The regions compared
Every figure below is from an official table and covers the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to the end of September 2026 unless stated. “Grants paid” means installations for which the grant has been paid. The per-10,000 rate is DESNZ’s figure for domestic grants paid per 10,000 households (ONS 2025 household counts). It is the fairer way to compare a large region such as the South East with a small one such as the North East, but it is not the count shown divided by households: the count includes non-domestic installations and biomass boilers and the rate does not, so the two cannot be reproduced from each other.
| Region | Grants paid (all) | Domestic grants per 10,000 households | Oil share of fuel replaced | Homes without gas (DESNZ estimate) | Applications, Jul and Aug 2026 | Lead authority entries on the GOV.UK Warm Homes: Local Grant list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North East | 3,033 | 25.3 | 11.7% | 7.5% | 624 | 9 |
| North West | 8,013 | 24.4 | 10.1% | 10.4% | 1,680 | 4 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 8,896 | 37.4 | 12.1% | 10.8% | 1,674 | 11 |
| East Midlands | 9,439 | 44.2 | 15.5% | 11.8% | 1,351 | 5 |
| West Midlands | 7,298 | 28.8 | 17.8% | 13.4% | 1,395 | 2 |
| East of England | 13,128 | 48.5 | 23.5% | 20.3% | 2,012 | 16 |
| London | 5,419 | 14.6 | 0.9% | 20.0% | 938 | 2 |
| South East | 19,069 | 48.1 | 15.3% | 15.6% | 2,343 | 14 |
| South West | 17,168 | 66.6 | 23.7% | 24.2% | 2,500 | 9 |
| England | 91,463 | 37.4 | 16.6% | 15.6% | 14,517 | – |
Sources: DESNZ Boiler Upgrade Scheme statistics, September 2026 (Tables 1.2A and 1.2B, read 31 October 2026) and August 2026 (Table A1.9 summed over financial years 2022/23 to 2025/26, and M1.2); DESNZ subnational estimates of properties not connected to the gas network, 2024; GOV.UK Warm Homes: Local Grant list, updated 2 July 2026. The August tables, off-gas estimates and grant list were read 8 October 2026. The Midlands Net Zero Hub leads a single consortium of 47 councils across the East and West Midlands and northern Lincolnshire, so it is not counted in any region’s total. Lead entries are not comparable between regions: some cover dozens of councils (the Greater London Authority and Portsmouth consortia, 31 councils each) and some one, and the Greater Manchester and West Midlands combined authorities are absent because they were funded through a separate programme, so the North West and West Midlands counts are understated.
Patterns in the data
The South West leads by a distance. It has had 66.6 grants paid per 10,000 households, about 1.8 times England’s 37.4, and it also has the highest oil share of fuel replaced (23.7%) and the highest estimated share of homes without gas (24.2%). The East of England follows on both measures (48.5 per 10,000 households, 23.5% oil). That is consistent with the scheme being most used where homes are off the gas grid, but the statistics themselves do not state a cause, and DESNZ notes that the number and type of eligible properties vary by region.
The gap between volume and rate. The South East has the most grants in total (19,069), but its rate of 48.1 per 10,000 households is third. Totals favour big regions; rates show where the scheme has gone furthest.
The lowest take-up is in two very different places. London has the lowest rate (14.6), and the North East the lowest total (3,033). They have little else in common: London’s installations replaced gas 86.9% of the time and oil 0.9%, while the North East is also gas-led. London’s DESNZ off-gas estimate of 20.0% sits oddly next to its 0.9% oil share, and the London guide sets out how that estimate is built and what it can and cannot tell you.
Growth in applications is uneven. Between August 2025 and August 2026, applications grew fastest in the North West (274%), Yorkshire and the Humber (231%) and the West Midlands (199%), against 117% for England, and slowest in the South East (49%) and South West (68%). August 2026 falls within the first weeks of the £9,000 band (open from 21 July 2026), and August 2025 is a small base, so treat these as the effect of a changed scheme, not a settled trend. DESNZ does not report use of the band by region, so we do not attribute any regional change to it.
Region guides
Guides exist so far for London (the lowest take-up) and the South West (the highest), the two extremes in the data. The other seven regions appear in the table and list below without a guide. Each guide uses the same sourced measures as the table, then adds the counties or boroughs with the most installations, the Warm Homes: Local Grant lead authorities, what we could confirm about the electricity network operators, and its own region-specific detail. We have not written pages for individual towns: the figures that exist are for regions, counties and councils, and a town page would only repeat them.
- North East: 3,033 grants paid, 25.3 domestic grants per 10,000 households
- North West: 8,013 grants paid, 24.4 domestic grants per 10,000 households
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 8,896 grants paid, 37.4 domestic grants per 10,000 households
- East Midlands: 9,439 grants paid, 44.2 domestic grants per 10,000 households
- West Midlands: 7,298 grants paid, 28.8 domestic grants per 10,000 households
- East of England: 13,128 grants paid, 48.5 domestic grants per 10,000 households
- Heat pump grants in London: 5,419 grants paid, 14.6 domestic grants per 10,000 households
- South East: 19,069 grants paid, 48.1 domestic grants per 10,000 households
- Heat pump grants in South West: 17,168 grants paid, 66.6 domestic grants per 10,000 households
If you are in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, the picture is different: Scotland has its own scheme and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not operate in Northern Ireland. See heat pump grants by country. For the national rules on who qualifies, read are you eligible?, and for what you will pay after the grant, heat pump installation cost.
Where the figures come from
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme figures come from DESNZ’s monthly statistics release (published 29 October 2026; data to the end of September 2026), which uses Ofgem application data and the ONS postcode lookup to place each installation in a region. The off-gas estimate is a separate DESNZ release published on 18 December 2025. DESNZ says there is no definitive source for homes not on the gas grid, so it subtracts domestic gas meters from the count of domestic properties. It is not the test Ofgem applies to an individual home: for the £9,000 band the property must have no record of a gas meter point and the installer supplies evidence such as an EPC or fuel bills, which Ofgem assesses. The council list is from GOV.UK and groups lead authorities by region using our own reading of council geography, since GOV.UK does not give a region field.
Nothing here is a quote or a promise that a council scheme has funds. It also does not tell you whether a heat pump suits your house. For that you need a survey by a certified installer, ideally comparing three quotes.