Your Home Climate

Heat pumps · BUS grant5 min

Am I eligible for the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant?

Short answer

Most English and Welsh owner-occupied homes qualify for the £7,500 grant towards an air- or ground-source heat pump, provided the installer is MCS-accredited, the property has a valid EPC without outstanding insulation recommendations for lofts or cavities, and the system replaces fossil fuel heating. Scotland has an equivalent grant via Home Energy Scotland.

Evidence

  • Fact

    Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant for an air- or ground-source heat pump

  • Fact

    Home Energy Scotland grant for an air- or ground-source heat pump (Scottish equivalent of BUS)

  • Source

    Boiler Upgrade Scheme

    UK grant scheme for low-carbon heating technologies.

  • Source

    Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

    UK government department responsible for energy policy, including heat pump and grant analysis.

    Owns the scheme and publishes the eligibility rules.

Every number on this page resolves through our knowledge graph: Fact, Claim, Cost or Source. Nothing is asserted without a trail back to its origin.

Decision guidance

The grant is applied by the installer, deducted from the quote before you pay. You do not fill in a government form; the installer does the redemption. That means your eligibility gate is really your installer's diligence.

When this applies

  • The property is in England or Wales and has a valid EPC less than ten years old.
  • Any recommendations on the EPC for loft or cavity insulation have been addressed (or the property genuinely doesn't need them).
  • The heat pump is being installed by an MCS-certified installer, using MCS-listed kit.
  • The system replaces a fossil fuel system (mains gas, LPG, oil, electric direct heating). Coal is included.
  • You are an owner-occupier, small landlord, or eligible non-domestic property.

When it doesn't

  • New-build properties (unless a self-build with no first-fitted heating).
  • Social housing (a separate stream funds those routes).
  • Properties in Scotland; use the Home Energy Scotland loan and grant instead.
  • A hybrid heat pump installation; the scheme funds full heat pumps only.
  • EPC shows outstanding insulation recommendations that have not been resolved.

Practical detail

How the money actually reaches you.

The installer applies to Ofgem on your behalf, receives confirmation of the voucher, and deducts the £7,500 from the invoice before you settle the balance. You never touch the funds directly. A good installer will show you the voucher confirmation before commencing work; a nervous one will insist on payment in full first and refund later. The first arrangement is standard practice and worth insisting on.

The EPC gate is where most applications stall.

The scheme requires a valid EPC with no outstanding recommendations for loft or cavity insulation. If your EPC is out of date, book a new one before the installer surveys; the assessment takes an hour and costs around a hundred pounds. If it flags recommendations you haven't done, either fix them first or ask the assessor whether they still stand after any work you have done since the previous certificate.

Scotland and Northern Ireland are different schemes.

Home Energy Scotland offers a £7,500 grant plus an interest-free loan for the balance; the eligibility flow is broader than BUS and the assessment more hands-on. Northern Ireland has no direct national equivalent at present; check the NISEP scheme via your energy supplier for what is currently funded.

The full picture

Reference page

Heat pumps: the full decision

The full decision framework this guide sits under.

Related guides

See grants for UK homes

The full picture of what is currently on offer across BUS, ECO4, GBIS, HES and the Warm Homes Plan.