Can I get the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant if I have a gas boiler?

The practical consequence is that the gas boiler has to go. Ofgem lists fossil fuel appliances retained or installed, for example a fossil fuel system kept to provide additional space heating, among its examples of non-compliance, and a voucher can be refused or recovered on that basis⁴. A hybrid system combining a gas boiler with an air source heat pump is explicitly outside the scheme².

What remains is a genuine reduction in dependence on gas, not its elimination. A heat pump runs on electricity, so the household still buys power from a supplier and still relies on the grid, and the installer-led application means the money passes through a company rather than to the household directly⁵. The sections below set out the amounts, the property rules, the process and the limits.

What the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is and how much it pays

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is a UK Government grant that helps pay for a heat pump or biomass boiler in England and Wales⁹. The Energy Saving Trust describes it as a grant of up to £7,500, and the Commons Library records upfront grants of up to £7,500, or £9,000 for heating oil and LPG users, for domestic and small non-domestic properties in England and Wales¹⁰. The scheme is administered by Ofgem, which issues and redeems vouchers through installers¹².

Its scale is worth understanding, because it explains why the rules are tight. The scheme was set up as a £450 million, three year programme¹³. A 2024 press release put the cost to the taxpayer at £218 million up to September 2024, and an earlier estimate described an annual cost of £150 million¹⁴. The budget figures published at different times do not agree: one official document gives £450 million, while later statistics describe £295 million for 2025/26 with 2024/25 funding increased by £30 million. Both figures are in circulation.

Take-up has been substantial. Ofgem's quarterly report records 102,735 total voucher applications¹⁶. The scheme has been extended, and the published end dates are not consistent: one Ofgem document states that as of 28 April 2026 the scheme has been extended to 2030, a 2025 annual report refers to confirmation of an extension to 2028, and the government grants service gives a closing date of 30 December 2029 at 11:59pm⁴. Ofgem can issue vouchers up to 31 December 2029¹⁸.

For a gas-heated household, the headline is that the scheme pays a fixed sum towards a replacement technology, not towards a gas appliance. The grant reduces the upfront cost of a heat pump; it does not remove the standing costs of running one.

Who qualifies: the replacement and property rules

Eligibility turns on the property, the technology and what is being replaced. Only properties in England and Wales are eligible⁴. Owner-occupiers, private landlords and custom-builds can apply¹⁹. The grant can be used to replace a heating system in your home or a building used for your business⁵.

The replacement rule is the one that catches gas households. A property is not eligible if a previous Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant has already been received for installing a heat pump or biomass boiler at the same address, and you can get one grant per property². A property that has already been given government funding or support for a heat pump or biomass boiler is excluded, as are most new build properties and social housing¹. New builds that the developer is still building are not eligible, though a household moving into a finished new build with a fossil fuel boiler may be able to get a grant for a heat pump¹.

For biomass, the conditions are narrower still. A biomass boiler grant requires the property to be off the gas grid, in a rural location, and the boiler to have an emissions certificate showing that polluting emissions are kept to a minimum¹. The Energy Saving Trust's funding guidance states plainly that the property must be off the gas grid⁸.

Social housing is not eligible for the scheme. Support for decarbonising social housing is available through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund in England and the Optimised Retrofit Programme in Wales²⁰. Independent guidance also notes that new builds are excluded unless they are custom-build properties²¹.

Grant amounts: £7,500 standard, £9,000 off-gas grid uplift, and why gas homes miss the uplift

The scheme pays two rates for heat pumps. The standard grant is £7,500 for eligible properties that do not qualify for the uplifted grant⁴. From 21 July 2026, eligible off-gas-grid properties have been able to apply for an uplifted grant of £9,000⁴. Ofgem's installer guidance describes the £9,000 uplifted grant value for air-to-water or ground source heat pump installations³.

The dividing line is the fuel. The £9,000 uplifted grant requires that the property must not be fuelled by mains gas³. A household on gas central heating therefore cannot receive the uplift, however inefficient the existing boiler. The uplift is aimed at households on oil or LPG: Which? reported the £9,000 grant for heating oil homes with the condition that the household be off the gas grid, and the Low Carbon Hub describes £9,000 for those off the gas grid on oil or LPG heating²².

A conflict sits in the published figures. One official scheme page gives £5,000 off the cost and installation of biomass boilers, while other official material gives a grant of up to £7,500².

For a gas household, the arithmetic is straightforward: the standard £7,500 applies, and the £9,000 rate does not. The difference between the two rates is £1,500, and it exists because the property is connected to mains gas.

How the installer-led application process works

The application is installer-led and you cannot apply yourself⁶. An MCS certified installer applies for and redeems Boiler Upgrade Scheme vouchers on behalf of property owners⁷. Property owners considering a heat pump or biomass boiler apply through an MCS certified installer to help reduce the upfront cost⁷. MCS describes the arrangement in the same terms: it is installers that apply for the grant on behalf of their customers²⁴.

The mechanics run in two stages. The installer submits a voucher application, Ofgem issues the voucher, the installer submits a voucher redemption application after installation and commissioning, and the installer receives the grant payment²⁵. Ofgem's property owner guidance describes an installer-led two stage application process in which the property owner's chosen installer applies for and redeems the voucher²⁰.

1. Choose an MCS certified installer, who applies to Ofgem for a grant voucher on your behalf⁵.
2. The installer discounts the grant from your invoice⁶.
3. The installation is completed and the system is fully commissioned⁴.
4. The installer redeems the voucher, and Ofgem pays the installer²⁶.

The payment route matters to a household's independence. The grant is applied upfront as a discount to the cost of your installation, and you do not receive the grant directly: it is paid to your installer⁶. Government has said it intends to implement a requirement in regulations for installers to deduct the grant amount from the upfront costs of the eligible plant²⁷. If a decision goes against the application, only installers can ask Ofgem to review it, and the installer can request a review on the owner's behalf within the required timeframes²⁶.

Where the scheme falls short: hybrids, new builds, social housing and Scotland

The scheme's limits are as important as its payments. There is no grant for a hybrid heat pump system, for example a combination of gas boiler and air source heat pump². That rules out the arrangement some gas households would prefer, keeping the boiler as a backup for cold spells. IGEM has asked government to expand the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to provide a grant to households who buy and install a hybrid heating system, but that is a policy ask from 2024, not a rule²⁸. BEAMA has similarly recommended that the scheme be simplified in process but expanded in scope to incentivise households to choose from the full range of electric, low carbon heating choices²⁹.

New builds and social housing are excluded. Most new build properties and social housing cannot get a grant, and neither can a property that has already been given government funding or support for a heat pump or biomass boiler¹. Ofgem lists social housing among ineligible properties³. Independent guidance repeats that new builds are excluded unless they are custom-build properties²¹.

Territorial extent is the sharpest limit for readers outside England. Only properties in England and Wales are eligible⁴. Financial help is available via the government Boiler Upgrade Scheme in England and Wales, or the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan in Scotland³⁰. The UK Government's Boiler Upgrade Scheme provides grants to assist with installation costs, and the Scottish scheme operates separately³¹. Under the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan, biomass boilers and stoves and high heat retention storage heaters may be eligible for grant funding when certain conditions are met³².

Non-compliance is not only about the technology. Ofgem's examples include a property or heating system that is not eligible, fossil fuel appliances retained or installed, a system not fully commissioned, consent not provided or falsified, and a property that previously received public funding for a low carbon heating system at the same address²⁶. Each of these can put a voucher at risk.

What the grant means for a gas-heated household

The scheme does one specific thing for energy independence: it moves a home off gas combustion for heating and onto electricity. That removes the gas standing charge and the exposure to gas prices for the heating load, and it removes the flue and the combustion appliance from the property. The Energy Saving Trust's case study describes the Boiler Upgrade Scheme as a UK Government initiative, and MCS has reported that the £7,500 grant means some homeowners can now install a heat pump for less than the average cost of a gas boiler³³.

What it does not do is make the household self-sustaining. A heat pump runs on mains electricity, so the home still depends on a supplier and the grid, and the grant itself depends on an installer's application and on Ofgem's administration. The household also depends on the installer's competence: the system must be fully commissioned, and the voucher is redeemed only after that point⁴. Croydon Council's retrofit guidance notes that a household may be eligible for a grant under the UK government's Boiler Upgrade Scheme if the home is energy efficient enough, which points to the fabric of the property as a further condition on performance³⁵.

The wider policy direction is that gas heating is being phased down. The government's Heat and Buildings Strategy set a target for phasing out gas boilers from 2035 in favour of low-carbon alternatives, and the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan sits alongside that trajectory¹³. For a gas household weighing the grant, the scheme is a fixed contribution towards a replacement technology, with a closing date of 30 December 2029 and a set of exclusions that rule out hybrids, most new builds, social housing and properties in Scotland¹.