The government extended the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) until April 2028 and committed an additional £1.5 billion in funding for the extension over three years, in May 20241. The detail appears in Ofgem's annual report on the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (DRHI), published in July 2024, which records the decision alongside its own administration of the older scheme1.
The BUS is the successor to the DRHI, which closed to new applicants on 31 March 20221. Ofgem states that it has introduced checks to ensure that DRHI participants cannot also benefit from the BUS, which was launched in April 20221. The same report gives the BUS launch date as 23 May 20221.
"In May 2024, government extended the BUS until April 2028 and committed an additional £1.5 billion in funding for the BUS extension over three years."
The report does not set out the grant amounts payable under the extended scheme, nor any change to eligibility rules. Those figures are not reported in this document. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant amount and the application process are covered separately.
The DRHI figures in the same report show the scale of the scheme the BUS replaced. As of 31 March 2024, the DRHI had supported 118,765 lower carbon heating systems, with payments totalling £1.06 billion since 20141. Air source heat pumps accounted for 67.4 per cent of accreditations, and 75.1 per cent of installations were in England, though uptake measured against household numbers was highest in Scotland at 0.8 per cent of households against 0.4 per cent in England1.
| DRHI measure | Figure as of 31 March 2024 |
|---|---|
| Systems supported | 118,7651 |
| Payments since 2014 | £1.06 billion1 |
| Payments in Scheme Year 10 | approximately £114 million1 |
| Estimated heat generation since 2014 | 8,841 GWh1 |
| Fossil fuel boilers replaced | 59,8891 |
| Installations past seven-year support | approximately 53,0001 |
| Participants still accredited | over 60,0001 |
The DRHI paid quarterly sums for up to seven years based on estimated heat generation, and covered air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar thermal systems in England, Scotland and Wales1. Ofgem has administered it since 20141.
Why it matters for households
The extension gives the BUS a stated end date of April 2028 and a funding envelope, which matters to any household weighing a heat pump against a replacement fossil fuel boiler, because the grant's availability now runs further ahead than previously reported. The DRHI record shows what happens when a support period ends: roughly 53,000 installations have exited and stopped receiving payments, while over 60,000 remain accredited1. For a home, the practical difference between the two schemes is the shape of the support. The DRHI paid quarterly for seven years against estimated heat output; the BUS is a one-off grant toward installation. The report does not state the BUS grant levels, so the cash value to a household is not established here. Households on a gas boiler should note that eligibility under the BUS is a separate question from the DRHI's replacement data, where 95.7 per cent of replaced boilers used fossil fuels1. Where a home is considering a heat pump, the BUS and ECO4 comparison sets out how the two routes differ.
What happens next
The BUS now runs until April 2028 under the May 2024 decision1. The DRHI remains closed to new applicants, with one outstanding application from before closure still to be resolved1. Ofgem continues to administer payments and compliance for the participants still accredited1.
Sources1 cited
- DRHI 2023-24 Annual Report, ofgem.gov.uk