Boiler scrappage schemes: the closed English scheme

What exists instead is not a scrappage scheme at all. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme in England and Wales pays upfront capital grants of up to £7,500 to replace fossil fuel heating with a low-carbon system, and £9,000 where the property is heated by oil or liquid petroleum gas⁵. Critically, it does not fund a new gas boiler: the grant only applies to heat pumps and, in limited circumstances, biomass boilers⁷. A household wanting a like-for-like gas replacement pays for it in full.

The practical effect is that the old trade-in logic has been reversed. Scrappage rewarded buying a more efficient version of the same appliance; the current grant rewards leaving the fuel behind. That shift matters for energy independence: a heat pump moves a home's heat onto electricity it can partly generate itself, while a replacement gas boiler keeps the household tied to the gas network and a supplier's tariff.

What the scrappage-style schemes were, and why they closed

Scrappage schemes were narrow, time-limited and aimed at the worst appliances. The clearest surviving description is Northern Ireland's Boiler Replacement Scheme, which was means-tested on income below £40,000 a year and restricted to owner occupiers with boilers over 15 years old². It is now closed¹.

The policy reason for not reviving that model is straightforward. A scrappage voucher subsidises a new fossil fuel appliance with a working life of a decade or more, at a point when government has signalled an ambition to end the installation of new natural gas boilers beyond 2035¹⁰. Public money has instead been directed at low-carbon replacement. The earlier Renewable Heat Incentive, which paid over time rather than upfront, has since been replaced by the Boiler Upgrade Scheme¹².

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme: grants, technologies and how the application works

The scheme provides upfront grants to help reduce the cost of installing a low-carbon heating system, such as a heat pump or, in limited circumstances, a biomass boiler, in properties in England and Wales¹⁴. Grant categories are based on replacement technology type⁸, and the approved values notice lists £7,500⁶. Owners of properties heated by oil and liquid petroleum gas can receive £9,000⁷. An approved category includes a biomass boiler in an off-gas grid property replacing an oil heating system⁶.

The system being removed must be a fossil fuel heating system (such as gas, oil, or LPG) or an electric heating system, excluding existing heat pumps¹⁴. Fossil fuel heating systems include oil, gas, electric or LPG¹.

The application is installer-led, with the installer applying for the grant on the property owner's behalf¹⁷. Ofgem's guidance is blunt about this:

In practice the installer discounts the grant from the invoice, applies to Ofgem for a grant voucher, then redeems it after installation and commissioning¹⁷. Ofgem can revoke a voucher, a decision carrying a right of review¹⁸. Installer-led delivery removes the householder's paperwork, but it also means the household depends on a certified installer's registration and conduct for the money to arrive at all.

Uptake: what the replacement scheme has delivered

By 31 July 2026 the scheme had supported 80,098 low-carbon heating systems since its start¹⁵. A year earlier the figure stood at 49,136, of which 25,331 came in Scheme Year 3 alone, in vouchers worth over £247 million¹⁹. In the first scheme year to 31 March 2023, 11,998 vouchers worth almost £69.1 million were issued²⁰. Cumulative figures to late 2025 show 102,735 voucher applications and vouchers totalling £504,994,500, against 68,605 redemption applications²¹.

Around 76.3% of grants paid since the start of the scheme were for the replacement of fossil fuelled heating systems, like gas boilers¹⁵. The enhanced off-gas grid grant has been taken up quickly: 3,037 applications for the £9,000 grant were received from the scheme change to the end of July 2026, 37% of the 8,150 total applications that month²². Regionally the spread is uneven: London recorded 9,859 cumulative voucher applications and 8,014 vouchers issued between May 2022 and June 2026²². Modelled carbon savings for the scheme have been put at up to 1.1MtCO2e over Carbon Budgets 4 and 5 and 2.6MtCO2e over its lifetime²³.

The phase-out timeline for gas boilers

No law currently stops a household using a gas boiler. The Heat and Buildings Strategy signalled an ambition to phase out the installation of new natural gas boilers beyond 2035¹⁰, and the British Energy Security Strategy carried the ambition to end the installation of gas boilers by 2035 at the latest¹¹. Industry commentary continues to describe a phase-out of new gas boilers from 2035²⁴. For new build, England's Future Homes Standard consultation proposes banning gas boilers, following Scotland's lead²⁵. A frequently repeated framing is a ban on installing and using gas boilers in new-build properties by 2025 and for all households by 2035²³; the regulatory detail for existing homes has not settled, and dates in circulation should be read as ambitions rather than commenced law. The gas boiler ban page sets out the position in full.

Replacing an old G-rated boiler today

Estimates of the saving differ, and both are modelled. Upgrading a G-rated boiler to an A-rated condensing boiler with full heating controls in a semi-detached, mains gas home is put at around £320 each year at July 2026 energy prices²⁶. A separate estimate gives £420 a year in Great Britain²⁸. Neither figure is a measurement of a particular house, and the saving depends on how much heat the house needs.

The routes available now are:

• A new gas boiler, self-funded: no grant applies, and the household remains on the gas network.
• A heat pump under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, at up to £7,500, or £9,000 for oil and LPG homes⁵.
• A biomass boiler, where the property qualifies under the limited circumstances allowed¹⁴.
• A heat battery, once grants open: a £2,500 grant for heat batteries will also be available once the legislation and appropriate product standards are in place⁹, and independent guidance states heat batteries are eligible for a £2,500 grant through the scheme²⁹.

For a household weighing independence, the difference is not the grant but the fuel. A replacement boiler keeps heat dependent on gas deliveries and supplier pricing; the grant-funded options move heat onto electricity or on-site fuel, at the cost of a larger upfront bill and, for heat pumps, a system designed around lower flow temperatures. See heat pumps compared with boilers, heat batteries and zero emission boilers, and the regional pages for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, or the overview at boilers and home heating.