The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has announced an expansion of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to cover air-to-air heat pumps and heat batteries, and will launch a consultation on alternative clean heating solutions for some homes1. The announcement was reported on 28 November 20251.
Under the updated scheme, homeowners can receive a £2,500 discount off the cost of installing an air-to-air heat pump, which the Electrical Contractors' Association (ECA) describes as the first time air-conditioning units have been eligible for government funding1. Households can also claim £2,500 off the price of heat batteries1. The grants are available to all households in England and Wales and form part of the government's £13.2 billion Warm Homes Plan1.
The consultation will explore alternatives that "may include infrared heating, solid biomass boilers using agricultural waste and renewable liquid fuels"1. OFTEC, which represents the liquid fuel heating industry, states that the government launched a consultation on alternative low carbon technologies, including renewable liquid heating fuels such as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), at the end of 2025, and that it drew "an unprecedented 16,000 supportive responses"2. OFTEC says the industry is ready to begin supplying a 20% blend of HVO with kerosene to existing oil heating customers, and calls for the duty on HVO used in heating to be reduced to zero and for a renewable heating fuel obligation on distributors2. It states these changes "would cost the Treasury nothing to implement"2.
The two accounts differ on timing and scope. The ECA report, dated 28 November 2025, describes the consultation as something the government "will launch"1. OFTEC, in a page updated March 2026, describes a consultation launched at the end of 2025 covering renewable liquid fuels2. Neither source gives a closing date for the consultation or a date for when the expanded grant rules take effect.
"The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has announced a significant expansion of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which will now cover air-to-air heat pumps and heat batteries."
Why it matters for households
The £2,500 discounts widen the range of equipment that qualifies for support under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, extending it beyond the technologies previously covered to air-to-air heat pumps and heat batteries1. For a household weighing up heating a home off the gas grid, the consultation matters because it signals which technologies the government may treat as legitimate routes to lower carbon heating, alongside the heat pumps it currently prioritises2. OFTEC argues that heat pumps are currently significantly more expensive to install than an oil or gas boiler even with grants, and that running costs may be higher because of the price of electricity, with rural off-gas grid homes a more difficult case2. It also notes that in some circumstances more than one low carbon technology may be beneficial, such as a liquid-fuelled boiler working alongside a heat pump in a hybrid system2. Whether renewable liquid fuels are ultimately supported, and on what terms, is not yet settled.
What happens next
The consultation on alternative clean heating solutions is to be launched, according to the ECA report1, and OFTEC states it was launched at the end of 2025 and that ensuring the government acts on the response is the primary focus of its Future Ready Fuel campaign2. No outcome, timetable or decision date has been reported.