Boiler Upgrade Scheme

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) supports the decarbonisation of homes and small non-domestic buildings in England and Wales. The scheme provides upfront capital grants of £5000 or £6000 to encourage property owners to replace existing fossil fuel heating with more efficient, low carbon heating systems including heat pumps and biomass boilers.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme provides grants to encourage property owners to replace existing fossil fuel heating with more efficient, low carbon heating systems including air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps and, in limited circumstances, biomass boilers.

You can get:

• £5,000 off the cost and installation of an air source heat pump

• £5,000 off the cost and installation of a biomass boiler

• £6,000 off the cost and installation of a ground source heat pump

These grants help property owners overcome the upfront cost of installing a low carbon heating system.

How to apply

The application is installer-led, with the installer applying for the grant on the property owner’s behalf. Your chosen installer will need to be certified by the Microgeneration Certification System (MCS), a nationally recognised standards organisation that gives you assurance of the quality of your product and competence of your installer. It also ensures that your installer complies with high consumer protection standards.

You can find an MCS certified installer in your area here: www.mcscertified.com/find-an-installer/

• your property must be a home or small non-domestic building in England or Wales. The maximum installation capacity of 45kWth covers the vast majority of these properties.

• your property must have a valid energy performance certificate with no outstanding recommendations for loft or cavity wall insulation. (There are some exceptions to this, please speak to your installer for further information).

• the commissioning date of your low carbon heating system must be on or after 1 April 2022.

• biomass boilers are only eligible in properties that are both in a rural location and not connected to the gas grid. Heat pumps do not have either of these restrictions.

• you must be fully replacing an existing fossil fuel system such as an oil or gas boiler, or an electric heating system such as storage or panel heaters. Funding will not be available for the replacement of existing low carbon heat systems.

• you can still apply if you’ve received separate funding for energy efficiency upgrades such as insulation, doors or windows.

• new-build homes and social housing are not eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, although self-build properties are eligible.