Boiler Upgrade Scheme Statistics: Vouchers, Applications and Uptake

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is the government's grant programme for heat pumps and biomass boilers in England and Wales, and its statistics are the official record of how many households have actually used it. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes the figures, which show "the uptake of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to date including the number of vouchers applications and redemptions, as well as the costs of installation"¹. The data itself comes from Ofgem, the scheme administrator². The scheme provides upfront capital grants of up to £7,500 to help property owners replace fossil fuel heating³.

The headline story in the numbers is steady growth. Quarterly installations have risen from around 4,700 in early 2024⁴ to 7,738 in the third quarter of 2025⁵, with a marked jump following the increase in the grant to £7,500². The statistics are published as full official statistics, having carried an "in development" label in their early years, and the series has been released regularly since August 2022⁶.

The source of the statistics and their release schedule

Two organisations publish Boiler Upgrade Scheme figures, and they serve different purposes. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes the official statistics series, which is listed on the national data catalogue with the series' full release history: the earliest release listed is 25 August 2022 and the most recent update was 27 August 2026⁶. The July 2026 edition is described as a "statistical release on Boiler Upgrade Scheme statistics for the estimation of capital grant uptake to support the installations of low carbon technologies in domestic and non-domestic buildings"¹.

Ofgem, as administrator, publishes its own scheme reports. Its guidance for installers states that "we are required to publish quarterly and annual reports on our website" and that "we aim to publish monthly operational updates"⁸. The quarterly reports track defined reporting periods: issue 17 covers the period from 1 May 2026 to 31 July 2026¹⁰, and the annual report for 2025-26 sits alongside it¹¹. Ofgem administers the scheme on behalf of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority⁹.

The statistical status of the series has changed over time, which matters for how the figures should be read. The June 2024 and September 2024 releases were published as "official statistics in development because they are a new statistics series"¹². That label was later removed: the statistics are now published as full official statistics with effect from February 2025⁶. The early releases state their purpose plainly, to inform users about uptake and to enable feedback and further methodological development¹², which is a reminder that the early figures were produced while the series was still settling.

For context on how official statistics earn and lose labels, see how to read UK energy statistics, and for the wider picture of who publishes what, who publishes UK home energy data.

Quarterly installation counts and how they are revised

The quarterly installation counts show a scheme that grew sharply and then held a higher level. The table below sets out the figures as they appeared in the heat pump deployment quarterly statistics, which report Boiler Upgrade Scheme installations alongside other certified installations.

Two things stand out. The first is the step change between the middle of 2024 and the end of that year, from around 4,700 per quarter to above 7,000, a level the scheme has broadly held since⁴. The second is that the figures are revised, sometimes more than once, and the revisions run in both directions. The 2024 fourth-quarter figure has appeared as 7,422, 7,414 and 7,385 in successive publications¹⁶, and the 2025 first-quarter figure as 7,266, 7,311 and 7,258¹⁵. Anyone quoting a single quarter should use the most recent release and expect the number to have shifted from what earlier coverage reported.

The scheme's own history explains the growth. It opened on 23 May 2022¹⁸, and the government's press coverage of the grant increase reported weekly applications from the start of the scheme and delivery figures up to 31 October 2023¹⁹. The clearest single driver of the jump in late 2024 was the increase in the grant value, after which applications surged¹⁹. For the wider heat pump market these grants sit within, see UK heat pump installation statistics, and for the scheme's share of all installations, what share of heat pump installations use the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

Grant size, installer numbers and funding as drivers of the data

Three forces shape the uptake figures: the size of the grant, the capacity of the installer base, and the budget rules that cap how many vouchers can be issued.

The grant value is the most visible lever. The scheme provides £7,500 off the cost and installation of an air source heat pump and £5,000 off a biomass boiler³, with £2,500 grants for air-to-air heat pumps⁷. The government reported a surge in applications after the grant was increased¹⁹, which is the pattern visible in the quarterly table above. From 21 July 2026, eligible off-gas-grid properties replacing oil or LPG heating can apply for an uplifted grant of £9,000 for an air-to-water or ground source heat pump, a value in place until 31 March 2027⁸. The Secretary of State may review grant values at any time, and any change is preceded by a grant change notice published at least 28 days before it takes effect⁹.

The installer base has grown alongside demand. Ofgem's annual report for 2025-26 records "a growing base of 1,789 installers" supported by the scheme service¹¹. The scheme is installer-led: MCS certified installers apply for and redeem vouchers on behalf of property owners, so the headline numbers measure installer activity as much as household appetite¹¹. That structure means the national figures depend on how many firms are actively working the scheme, and a change in their throughput moves the totals.

The budget rules set hard limits. The scheme had an initial budget of £150m per financial year for 2022 to 2025⁸, and Ofgem cannot issue any new vouchers once the budget threshold has been met, with voucher issuance managed against quarterly caps beginning 1 April, 1 July, 1 October and 1 January⁹. Unspent budget is not carried over to the next scheme year²⁰, so a quiet quarter does not build up headroom for the next one. Queue position for the budget is based on when a voucher application is deemed properly made⁹. On the eligibility side, the rules are strict about what is being replaced: the existing system must be a fossil fuel heating system, such as gas, oil or LPG, or an electric heating system, excluding existing heat pumps.

Regional uptake in England and Wales, and approaches elsewhere

The scheme's territorial extent is fixed: it is open to people in England and Wales²¹, and only properties in England and Wales are eligible for funding⁸. Every release in the statistics series carries the same note, "Applies to England and Wales"¹². Scotland and Northern Ireland are outside the scheme altogether, so households there cannot apply for these grants; heat pump deployment in those nations is captured only in the wider UK deployment statistics, which report installations across all four nations¹⁵. Separate pages cover heat pumps in Scotland, heat pumps in Wales and heat pumps in Northern Ireland.

Within England and Wales, the geography of uptake is more even than many assume. The July 2026 statistics record that "there has been an almost even split between installations in urban and rural areas, 51% urban to 49% rural"². That balance partly reflects the scheme's design: biomass boilers may only be installed in properties in rural areas not connected to the gas grid⁸, while the standard grant is available everywhere, and the new £9,000 uplift is aimed specifically at off-gas-grid homes heated by oil or LPG⁸. For the broader pattern behind that split, see renewable installation uptake: rural versus urban homes.

The property mix is overwhelmingly domestic. In the first scheme year, 99.6% of installations were in domestic properties¹¹, even though the scheme also covers small and medium non-domestic buildings²². Self-build properties play an outsized role: they accounted for 14.5% of total installations as reported in Ofgem's quarterly report of August 2025¹⁸, and in the first scheme year an additional 15.9% of installations involved no heating system being replaced, all of which were in eligible self-build properties⁴. Self-builds are eligible for heat pumps only, not biomass⁸.

The framework governing the data

The statistics count vouchers, and the voucher rules determine what can be counted. The grant application is a two-stage process: the installer submits a voucher application, Ofgem issues the voucher, the installer then submits a voucher redemption application, and the installer receives the grant payment²⁰. The application must be properly made within 120 days of the commissioning date⁸, a rule on which Ofgem has given greater clarity in its guidance for property owners²³. Voucher validity periods cannot be extended under any circumstances, though Ofgem may grant an extension to the 120-day rule where its own administrative decisions have delayed a re-application⁹.

Eligibility rules frame who appears in the data at all:

• The property must be in England or Wales, and the installer must be certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS)³.
• The retrofit installation must replace an existing fossil fuel heating system, such as gas, oil or LPG, or an electric heating system that does not include a heat pump⁸.
• From 28 April 2026, properties are no longer required to have a valid Energy Performance Certificate to apply⁸; before that change an EPC no more than ten years old was needed⁹.
• Social housing, including shared ownership properties, is not eligible⁸, and new build properties still being built by a developer are not eligible²⁵.
• Only one voucher can be redeemed per property, and a property that has already received a BUS grant is not eligible again⁸.
• Hybrid heat pump systems combining a fossil fuel boiler with a heat pump cannot be funded²⁶.

The technologies funded are air-to-water heat pumps, air-to-air heat pumps, ground source heat pumps including water source heat pumps and shared ground loops, and biomass boilers⁸. Capacity is capped at 45 kWth for an individual heat pump system, 70 kWth for a multi heat pump system and 300 kWth total for shared ground loop systems, with each connected heat pump not exceeding 45 kWth⁸. Heat pumps must achieve an in-situ seasonal coefficient of performance of at least 2.8⁸, must provide 100% of the property's space heating needs, and must have electric-driven compressors⁹. The grant categories and values are set under Regulation 13 of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (England and Wales) Regulations 2022²⁷.

The payment mechanics explain the figures households actually see. Installers must deduct the full grant value from the quote before any payment is made by the property owner⁸. Ofgem operates a weekly payment schedule, with payments usually made within five working days of approval, by BACS transfer into UK bank accounts⁹. Installers must keep all documentation for six years from the date the application was properly made, and Ofgem can conduct site or desk audits at any point after an application, including after grant payment⁸.

Gaps in what the statistics reveal

The statistics are a count of scheme activity, not a measure of the heat pump market, and the gap between the two is worth understanding. The figures count vouchers issued and redeemed under this one scheme in England and Wales. They do not include installations funded any other way, self-funded installations, or anything in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the scheme does not run²¹. The wider deployment statistics exist precisely because the scheme data alone understates total uptake¹⁵.

The numbers also do not settle what households pay. The statistics include the costs of installation¹, but the grant is a fixed amount against a price that is installer-quoted, and the figures cannot tell an individual household what their own installation would cost. The scheme's rules add further blind spots: hybrid systems are excluded²⁶, so a household keeping a fossil fuel boiler alongside a heat pump does not appear in the data at all, and air-to-air heat pumps carry only a £2,500 grant and are limited to residential properties⁷.

Revisions are a permanent feature. As the table above shows, a quarter's figure can be restated twice, and the direction of revision is not consistent¹⁶. The early releases carried the "official statistics in development" label for exactly this reason¹². The budget rules create their own distortions: because unspent budget is not carried over to the next scheme year²⁰, and voucher issuance stops once the threshold is met⁹, a quarter's count can reflect budget timing as much as demand. And because the scheme is installer-led, with MCS certified installers applying for and redeeming vouchers on behalf of property owners, the national figures can move on the decisions of firms rather than a broad shift in household behaviour.

Finally, the voucher count is not the same as a working installation count at any moment. A voucher issued is a commitment; a voucher redeemed is an installation completed and paid. The gap between the two, and the 120-day window around commissioning⁸, mean the monthly figures lag the reality on the ground by design.

Scheme participation and its effect on household energy self sufficiency

Read through the lens of energy independence, the statistics describe a large but partial shift. Each redeemed voucher represents a household that has replaced a fossil fuel boiler, and with it a dependence on gas mains, oil deliveries or LPG, with an electric heat pump. That removes the fossil fuel supply chain from the home's heating, but it does not remove dependence altogether: the heat pump needs electricity from the grid, and the household remains a customer of an electricity supplier whose prices move with the wholesale market. The scheme changes the form of dependence rather than ending it.

The rules shape what independence is achievable. A BUS-funded heat pump must fully replace the existing fossil fuel or electric heating system⁹, so a household cannot keep a gas boiler as backup under the grant, although from 28 April 2026 heat pumps can be installed alongside supplementary heating appliances provided these are not fossil fuel based⁸. Heat pumps that integrate with solar photovoltaic systems are eligible under the scheme⁹, which is the one route within the rules towards reducing the household's remaining grid dependence, pairing the funded heat pump with own-generation. For the deployment data on that pairing, see MCS installation statistics and UK solar PV deployment statistics.

The scheme's own limits are time-bound and budget-bound. It opened on 23 May 2022 and is scheduled to close on 30 December 2029³, having been extended to 2030 as of 28 April 2026⁸. The uplifted £9,000 grant for off-gas-grid homes runs only until 31 March 2027⁸. Grant values can be reviewed by the Secretary of State at any time, with 28 days' notice⁹. A household reading the uptake statistics as a signal of when to act should note that the numbers describe a scheme whose terms have already changed several times and will change again.

For the households the scheme has reached, the figures record a real transfer: 99.6% of first-year installations were in domestic properties¹¹, and the grant is deducted from the quote in full before any payment⁸. For those it has not reached, in Scotland, Northern Ireland, social housing or new builds still under construction, the statistics are a map of where public support currently stops. The wider picture of how all these schemes add up to household energy independence is set out in what the data says about household energy independence, and the full range of home energy data is collected in UK home energy statistics.