Properties applying to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) are no longer required to hold a valid Energy Performance Certificate from 28 April 2026, under amended scheme regulations administered by Ofgem1. Where an EPC does exist, its certificate number must still be provided1. The change applies to applications "properly made" on or after that date; earlier applications fall under version 4.2 of the installer guidance1.
The April update document describes the change as removing the EPC as a standing eligibility criterion, and sets out a replacement evidence route. For properties without a valid EPC, installers must supply evidence such as a utility bill or fuel receipt, photographs, or an expired EPC number if one is available, with case-by-case alternatives possible1. Property owners are listed as responsible for helping installers with this EPC-replacement evidence, and are not responsible for supplying eligibility evidence to Ofgem1.
The same regulations extended the scheme to 2030, replacing the previous statement that it ran to 2028, and added a £2,500 grant for air-to-air heat pumps1. Ofgem's later guidance confirms that from 28 April 2026 exhaust air-to-water heat pumps became eligible for the £7,500 grant, and that BUS heat pumps may be installed alongside supplementary heating appliances provided those appliances are not fossil-fuel based3. Biomass boilers may be retained or installed alongside a BUS-funded heat pump as supplementary heating, but cannot be used to meet the heating demand requirement1.
Grant values under the scheme are set out as follows3:
| Technology | Grant value |
|---|---|
| Air-to-water heat pumps and ground source heat pumps | £7,500 |
| Air-to-air heat pumps (residential properties only) | £2,500 |
| Biomass boilers (limited circumstances) | £5,000 |
| Air-to-water or ground source heat pumps in off-gas grid properties replacing oil or LPG heating, from 21 July 2026 | £9,000 |
Only properties in England and Wales are eligible3. Installers must be MCS certified and certified to install heat pumps or biomass boilers, and must pass on the full value of the grant as an upfront discount to the property owner3. The April update document describes this pass-on duty as an entirely new substantive requirement, and adds that installers cannot use a temporary MCS certification number to create an account or apply for a voucher1.
"from 28 April 2026, properties are no longer required to have a valid EPC; but where an EPC exists, the certificate number must be provided."
Why it matters for households
An EPC has until now acted as a gate on BUS eligibility, so a home without a current certificate could not proceed regardless of its heating system. Removing it as a standing criterion means the absence of a certificate is no longer itself a barrier, and the evidence burden shifts to documents a household is likely to hold already, such as a fuel bill or photographs of the existing system1. Where a certificate does exist, the number is still needed, so households that have one should expect it to be requested.
For a home's energy independence, the practical effect is narrower than the headline. The scheme still requires the BUS-funded heat pump to be sized to meet full space heating demand, either on its own or in combination with a supplementary appliance, and the heat pump must still be sufficient on its own for space heating1. Supplementary appliances are permitted only if they are not fossil-fuel based3. Households weighing a heat pump alongside an existing solid fuel appliance, for instance, face the constraint that the biomass unit cannot be counted towards meeting the heating demand requirement1.
The EPC itself remains the standard measure of a home's energy performance, and the certificate's contents are unchanged by this decision. What has changed is its role in one grant scheme's eligibility rules. Details of what a certificate records are set out in Energy Performance Certificates: What an EPC Measures, and the wider reform picture in EPC Regulations and the Reform of Energy Performance Certificates. Eligibility conditions beyond the EPC, including tenure and property rules, are covered in ECO4 Eligibility: Benefits, Tenure and Property Conditions, a separate scheme with its own criteria.
What happens next
Ofgem's guidance states that the final date on which it can issue vouchers is 31 December 20293. A grant change notice published by the Secretary of State on 28 May 2026 confirmed new grant categories and values effective from 21 July 2026, including an uplifted £9,000 grant for eligible off-gas grid properties replacing oil or LPG heating; that uplifted value is in place until 31 March 20273. The allocation of scheme funding for 2026 to 2030 was announced on 21 January 2026 as part of the Government's Warm Homes Plan2. MCS has redeveloped its installer scheme, to be rolled out throughout 2026 and into early 20272.