The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has been through its biggest overhaul since launch, and if you’ve been sitting on the fence about replacing your gas, oil, or LPG boiler, the April 2026 changes make the financial case noticeably better than it was six months ago.
A few things changed at once. Grant amounts went up for some technology types. The EPC requirement that was catching out so many homes on older housing stock was quietly dropped. Air-to-air heat pumps joined the eligibility list with their own grant tier. And from July 21st, homes on oil or LPG got an even bigger uplift. Let’s go through what it all means in practice.
The New Grant Amounts
For homes replacing a gas boiler, the air source heat pump grant has been at £7,500 for a while and that hasn’t changed. Still a meaningful contribution toward a typical installation cost of £8,000 to £15,000 depending on property size and system complexity.
Where things get more interesting is oil and LPG. From July 21, 2026, those households now qualify for a £9,000 grant on an air source or ground source heat pump. The logic is sound: homes on oil and LPG tend to be more rural, often harder to retrofit, and paying significantly more for fuel than the gas grid average. The higher grant reflects the higher installation complexity and the bigger financial benefit of switching away from fossil-fuel heating.
Ground source heat pumps still attract the highest grant at £7,500 regardless of your current fuel type, though the actual installation costs for ground source are considerably higher, typically £15,000 to £35,000, so the grant covers a smaller proportion.
The new addition is air-to-air heat pumps, which now have their own £2,500 grant category. Air-to-air systems cool in summer and heat in winter using refrigerant-cycle technology, similar to a standard air conditioning unit. They’re not suitable as the sole heating system for most UK properties (they don’t produce domestic hot water, and they’re less effective in very cold weather), but for homes with supplementary heating or in milder regions, they’re a lower-cost entry point to heat pump technology.
What Happened to the EPC Requirement?
Previously, BUS applicants needed an Energy Performance Certificate of D or above (or an exemption) before their installer could submit a claim. This caught out a lot of older properties, particularly rural homes on oil that are more likely to have solid walls, single glazing, or other features that push them toward an E or F rating.
The EPC requirement has been removed entirely. Your installer no longer needs to verify your rating before applying. This is a significant change for the roughly 30% of oil-heated homes that were falling outside the original criteria.
There’s a practical caveat: some local authority grant schemes and ECO4 eligibility do still use EPC ratings. If you’re planning to stack multiple funding sources (more on that below), check whether the other scheme has its own EPC threshold before assuming you’re fully clear.
Grant Stacking: The Part Most People Don’t Know About
One of the biggest changes in 2026 is that BUS grants can now be combined with other support schemes. Previously there were restrictions on using BUS alongside other government-funded measures. Those restrictions have been substantially relaxed.
The combinations that are now permitted include:
BUS plus ECO4 — for eligible low-income households, ECO4 can add up to £10,000 in additional support for insulation and heating measures. If you qualify for both, you could be looking at combined support that makes a heat pump installation effectively free or very close to it.
BUS plus the Great British Insulation Scheme — insulation and heat pumps work best together, and you can now use both schemes on the same property.
BUS plus 0% Green Loans — the Great British Energy-backed green loan scheme offers interest-free finance for the remaining cost after grants. This solves the upfront cash problem for households who qualify for the grant but can’t cover the gap between the grant and total installation cost.
To check whether you qualify for ECO4 alongside BUS, the quickest route is to contact your energy supplier directly or use the eligibility checker on the GOV.UK website.
How the Application Process Works
One thing that hasn’t changed: the grant goes to the installer, not to you directly. You don’t apply for BUS yourself. Instead, you find an MCS-certified heat pump installer, they carry out the installation, and they claim the grant from Ofgem’s portal. The grant is deducted from your quote, so what you pay is the net amount after BUS.
The practical implication is that finding a good installer is more important than understanding the Ofgem process in detail. Make sure any installer you get quotes from is MCS certified (you can verify this on the MCS website at mcscertified.com), ask them to confirm they’re registered as a BUS installer, and get at least three quotes before committing.
Lead times for heat pump installation have improved compared to the 2023-2024 peak, but in some parts of the country you’re still looking at several months’ wait for quality installers. If you want the work done before winter, start the process now.
Is the Timing Right?
Honestly, yes. The grant amounts are higher than they’ve ever been, the eligibility criteria are broader, and the ability to stack with other schemes is new. Heat pump technology itself has also improved, particularly cold-weather performance, which was the most common objection a couple of years ago.
The scheme is confirmed to run until at least March 2028, so there’s no panic about a sudden closure. But grant amounts and eligibility can change, and the current terms are the most generous the scheme has offered. If a heat pump installation has been on your radar, the case for moving forward this year is stronger than it’s been.