The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) currently pays £7,500 towards an air source heat pump installation, or £7,500 towards a ground source heat pump, in England and Wales. It’s the single biggest financial lever available to a homeowner switching off fossil-fuel heating in 2026. If you’re considering a heat pump, the BUS grant probably tips the economics from “nice idea” to “actually pays back.”
Here’s how it works, who qualifies, what the timeline looks like, and how we handle it for AMP customers.
What the grant actually is
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is a UK government grant administered by Ofgem, funded through to early 2028 at the current £7,500 level. The grant is not paid to the homeowner. It is paid to the MCS-certified installer, who must deduct it directly from the customer’s quote.
In practice, that means: the figure you see on your AMP quote is the net cost after grant. We handle the entire application process with Ofgem; you never need to interact with them.
The grant level has been £7,500 for both air source and ground source since October 2023. Prior to that, air source was £5,000 and ground source was £6,000. The increase was a deliberate policy to accelerate heat pump adoption following the original target of 600,000 installations per year by 2028.
Who qualifies
The headline rules for a homeowner to qualify in 2026:
- Property in England or Wales. Scotland operates its own equivalent scheme (Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan); Northern Ireland has no direct equivalent at present.
- Valid EPC with no outstanding insulation recommendations. Your EPC must be no more than 10 years old. Any “recommended” insulation measures (loft, cavity wall) must either be completed before install, or you must obtain an EPC exemption from a qualified assessor.
- Currently heated by fossil fuel. Mains gas, oil, LPG, coal, and electric resistance heating all qualify. Properties currently on biomass don’t (they’re already low-carbon).
- Heat pump must replace the existing system fully. Parallel hybrid setups where the gas boiler stays as the primary system don’t qualify.
- MCS-certified installer. Which we are.
- Property not new-build. New-build properties go through a different route (Future Homes Standard), not BUS.
There are a few edge cases worth flagging. Social housing with existing grant funding in place can’t double-dip on BUS. Properties already running RHI legacy biomass have different eligibility. Listed buildings can absolutely qualify but the installation has to meet listed building consent requirements.
What it covers
The £7,500 is a fixed contribution to the installation cost. It’s not means-tested, not income-dependent, and not affected by your property value or council tax band. Whether your install costs £10,000 or £25,000, you get £7,500 off either way.
That means the BUS grant is proportionally more impactful on smaller installs. A £10,500 install on a 2-bed semi nets to £3,000 after grant — a 71% discount on capital cost. A £18,000 install on a large detached nets to £10,500 — a 42% discount.
The process, step by step
Here’s the actual flow from first AMP enquiry to receiving the net invoice:
1. Free survey + heat loss calculation. Our engineer visits your property, measures every room for heat loss, photographs your existing system, and confirms emitter (radiator) compatibility. Typically 90 minutes on-site for an average home. No charge, no obligation.
2. Designed system + fixed-price quote. Within a few working days, you receive a written quote showing the designed heat pump size, the cylinder, any necessary radiator changes, the total cost, and the net cost after the £7,500 BUS deduction. Quote validity is 90 days as standard.
3. We submit the BUS application. Once you accept the quote, we file the application with Ofgem on your behalf. The application includes your designed system spec, your EPC, MCS paperwork and the proposed installer (us).
4. Ofgem issues the voucher. Typically 2-4 weeks. The voucher is valid for 6 months from issue. The voucher is held by us — there is nothing for you to print or sign.
5. Install scheduled. From accepted quote to installed system is typically 4-10 weeks, depending on our backlog and your preferred timing. We work around your commitments — heat pumps are best installed in shoulder-season (spring or autumn) so your existing heating isn’t immediately critical.
6. Install completed and certified. The job takes 1-3 days on site. We complete MCS certification, Building Control notification, and commissioning the same week.
7. Final paperwork to Ofgem. We submit completion documents within 30 days. Ofgem releases the grant payment to us, typically within 30 days of the completion paperwork.
8. Your invoice nets off the £7,500. You only ever paid the net figure to us. If you’d paid the full amount upfront (some customers do this for cash-flow reasons), we refund the £7,500 when the grant lands.
You don’t need to do anything between step 1 and step 8 except confirm the quote and let us into the property. No forms, no Ofgem account, no chasing.
Combining with other grants
BUS can be combined with several other support routes for lower-income households or specific property types:
- Home Upgrade Grant (HUG). Targets lower-income households off the gas grid. Income thresholds apply. Can stack with BUS where eligible.
- Warm Homes Local Grant. Administered through local authorities. Northumberland County Council, Durham County Council, Newcastle City Council and Sunderland City Council all operate variants.
- ECO4 (Energy Company Obligation). For households on certain benefits or in specific deprivation indices. Heat pump can be a measure delivered under ECO4 alongside BUS.
- Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS). For schools, hospitals, councils — different scheme entirely, larger grant values for non-domestic.
We advise on grant eligibility as part of every survey. If you qualify for additional support beyond BUS, we’ll structure the application to take advantage of it.
Common mistakes that cost the grant
A few situations where we’ve seen customers (not ours) lose BUS eligibility:
- Installing before the voucher is issued. The grant is voucher-based — start work before the voucher is issued and you can’t claim retrospectively.
- Insulation recommendations on EPC not addressed. This is the single most common reason for application rejection. If your EPC says you need loft insulation, you need to either fit it or get a qualified exemption first.
- Hybrid systems retaining the original boiler as primary. BUS requires the heat pump to be the primary heat source. Backup electric immersion is fine; primary gas boiler with auxiliary heat pump isn’t.
- Using a non-MCS installer. Many heating engineers are skilled with heat pumps but not MCS-certified. Only MCS-certified installs qualify.
- Choosing a heat pump model not on the MCS-approved list. Most reputable brands are on the list, but a handful aren’t.
We check all of these during the survey. If anything is borderline, we tell you straight — there’s no value in submitting an application that will get rejected.
What happens after 2028
The current BUS funding commitment runs through to early 2028. Government policy beyond that has not yet been confirmed at the time of writing.
There are three plausible scenarios:
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Extension at current £7,500. Most likely outcome based on industry consultation responses. The 600,000-per-year heat pump target sits within the UK’s Carbon Budget 6 commitments — pulling support before then would put those commitments at risk.
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Tapered reduction. Possible, especially as heat pump capital costs continue to fall. Some industry voices have suggested a step-down to £5,000 from 2028.
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Discontinuation. Less likely but not impossible if a future government de-prioritises domestic decarbonisation.
The safe play, if you’re considering a heat pump, is to apply while £7,500 is the confirmed level. Heat pump installs typically take 3-6 months from initial enquiry; if you’re considering 2027-2028 installation, start the conversation in late 2026 to keep your options open.
Should you get a heat pump?
The honest answer depends on your specific property and circumstances. We install both heat pumps and modern gas boilers, and we’ll be honest about which is the better choice for your home.
A heat pump tends to be the right answer when:
- You’re currently on oil, LPG or solid fuel — savings vs current bills are dramatic
- You’re already considering solar PV — the two pair excellently
- Your home is reasonably well insulated (EPC C or better)
- You expect to stay 7+ years for payback to mature
- You have a viable outdoor location for the unit
A modern boiler is often the right answer when:
- Your existing boiler has just failed and you need urgent replacement
- You’re moving within 3-4 years
- Your home has severe insulation issues that can’t be addressed
- You’re in a listed property where emitter upgrades aren’t possible
- Budget is the dominant constraint
See our heat pumps service page for the full cost breakdown and how we approach design, or book a free survey to find out what works for your specific home.