The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) is the government grant that pays a large slice of the cost of replacing a fossil fuel heating system with a heat pump in England and Wales. It's funded until 2028, administered by Ofgem, and — the part most people don't realise — you never apply for it yourself. Your MCS-certified installer applies on your behalf and takes the grant off your bill. This page is the plain-English version of the rules as they stand in 2026, kept current because they changed twice this year.
What the Grant Pays in 2026
| System | Grant | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Air source heat pump (air-to-water) | £7,500 | The standard route for most homes |
| Air/ground source — oil or LPG home | £9,000 | From 21 Jul 2026 to 31 Mar 2027 |
| Ground source heat pump | £7,500 | Incl. shared ground loops; £9,000 if replacing oil/LPG |
| Air-to-air heat pump | £2,500 | New from April 2026; homes only |
| Biomass boiler | £5,000 | Rural, off-gas-grid properties only |
The air-to-air route carries its own fine print — one voucher per home, no hot water provision, cooling included — unpacked properly in our £2,500 air-to-air grant guide.
The 2026 headline is the oil and LPG uplift: from 21 July 2026, homes currently heated by oil or LPG get £9,000 instead of £7,500 — the government's push to move off-gas-grid homes, which describes half the villages around Aylesbury and Buckingham, onto cheaper-to-run heating while the funding lasts. It's temporary, expected to close at the end of March 2027. If that's you, our oil boiler replacement page covers the whole journey including what happens to your tank.
Who Qualifies — In Plain English
You qualify if you can answer yes to all five of these:
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You own it
Your home, a second home, or a property you let to tenants. Owner-occupiers, landlords and self-builders all qualify. Social housing and most new builds don't.
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It's in England or Wales
Scotland and Northern Ireland run separate schemes with different rules and amounts.
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You're replacing a real heating system
A gas, oil or LPG boiler, or electric heating such as storage heaters. The old system is fully removed — no keeping the boiler "just in case".
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Your EPC is valid
A certificate less than ten years old, with no outstanding recommendations for loft or cavity wall insulation. Other recommendations — solid wall, floor, glazing — don't matter for the grant.
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Your installer is MCS-certified
That's the certification that lets us apply for the voucher and is checked at redemption. Ours is [MCS-XXXXXX].
Notice what's not on the list: there's no income test, no benefits requirement, no age limit and no house-value cap. The BUS is often confused with means-tested schemes like ECO4 — different scheme, different rules. If someone's told you that you "don't qualify for the free boiler scheme", that says nothing about your BUS eligibility.
How We Apply on Your Behalf
The scheme is installer-led by design — Ofgem deals with us, not you. In practice:
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Survey & eligibility check
At your free heat loss survey we confirm the five conditions above and check your EPC on the register there and then.
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Quote with grant deducted
Your fixed quote shows the full price, the grant, and the net amount — the only number you ever pay.
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Voucher application
When you accept, we apply to Ofgem. You get one email asking you to confirm we're acting with your consent — click it and you're done. Vouchers are typically issued within days.
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Install & redeem
Vouchers are valid for three months for air source systems — comfortably longer than any install takes. We commission the system, redeem the voucher, and Ofgem pays us the grant directly.
Timing note for oil and LPG homes: the £9,000 rate applies to vouchers from 21 July 2026. Get surveyed and quoted now, and we submit your application the moment the uplift opens — first in the queue, nothing lost to the wait.
What the Grant Does and Doesn't Cover
Covered — the complete heat pump installation: the unit itself, hot water cylinder, radiator upgrades in the system design, pipework, controls, electrical work, commissioning and MCS registration. In other words, everything on a properly written quote. Not covered — insulation works needed to clear your EPC (loft top-ups typically cost a few hundred pounds and we can point you to local installers), decorative making-good beyond the standard finish, unrelated plumbing you add to the job, and running costs. The grant also can't be stacked with another government grant for the same heat pump — one funding route per system.
Two costs people expect and don't get: there's no application fee and no repayment — the BUS is a grant, not a loan, and it never appears on your property title or your tax return.
The Grant Stacks with 0% VAT
Separately from the BUS, heat pump installations carry 0% VAT until March 2027 — a saving already inside every price on this site. Together the two policies mean a £12,000 gross installation for an oil-heated home costs £3,000 net: the same job would have been over £14,000 with VAT and no grant three years ago (worked scenarios in our cost guide). This is, without exaggeration, the cheapest a properly installed heat pump has ever been in England — and both policies have end dates.
The Dates That Matter
The scheme's moving parts all carry deadlines, so here's the calendar in one place. April 2026: air-to-air heat pumps became eligible for the first time, at £2,500. 21 July 2026: the £9,000 rate opens for oil and LPG homes — applications from this date, not installations already underway on the old rate. 31 March 2027: the £9,000 uplift is expected to close, and the 0% VAT relief is currently scheduled to end at the same time. 2028: the scheme's overall funding commitment runs out unless renewed. Rules have changed twice this year already; we update this page when they change again, and your quote always states the grant rate that actually applies to you.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme Questions
Do rental properties and second homes really qualify?
Yes — the owner applies (through us) exactly as an owner-occupier would. Landlords replacing failing oil boilers in village lets are among the biggest winners from the £9,000 uplift: the grant covers most of the job and the EPC improvement helps with letting rules.
My EPC has expired or the house has never had one — now what?
You need a current EPC to apply, and getting one costs £60–£120 and takes about a week. If the new certificate flags loft or cavity insulation, clear those first. We check the EPC register at the survey and tell you exactly where you stand before anything is committed.
Can I get a hybrid system — heat pump plus boiler — on the grant?
No. Hybrids are excluded because the fossil fuel boiler stays. The scheme funds full replacements only, which is also our engineering preference: a correctly sized heat pump doesn't need a boiler behind it.
Am I locked in once a voucher is issued to one installer?
The voucher is tied to the installer who applied, but you're not trapped — if you change your mind before installation, the voucher is cancelled and your new installer applies afresh. Get your quotes before anyone applies; any installer who pressures you to "secure the voucher today" is using Ofgem as a sales tactic.
Could the money run out before I get mine?
The scheme has an annual budget and it has come under pressure in busy years. Funding is committed through 2028, but the £9,000 uplift window is nine months and demand in oil-heated areas will be heaviest exactly here. Practical advice: don't panic, but don't book your survey in November either.
Is there anything for households on benefits?
Possibly more, not less. Means-tested schemes (ECO4 and its successors) can fund heating and insulation up to fully free for qualifying households, and they're separate from the BUS. If you might qualify, tell us at the survey — we'll point you at the better route rather than quote you for the worse one.
Find Out What Your Home Gets
Five eligibility conditions, one free survey, zero forms. We'll confirm your grant — £7,500, £9,000 or £2,500 — and put it in writing on a fixed quote for an air source, oil replacement or air-to-air installation.