the BUS grant”, and that holds even with a promise to refund it later.
To compare quotes, ask each installer for the price before any grant and the grant they have assumed. Heat pump costs in detail
Air-to-air heat pumps
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has set £2,500 for an air-to-air heat pump in a home since 28 April 2026, but the grant needs an MCS-certified installation, and MCS says no installer is yet certified for air-to-air (read 26 October 2026). Anyone quoting on the basis that the grant covers it should show their certification for that technology first.
Talk to an MCS heat pump installer
In England and Wales the grant application comes from an MCS-certified installer. Energy Pages passes your enquiry to one installer certified for the work.
One matched MCS-certified installer will pick up the enquiry. No obligation, no pressure.
Independent information
Energy Pages is an independent information service, not the government, a delivery agent or an installer. Scheme details come from each scheme's own published rules and were last read on 26 October 2026. Schemes change; check the scheme's own page before you apply.