How to apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme

Who applies: the installer, not you

GOV.UK says the installer applies on your behalf, and Ofgem’s guidance adds that the scheme is installer-led. The installer applies for a voucher worth the grant, fits the system, then redeems the voucher. Ofgem pays the installer, and you pay only the balance.

Three practical things follow. You need an installer before anything else happens, so the application is really the last paperwork in a longer journey that starts with choosing one. The installer must be certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) for the technology you are having fitted, and be a member of a government-approved consumer code. And the grant never passes through your hands, which is why the regulations in force from 28 April 2026 require it to be deducted upfront.

The application, step by step

Step 1: Get quotes from MCS-certified installers

Ask for at least two or three. Each should survey the property, calculate heat loss room by room and give a written quote. Ofgem’s guidance says the quote must show the value of the grant and what remains for you to pay once it is deducted. If you are off the gas grid and replacing oil or LPG, the quote should show £9,000 rather than £7,500 for applications made up to 31 March 2027. If the discount is missing, Ofgem asks you to contact its scheme enquiries team before going further. Our quotes checklist lists what a good quote contains, and finding heat pump installers covers shortlisting.

Step 2: The installer applies for a voucher

When you agree to go ahead, the installer submits the voucher application with your name and contact details, the installation address, the chosen system, what it replaces, the quote with the grant deducted, whether the property is on the gas grid, and the EPC reference if there is one. Without a valid EPC they provide other evidence, such as a recent utility bill or photographs of the existing heating system. Eligibility explains why an EPC is no longer a condition.

Step 3: You confirm consent

Ofgem’s own wording is that after the installer submits an application, it will contact you to confirm your consent and verify your identity. Eligibility is assessed from the evidence your installer supplies. You have 14 days from that email. If you miss it the application may be rejected and the installer would have to begin again. The assisted telephone or postal route gets 28 days. Look in your spam folder; this is the single most common reason for delay, and it is entirely avoidable. Confirming consent does not bind you to the installer.

Step 4: Ofgem issues the voucher

If the application is approved, Ofgem issues a voucher to the installer and the clock starts. The work must be finished, commissioned and redeemed within 3 months for air-to-water heat pumps, air-to-air heat pumps and biomass boilers, or 6 months for ground source. If the job cannot be completed in time the installer may need to withdraw the voucher and apply again, which means a fresh consent step from you.

GOV.UK’s eligibility page uses 120-day wording that does not match Ofgem’s guidance. Ofgem’s rules are the voucher validity above (3 months, or 6 for ground source) and, for a retrospective application, a properly made application within 120 days of commissioning. Ask the installer to write the planned installation date down so that it sits well inside the voucher period.

Step 5: Installation and commissioning

The installer fits the system to MCS standards and commissions it. Keep the MCS certificate, commissioning and handover documents, the quote, the invoice and proof of payment, because Ofgem may ask to see them during checks. What the installation days look like is covered in the installation process guide.

Step 6: Redemption and payment

The installer redeems the voucher and Ofgem pays them the grant. You pay the balance on your invoice as agreed. By the end of September 2026, 96,611 redemptions had been paid.

Boiler Upgrade Scheme login and tracking your application

Many people searching for a Boiler Upgrade Scheme login are trying to find out where their application has got to. This is what the official pages we read on 8 October 2026 show:

• The installer is the user of Ofgem’s application system. They submit the voucher application and later the redemption. That is the step a login is for.
• The owner’s step is the consent email. GOV.UK and Ofgem’s property owner pages describe no owner account to create or sign in to; they describe Ofgem contacting you.
• To see progress, ask the installer. They can see whether the application has been submitted, consented, approved and redeemed.
• For a query Ofgem has to answer, its scheme enquiries address is BUS.enquiry@ofgem.gov.uk. Give your name, the property address and the installer’s name.

If Ofgem later adds an owner-facing account, the official property owner page is where it would be announced, and we would update this section. Do not enter your details into any site that offers to “log in and release your grant”: see heat pump grant scams.

Timings at a glance

If you are stuck: who to contact, in order

1. The installer. Ask for the application status in writing: submitted, awaiting consent, approved or redeemed.
2. Your own inbox. Search for Ofgem, the installer’s name and the word “consent”. If the address on file is wrong, only the installer can correct it, so ask them to.
3. Ofgem’s scheme enquiries team at the address above, if the installer cannot help or the consent email will not open.
4. The installer’s consumer code, if the delay is the installer’s conduct rather than the scheme. Complaints and consumer codes sets out each route.

Do not pay a deposit larger than your contract requires in order to “keep the voucher alive”, and do not agree to start work before consent has been given unless you have read what your contract says happens if the application fails.

Checks and scams

GOV.UK warns that Ofgem might contact you by phone or visit to check the installation, and that MCS might carry out its own checks. That is routine anti-fraud work. Ofgem’s guidance asks owners to allow access if their application is selected for audit, to tell the installer promptly if details such as ownership change, and to keep the key documents. A landlord is expected to have told the tenant about the installation. Be wary of anyone who contacts you claiming to be from the scheme and asks for money: the grant is paid to the installer, not by you.

Retrospective applications

Installers can apply for a voucher after a system has been commissioned, provided the application is properly made within 120 days of commissioning. Ofgem is clear that this carries additional risk: applying afterwards does not guarantee that the installation is eligible or that a grant will be paid. If an installer suggests fitting first and applying later, ask what happens to your bill if the application fails, and get the answer in the contract.

If an application is rejected or a voucher revoked

Only the installer can ask Ofgem to review a decision, and it must do so within 28 days of the notice. If a quote had the grant deducted and the application is refused, whether the installer can ask you for the deducted amount depends on the contract you agreed. Problems with the installation or the installer’s conduct go to the installer first, then to their consumer code. Complaints about how Ofgem ran the scheme go to Ofgem, and complaints about the rules go to DESNZ.

Before you ask for quotes

Know what a reasonable quote looks like. At the DESNZ median of £12,826 for an air source heat pump, the balance after a £7,500 grant is £5,326, and after £9,000 it is £3,826. Your quote will differ with the house, the cylinder and the radiators; the calculator below lets you enter it. See air source heat pump costs after the grant for what moves the number.