Boiler Upgrade Scheme: Do You Qualify for the £7,500 Grant?

If you are thinking about swapping your gas boiler for a heat pump, the single biggest thing standing between you and a much smaller bill is a government grant called the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. In 2026 it pays £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump, and the money comes straight off your quote rather than landing in your bank account months later. The catch is that not every home and not every situation qualifies, so here is the plain-English version of who gets it and how it works.

Adam here. I co-founded Eco Heat Surge, and I have personally surveyed and fitted heat pumps across South Yorkshire. This guide walks through the grant the way I would explain it on a survey visit, with the rules taken straight from the official sources so nothing here is guesswork.

What is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and what do you get?

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is a government grant, run by Ofgem, that helps cover the cost of replacing a fossil fuel heating system with a low-carbon one. It is open to homes and small non-domestic buildings in England and Wales.

The amount depends on what you are fitting.

For most South Yorkshire homes the relevant figure is the £7,500 towards an air source heat pump, which is the type that suits the majority of properties. If your home runs on oil or LPG and has no mains gas connection, gov.uk lists an extra £1,500 on top until March 2027, bringing an air source heat pump grant to £9,000. You can see the current amounts on the government's Boiler Upgrade Scheme page.

Who is eligible? The rules in plain English

The scheme has a handful of clear conditions. To qualify, broadly:

• Your property is in England or Wales. Scotland runs its own separate scheme.
• You own the property. It can be your home or a small non-domestic building. Landlords can apply for properties they own.
• You are replacing a fossil fuel system. That means gas, oil, electric or LPG heating. The grant is for switching away from those, not for replacing an existing heat pump.
• It is not a new-build. New-build homes are excluded. Self-builds are eligible, as long as the property has not been lived in before and does not already have a heating system.
• The system is within the size limit. The new heat pump must have a capacity of up to 45kW, which comfortably covers normal domestic properties.

There is also a one-grant-per-property rule, so a home that has already used the scheme cannot claim again.

The EPC question, and what it really means

This is the part that trips people up, partly because the rules have shifted over time, so it is worth being precise.

You will generally need a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for the property, and its certificate number gets provided as part of the application. Your EPC includes a section suggesting improvements, and things like loft or cavity wall insulation often appear there.

Here is the honest position: good insulation genuinely helps a heat pump perform at its best, because a heat pump works by moving gentle warmth around a well-sealed home rather than blasting out heat like a gas boiler. So while sorting out obvious insulation gaps is sensible, treat it as getting the best from your investment rather than assuming a single EPC note automatically blocks you. Because the detail here changes, always confirm your own position against the official Ofgem guidance for property owners or ask your installer to check before you commit.

How the grant is actually paid

This is the reassuring bit. You do not fill in a government form, wait for approval, or pay the full price and claim the money back later.

The grant can only be applied for by an installer who is certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). That certified installer applies for the voucher through Ofgem on your behalf, and the £7,500 is simply taken off the price. It shows up as a deduction on your quotation and again on your final invoice, so you only ever pay the reduced figure. In practice, the grant is handled for you rather than by you, which is how it should be.

The important takeaway: to claim the grant, the company fitting your heat pump has to hold MCS certification. You can check whether a firm is certified using the official MCS find an installer tool.

The application process, step by step

For a scheme with £7,500 attached, the process is refreshingly simple from your side. Here is how it usually unfolds:

1. Get a survey and quote. An MCS-certified installer visits, checks your home is suitable, sizes the heat pump and gives you a written quote with the grant already shown as a deduction.
2. Sort your EPC. If you do not already hold a valid Energy Performance Certificate, you will need one, as its number forms part of the application.
3. The installer applies to Ofgem. Once you go ahead, the certified installer requests the grant voucher on your behalf. You do not deal with Ofgem yourself.
4. Your heat pump is installed. The work is carried out and commissioned to MCS standards, which is what keeps the grant valid.
5. The grant is deducted. The £7,500 comes off your bill, shown on your final invoice, so you only ever pay the reduced amount.

The whole thing is designed so the money is handled behind the scenes. Your job is really to choose the right system and the right installer.

Why applications get delayed or turned down

Most refusals come down to a handful of avoidable issues. It is worth knowing them before you start:

• No valid EPC in place. Without one, the application cannot proceed, so this is the first thing to check.
• The property is a new-build. Only genuine self-builds qualify; a standard new-build home does not.
• You are not replacing a fossil fuel system. The grant is for switching away from gas, oil, electric or LPG, not for swapping one heat pump for another.
• The installer is not MCS certified. Only a certified installer can apply, so a cheaper quote from a non-certified firm can cost you the entire grant.
• The system falls outside the rules. Sizing above the capacity limit, or a property that does not meet the conditions, will stop an application.

Get those right and, for most existing South Yorkshire homes on gas, the application is straightforward.

What it means for a South Yorkshire home

Grants aside, the honest question is whether a heat pump suits your specific home. After fitting these around Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster, the pattern I see is straightforward. Homes that are reasonably insulated, with room for slightly larger radiators or underfloor heating, tend to do really well on a heat pump. Older, draughty, solid-wall properties can still work, but they usually need more thought about insulation and emitter sizing first, or the running costs disappoint.

A heat pump runs at lower flow temperatures than a gas boiler, so the existing radiators sometimes need upsizing to give out the same warmth. That is normal, and a proper survey works it out room by room. It is why heat pumps are always survey-led rather than priced off a page, and why the state of your central heating system matters as much as the grant.

Is a heat pump right for your home?

The grant makes the sums far more attractive, but it should not be the only reason you switch. If you want a genuinely balanced view of the running costs, the winter performance, and whether your home is a sensible candidate, we wrote a longer piece on whether a heat pump is worth it in South Yorkshire that goes through it without the sales spin.

Where we come in is the honest first step. We will survey your home, size the system properly, and tell you plainly whether a heat pump makes sense for you or whether a modern boiler is the smarter call. To claim the grant itself you will need an MCS-certified installer to apply on your behalf, and we will always be straight with you about the route that gets you there.

How to get started

If a heat pump is on your mind, the sensible order is: get a survey, understand the real numbers for your property, then decide. There is no obligation and no hard sell. Take a look at our air source heat pump service to see how we approach it, or get in touch to book a survey and we will give you an honest read on whether the £7,500 grant and a heat pump are the right move for your home.