How much you get
The grant is set by the technology and, for heat pumps, by what is being replaced. The figures below are the ones on GOV.UK’s “what you can get” page, which we last read on 8 October 2026.
| Situation | Grant | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Air-to-water heat pump, home with mains gas or other fuel | £7,500 | The standard rate |
| Air-to-water, no mains gas connection, oil or LPG being replaced | £9,000 | The standard £7,500 plus £1,500, for applications up to 31 March 2027 |
| Air-to-water, no mains gas, direct-electric heating being replaced | £7,500 | The extra £1,500 is for oil and LPG only |
| Air-to-air heat pump (homes only) | £2,500 | A different product: warm air, no radiators or hot water. DESNZ recorded 0 air-to-air vouchers issued by end September 2026, so ask installers |
The scheme set the standard rate at £7,500 from 23 October 2023. Before that, the air source rate was £5,000. Ground source sits on the same £7,500 rate; see the ground source grant. The full matrix is on grant amounts.
Who the grant is for
The core test on GOV.UK is ownership plus replacement: you own the property, and the heat pump replaces fossil fuel heating (oil, gas, LPG) or electric heating. Beyond that, GOV.UK’s eligibility page lists the cases people ask about most:
- Second homes and rentals: eligible, if you own the property.
- Finished new builds with a fossil fuel boiler: may be eligible. A new build that a developer is still building is not.
- Self-builds: eligible where the property was built by the owner or on their behalf and never owned by a business or organisation.
- Social housing: not eligible.
- Hybrid systems: GOV.UK says there is no grant for a hybrid heat pump system, for example a gas boiler combined with an air source heat pump.
- Existing low-carbon heating: you cannot use the grant to replace it.
There is no EPC requirement since 28 April 2026, and the old insulation condition was removed on 8 May 2024. A fuller property-by-property list is on the eligibility page. The system size limit for a single heat pump is 45 kWth, which covers every ordinary home.
A common worry about air source is the winter. The trial data is in do heat pumps work in cold weather.
How it is claimed, step by step
- Survey and quote. You ask MCS-certified installers for quotes. A good quote follows a heat-loss calculation for your home.
- Installer applies. Your chosen installer submits the application to Ofgem for a voucher.
- You confirm. Ofgem emails you to check you agree to the application. Ofgem’s guidance expects a reply within 14 days.
- Voucher issued. An air source voucher is valid for 3 months in which the installation has to be completed and commissioned.
- Install and redeem. Once the installation is commissioned, the installer redeems the voucher and receives the grant from Ofgem.
The detail, including what to do if the email does not arrive, is on how to apply. Of the 96,611 grants paid by end of September 2026, 98% were for air-to-water heat pumps, and only 421 were for biomass boilers.
Where it shows on your quote
The grant is “deducted upfront”, meaning your quote shows the full installed price, a line subtracting the Boiler Upgrade Scheme amount, and the balance you pay. If an installer asks you to pay the full price and promises to claim it back for you, that is not how the scheme is set up; read the installer’s terms and ask them to put the deduction in writing. The quotes checklist lists what else belongs on the page, and the MCS guide explains how to check the installer is certified before you sign.
Illustrative example
This table uses the official median installed cost for an air-to-water heat pump (including the grant value, 2026 Q3) from DESNZ statistics. It is an illustration of arithmetic, not a quote for any home.
| Item | Standard grant | Oil or LPG, no mains gas |
|---|---|---|
| Median installed cost (DESNZ, 2026 Q3) | £12,826 | £12,826 |
| Grant deducted on the quote | − £7,500 | − £9,000 |
| Balance to pay | £5,326 | £3,826 |
The Energy Saving Trust gives “around £12,000” as a typical air source cost (page updated 23 September 2026). Actual prices depend on the house, radiators and cylinder; the cost page goes through them and the calculator below lets you change the figures.
What you would pay after the grant
No details needed. Change any figure to match your own quote or bills. Results are indicative — an MCS installer’s heat-loss survey and written quote are what count.
£5,326
Payable by you on this quote. The grant is deducted on the quote and invoice — you never receive it as cash.
Default quote = the official median installed cost for 2026 Q3 (DESNZ, published 29 October 2026), which includes the grant value. VAT on installing a heat pump in a home is 0% until 31 March 2027, then 5%.
What it can be combined with
- 0% VAT: installation of a heat pump in a home is 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, then 5% (VAT Notice 708/6). That is separate from the grant and applies on top of it. See VAT on heat pumps.
- A top-up loan: the Warm Homes Loan Scheme rules say a borrower applying for a Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant can apply to a participating lender for a loan covering costs above the grant. The scheme caps an air-to-water loan at £20,000 before the grant is deducted (the rules say air-to-air units are not currently eligible for the loan). The government contribution goes to lenders, who must pass it on through a lower interest rate; the rules do not promise a particular rate. See heat pump finance.
- Insulation funding: GOV.UK says earlier funding for insulation does not stop you claiming.
- Other funding for the heat pump itself: not both. A property that has already been given government funding or support for a heat pump is not eligible. Other heat pump funding compares the routes.
What it does not cover
The grant does not cover a hybrid system, a replacement for an existing heat pump, social housing, or running costs. It also does not make a poor design acceptable: the grant is the same whether the system runs at a seasonal efficiency of 2.8 or 3.8, and that difference shows up in your electricity bill, not your quote. Our running-cost guide uses the current Ofgem cap to show the gap. More exclusions are on what the grant does not cover.
On timing, GOV.UK’s grants finder lists 30 December 2029 as the closing date (Ofgem’s installer guidance gives 31 December 2029 as the last date it can issue vouchers), but the money is released on an annual budget. Ofgem’s monthly update showed a remaining-budget figure of £199,563,000 as at 9 September 2026, which still includes applications and vouchers not yet redeemed. That is a snapshot, and the end date and budget page explains how to read it.
Check your situation
Which air source heat pump grant would apply?
Six quick answers; contact details are optional and only needed if you want us to reply by email. Indicative only — your MCS installer checks eligibility and Ofgem makes the decision.
Likely £7,500
Owner-occupied home in England on mains gas replacing the boiler with an air-to-water heat pump.
Rules: GOV.UK “Apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme” and Ofgem’s property owner guidance (v5.1). Grant bands from the notice of grant categories updated 21 July 2026.
Honest questions about the air source heat pump grant
“Do I have to pay the £7,500 back, or is it a loan?”
It is a grant, not a loan. The installer applies for a voucher on your behalf and the amount comes off the price on your quote, so you are only asked to pay the balance. You do not repay it. The voucher is only redeemed once the system is installed and commissioned, which is why the installer, not you, carries the paperwork.
The grant is not unlimited: the budget is annual and first come, first served, so the scheme can in principle be short of money in a given year.
“I heard the grant is going to run out, so I have to sign today.”
Nothing on the official pages creates a signing deadline. GOV.UK’s grants finder lists 30 December 2029 as the closing date, and Ofgem’s installer guidance gives 31 December 2029 as the last date it can issue vouchers. The dated points that matter are narrower: the extra £1,500 for oil and LPG homes runs for applications to 31 March 2027, and the 0% VAT rate on installation runs to 31 March 2027. A quote should be compared on its merits, not signed under pressure.
“My house is old and has no insulation. Will I be turned down?”
The insulation condition was removed on 8 May 2024, and since 28 April 2026 there is no EPC requirement either. Whether a heat pump will run well in your house is a separate question, answered by a room-by-room heat-loss calculation, not by the grant rules.
A poorly insulated home may need larger radiators or some fabric work for the system to run efficiently, which can add to the bill.
“Can I use the grant and then top up with another government grant?”
GOV.UK says you cannot get the grant if the property has already been given government funding or support for a heat pump or biomass boiler. Funding for insulation does not count against you. If another scheme is paying for the heat pump itself, you use that scheme or this one, not both: Ofgem’s installer guidance (3.36) makes a heat pump ineligible if it has been promoted under ECO or has received any other grant from public funds towards its purchase or installation. See other heat pump funding.
What happens next
If the checker points to a grant, the useful next step is two or three written quotes from MCS-certified installers, each showing the grant as a deduction. Your enquiry comes to SEO-DONS LTD, the publisher of this guide, and we reply by email. It asks for contact details only because installers need them to reply; nothing else is promised about availability or price.