Boiler Upgrade Scheme

You can get a £7,500 heat pump grant from October 2023

The average home will be able to save £2,827 over 20 years

90,000 homes will benefit

Homeowners in England and Wales will be able to get £7,500 off the cost of a new air
source heat pump or ground source heat pump – thanks to the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

However, because the scheme is only receiving £450m, a maximum of
just 90,000 homes will be able to take advantage of the grant over the next three
years.

That’s despite the Climate Change Committee (CCC) saying the UK needs to install 3.3
million heat pumps in existing homes by 2030 to reach net-zero.

How will the scheme work?

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme will operate on a “first-come, first-served basis,” with
customers having to rush to register their interest with air or ground source heat
pump installers.

Installers will then apply for the £7,500 grant on behalf of customers and
remove that amount from the heat pump’s price.

Are you eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme?

You can consider yourself eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme if you meet a few
simple requirements:

You must be a homeowner or small business owner

Your property must be in England or Wales

The building must have been issued an energy performance certificate (EPC) in the
past 10 years

You must follow one of the three EPC scenarios listed below

There are three valid paths to making sure your EPC is eligible:

Your EPC contains no recommendations for loft or cavity wall insulation

It contains one of these insulation recommendations, but you insulate your home
between applying for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and getting a heat pump installed

Your property has an EPC or insulation exemption – for example, this may be the
case if you own a listed building

If your property is a custom-built home, it won’t need an EPC to qualify, as you will
have had to follow the latest eco-friendly building regulations.

If you meet one of these requirements, you can apply for a discount on an air or
ground source heat pump.

How do you apply?

From 1 April 2022 until the closure of the scheme in April 2025, you’ll be able to apply
for a voucher for a heat pump installation, on a first come, first served basis.

After you receive the voucher, you’ll have three months to use it to install an air source
heat pump, or six months if you get a ground source heat pump installed.

After the installation has taken place, you’ll be able to redeem this voucher to reduce
the overall cost.

The government has said “this approach allows for a smoother and simpler consumer
journey, while maintaining certainty for installers.”

Does this make heat pumps affordable?

Yes. For 90,000 lucky homes, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme will reduce the average cost
of an air source heat pump from £10,000 to £5,000, making it cheaper than a new gas
boiler.

It also means that moving from a gas boiler to a heat pump will save them an average
of £2,827 over its 20-year lifetime.