BUS grant 2026 explained: £7,500 toward a heat pump

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme — BUS for short — is the UK government's main grant for swapping a fossil-fuel boiler for an air-source heat pump. As of 2026, the grant is £7,500, paid directly to your installer to reduce what you pay upfront.

It's been running since 2022, and roughly 40,000 households have used it. Compared to how many could qualify, that number is embarrassingly low — mostly because the scheme has a reputation for being bureaucratic. It really isn't, but the gap between "what you read about it" and "what actually happens on a real install" is wide enough that it puts a lot of people off before they've started.

Here's what we tell customers when they ask whether they should consider it.

What the grant actually pays for

The £7,500 covers part of the cost of an air-source heat pump and its installation. It does not cover:

• A new hot-water cylinder if you need one (most households do)
• Radiator upgrades (sometimes needed; sometimes not)
• Insulation work
• Extending or moving electrical supply

A typical heat-pump installation in South Yorkshire costs £10,000–£14,000 before the grant, depending on cylinder, radiators, and pipework. After the £7,500 grant comes off, you're looking at £2,500–£6,500 net. That's roughly the same as a high-end gas boiler install — except your running costs change shape entirely.

After the £7,500 grant comes off, a heat-pump install costs roughly the same as a high-end gas boiler — except your running costs change shape entirely.

Who qualifies

The eligibility rules are actually short:

1. The property must be in England or Wales (Scotland has its own scheme — the HES grant)
2. You must own the property — owner-occupier or private landlord. Social housing is excluded
3. The property must have a valid EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) issued in the last 10 years, with no outstanding insulation recommendations
4. The system being replaced must be a fossil-fuel system — gas, oil, or LPG — or electric direct heating. You can't use BUS to replace one heat pump with another

That EPC point catches most people out. If your EPC says "loft insulation recommended" and you haven't done it, you need to either insulate first or get a new EPC issued.

What the install actually looks like

People imagine heat-pump installs as week-long ordeals with engineers everywhere. In reality, a straightforward swap is 2–3 days on site:

• Day 1: Remove old boiler, position outdoor unit (typically against a side or rear wall), run pipework
• Day 2: Fit the cylinder (usually replacing where the old combi or system boiler was), connect to existing radiator circuit
• Day 3: Commission, test, walk you through the controls

A complex install — moving the cylinder, adding zones, replacing radiators — extends to 4–5 days. We'll tell you the realistic timeline at the survey stage, not on day one.

What changes about your bills

This is the question every customer asks first, and it's the most honest answer in the industry: it depends on what you replace, what your insulation is like, and how you use heat.

Air-source heat pumps work at a coefficient of performance (COP) typically between 3.0 and 4.0 — meaning for every 1 kWh of electricity you put in, you get 3–4 kWh of heat back out. That's wildly more efficient than a gas boiler at ~92% (i.e. 0.92 kWh out per 1 kWh in).

But electricity is roughly 4× more expensive per kWh than gas right now. So the maths cancels out for many households — running costs end up similar to a modern condensing gas boiler. Where heat pumps genuinely save money is:

• Well-insulated properties (the lower your heat loss, the better COP you achieve)
• Households on time-of-use electricity tariffs (run hot water during off-peak hours)
• Properties currently on oil or LPG, where the fossil-fuel cost is high enough that the heat pump is properly cheaper

If you're on mains gas, the financial case for a heat pump in 2026 is closer to break-even than the marketing suggests. The case is stronger on carbon, on the grant subsidy that won't be there forever, and on future-proofing — gas boiler installs are scheduled to be banned for new builds from 2025 and the wider phase-out is approaching.

We've turned away enough heat-pump enquiries that we don't try to force jobs that won't work. The wrong heat pump in the wrong house gives you a cold home and a £6,000 regret.

Why you'd do it now

Three reasons most of our heat-pump customers cite:

1. The grant is worth £7,500, and the scheme has been gradually scaled back since launch. Don't assume it'll still be there in three years
2. Property value — well-installed heat pumps add value, particularly for buyers who care about EPC ratings (which is most buyers in 2026)
3. You like the idea of decoupling from gas — whether for environmental reasons or because you're tired of price shocks every winter

How we handle it

When you book a heat-pump survey with us, we:

1. Visit and measure heat loss properly (a real MCS survey, not a 5-minute quote)
2. Tell you whether your property is suitable, including any insulation prerequisites
3. Quote the install cost — net of the £7,500 grant — so you know your actual outlay
4. Apply for the BUS grant on your behalf. You don't fill in any forms; we do
5. Install over 2–5 days; commission, hand over

If your property isn't suitable — and some genuinely aren't — we'll tell you. We've turned away enough heat-pump enquiries that we don't try to force jobs that won't work. The wrong heat pump in the wrong house gives you a cold home and a £6,000 regret.

If you want to know whether yours is the right house, book a survey. Surveys are free, no obligation, and we'll tell you the truth about your property before any money changes hands.