Nesta has responded to statistics published on 24 September 2026 by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), which it says show a record number of households in England and Wales applying for heat pump grants through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme1. The figures are DESNZ's August statistics for the scheme1. DESNZ's own pages describe the position as a record number of heating oil households applying for a heat pump, taking advantage of the £9,000 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant3.
The £9,000 figure applies to oil and LPG boiler users, which Nesta describes as the higher grant, offered for a limited time1. Nesta attributes the surge to international pressures on gas and oil prices, and specifically to rising oil and gas prices from the war on Iran1. Madeleine Gabriel, mission director of sustainable future at Nesta, said:
"The record numbers of people accessing grants to cover installation costs for heat pumps shows that international pressures on gas and oil prices are having a tangible impact on moving people away from polluting heating in Britain."
Gabriel added that while off-grid families are applying in record numbers to avoid spiralling heating oil bills, millions of gas-heated homes remain exposed to the next energy price shock1. She said gas prices are now rising faster than electricity, making heat pumps increasingly the cheaper option to run, and that the government could shift levies off electricity bills in the upcoming Budget and confirm a new scheme for low-income households1. The exact number of applications, and the size of the increase on previous months, have not been reported in these sources.
Separately, Nesta published a blog on 25 September 2026 on consumer protection for heat pumps, which states that the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant has been officially extended until 31 March 20304. It also reports that technical audits of heat pumps in Bristol uncovered at least one fault, varying in severity, in all of the installations inspected, despite having been signed off as compliant with the MCS standards by the installers4. Among 28 social housing retrofit installations with accessible data, the average SCOP was 2.79, slightly below the 2.8 MCS design minimum and well short of the roughly 3.0 threshold required for running-cost parity with gas at current prices4. Nesta notes that new builds are currently excluded from the proposed consumer protection framework, and that the Future Homes Standards come into force on 24 March 20274.
Why it matters for households
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is the main grant route for replacing a fossil fuel heating system with a heat pump in England and Wales, and the higher £9,000 rate for oil and LPG users is time limited1. For homes off the gas grid, where heating oil and LPG prices feed directly into running costs, that combination changes the arithmetic of a replacement. For gas-heated homes, Nesta's position is that the grant does not currently reach them in the same way, leaving them exposed to gas price movements1. The Bristol audit findings point to a second factor alongside upfront cost: whether an installed system performs as designed, since a system below the running-cost parity threshold does not deliver the expected saving4. How grants and scheme design affect a household's exposure to fuel price shocks is set out in Grants, Schemes and Household Energy Independence.
What happens next
Nesta says the government could shift levies off electricity bills in the upcoming Budget and confirm a new scheme to help low-income households1. No date for that Budget is given in these sources. The government is consulting on reforming consumer protection for home upgrade schemes, and DESNZ plans to require more structured and detailed installers' self-audits before sign-offs4. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant has been officially extended until 31 March 20304, and the Future Homes Standards come into force on 24 March 20274.
Sources4 cited
- Surge in heat pump applications driven by oil price fears | Nesta, nesta.org.uk
- Surge in heat pump applications driven by oil price fears | Nesta, nesta.org.uk
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - GOV.UK, gov.uk
- Five things the UK government should do to boost confidence in heat pumps | Nesta, nesta.org.uk