The government launched a consultation in April 2025 on proposals to expand the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), according to a House of Commons committee report published on 9 May 20251. The consultation proposes broadening the technologies eligible for the grant to include air-to-air heat pumps and heat batteries, and allowing third-party ownership finance products to be used alongside BUS grants1.
The report, the first of session 2024-25 from the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, records the timing of the consultation in its account of government retrofit support. It states:
"In April 2025, while this Report was in the process of being agreed, the Government launched a consultation on proposals to expand the BUS"
The committee's wider findings set out the scale of the task the scheme sits within. At least 80% of buildings that will be occupied in 2050 have already been built, and the UK housing stock accounts for around 13% of national greenhouse gas emissions1. Natural gas still accounts for around 85% of fuel used for domestic heating and cooking, and just 5% of homes use low carbon heating systems1. Around 29 million homes will need to be retrofitted by 20501.
On cost, the committee cites Citizens Advice figures: the average cost of retrofitting an individual home, such as installing a low carbon heating system and energy efficiency upgrades, is just under £15,0001. The Climate Change Committee estimates around £250bn of investment is needed to decarbonise the UK's homes between 2020 and 2050, equating to £8bn each year1. Upgrading all homes to EPC Band C would deliver around £40bn in benefits to the UK economy in the period to 2030, including almost £24bn of consumer bill savings, according to the same evidence1.
The report also notes that more than a third of households in England spent over 10% of their income after housing costs on home energy in 2023, and that two thirds of households live in draughty, damp or overheated homes1. It records that the government consulted on EPC reform in 2024, and that the previous government consulted on a new Home Energy Model in 20231.
The consultation documents themselves are not among the published material, so the proposed eligibility criteria, any proposed grant amounts for the new technologies, and the closing date for responses have not been reported here.
Why it matters for households
The BUS is one of the main routes by which a household can offset part of the cost of replacing a fossil fuel heating system. If air-to-air heat pumps and heat batteries become eligible, the range of homes able to use a grant widens, including homes where a full wet heating system replacement is impractical. Allowing third-party ownership finance alongside a grant would change how the upfront cost is met, since the household would not necessarily own the equipment outright. The committee's evidence underlines why this matters: gas supplies around 85% of domestic heating and cooking, and only 5% of homes use low carbon heating1. For a household weighing up its own energy independence, the practical questions are which technologies qualify, how much the grant is worth, and who owns the installation afterwards. None of those details are settled by a consultation.
What happens next
The consultation was launched in April 20251. The committee report was published on 9 May 2025 and the government has two months to respond to it1. No outcome of the BUS consultation, and no date for a decision, has been reported.
Sources1 cited
- Retrofitting homes for net zero, publications.parliament.uk