The Boiler Upgrade Scheme changed on 21 July 2026. Since then, some households in England and Wales can claim £9,000 towards a heat pump rather than the long-standing £7,500.
That has been widely reported as “the heat pump grant has gone up to £9,000”. It has not — not for everyone. The headline grant is still £7,500. What has been added is a targeted £1,500 uplift for a specific group of properties, and it is time-limited.
Because we apply for these vouchers on our customers’ behalf, we would rather set out exactly who qualifies than let people budget for money they will not receive.
What the Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays right now
| Technology | Standard grant | With the off-grid uplift |
|---|---|---|
| Air source heat pump | £7,500 | £9,000 |
| Ground source heat pump | £7,500 | £9,000 |
| Biomass boiler | £5,000 | Not eligible |
| Air-to-air heat pump | £2,500 | Not eligible |
Ground source figures include water source heat pumps and systems on shared ground loops. Hybrid heat pump systems are not eligible for any grant.
Who actually gets the extra £1,500
You qualify for the uplift only if both of the following are true:
- Your property is currently heated by oil or LPG, and
- Your property has no mains gas connection.
Both conditions, not either. It also applies only to air source and ground source heat pumps — biomass boilers and air-to-air systems stay at their standard rates.
Two clarifications worth making, because we have already been asked both:
- Electrically heated homes do not qualify for the uplift. Storage heaters and electric boilers are not oil or LPG. You can still claim the standard £7,500, and switching from direct electric heating to a heat pump usually produces the largest running-cost reduction of any change we make — but the grant is £7,500, not £9,000.
- Being on mains gas rules you out of the uplift, not the scheme. Gas-heated homes remain fully eligible for the standard £7,500.
The deadline is the part to pay attention to
The uplift was announced on 26 June 2026, came into force on 21 July 2026, and is currently confirmed only until 31 March 2027. The scheme as a whole is funded to 2028, but the extra £1,500 is not guaranteed beyond next March.
A heat pump installation is not a same-week job. Between survey, design, grant application, any fabric work your EPC requires and the installation itself, a realistic timeline is several weeks to a few months. If you are off-grid on oil or LPG and want the £9,000, autumn is the sensible time to start rather than February.
Why this matters particularly in West Wales
The uplift is designed for exactly the housing stock we work in every week. Large parts of rural Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and the Gower peninsula have no mains gas connection at all, leaving households dependent on delivered oil and LPG at prices that are not covered by the Ofgem price cap and that move with no warning.
For those properties the case is unusually strong: the highest grant available, a fuel switch away from delivered oil, and — for homes with the roof space — the option to pair the system with solar PV and battery storage to cut the electricity you buy to run it.
The eligibility conditions that catch people out
- You must own the property. Homes and small business premises both qualify.
- You need a valid EPC with no outstanding loft or cavity wall insulation recommendations. This is the condition that most often delays an application. If your EPC flags insulation, that work has to happen first — though you may be able to fund it through ECO4 or the Great British Insulation Scheme. Self-builds are exempt from the EPC requirement.
- The new system must meet the property’s full heating and hot water demand and meet minimum efficiency standards. A heat pump sized to cover only part of the load will not pass.
- The installer must be MCS-certified and applies for the voucher on your behalf. You cannot apply yourself.
How the process works with us
We handle the grant end-to-end. We confirm your eligibility before you commit to anything, carry out a full heat loss survey, quote with the grant already deducted from the price you pay, submit the voucher application, and redeem it on completion. You can read the full detail on our Boiler Upgrade Scheme page, or see how the wider funding landscape fits together on our grants and funding page.
If you are not sure whether your property is genuinely off the gas grid, or whether your EPC will pass, that is a five-minute conversation. Get in touch and we will tell you straight — including if the answer is that you should wait.
