Grant checker · four questions
Check which grant rule fits your home
Question 1 of 4
Every rule the checker uses
The checker is a shortcut through the published rules, not a replacement for them. Here is each question, and what turns on it.
1. Where the property is
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme covers England and Wales. In Scotland, Home Energy Scotland runs a separate scheme: it lists a grant of up to £7,500 for heat pumps, an optional interest-free loan of up to £7,500 and £1,500 more for rural and island homes, with its own conditions. In Northern Ireland the scheme is not open, and GOV.UK lists the Northern Ireland Boiler Replacement Scheme as closed.
2. Who owns it
The grant goes to the property owner. A home you live in, a second home, a let and business premises all qualify. A private tenant cannot apply, but their landlord can, for the property they own. Social housing is excluded. A property that has already had government funding for a heat pump or biomass boiler cannot get it again: the rule is one grant per property.
3. What heats it now
The heat pump must replace an existing fossil fuel or electric heating system: gas, oil, LPG, electric or coal. Two answers change the outcome. Oil or LPG with no mains gas connection opens the £9,000 rate, for applications made between 21 July 2026 and 31 March 2027. And a property with no heating yet is a new build: most new builds by developers are excluded, while self-builds can apply as long as the property has never been owned by a business.
4. What you want to fit
Air source (air-to-water) and ground or water source heat pumps get £7,500. Air-to-air heat pumps get £2,500, for homes only, since 28 April 2026. Biomass boilers get £5,000 in rural homes off the gas grid, with an emissions certificate, and not for self-builds. A hybrid, where a heat pump works with a boiler, is not covered. A single system can be up to 45 kWth.
After the checker
If the rules fit, the next step is quotes from installers who are MCS certified for the technology you want: you can search the MCS directory. Whoever you choose makes the application; when Ofgem emails you, confirm within 14 days. Our page on how the grant is paid follows it through to the bill.
If the checker says the scheme does not cover you, the page on what the grant does not cover explains why, and lower-income households in England can ask their council about the Warm Homes: Local Grant, which has its own rules and is run locally.
If your answer was close to a line, such as a capped gas meter or a property recently converted, ask through the form below and we will point you to the rule that applies.
Worked cases
These are illustrative examples of how the rules apply, not decisions on real homes.
A cottage on oil with a capped gas meter
The owner wants an air source heat pump. The property was once connected to gas, and the meter was capped years ago. Because Ofgem counts a capped meter as a connection, the higher rate does not apply: the rule that fits is £7,500.
A landlord replacing a gas boiler in a let flat
The landlord owns the flat and the tenant lives there. Lets are covered, so the £7,500 rule fits if the heat pump replaces the boiler completely. The landlord, not the tenant, confirms the application with Ofgem.
A self-build with no heating yet
Nothing is being replaced, but self-builds can apply if the property has never been owned by a business. An air source heat pump would fall under the £7,500 rule; a biomass boiler would not be covered, because the biomass grant excludes self-builds.
A small business wanting air-to-air in its office
Business premises are covered for air source and ground source heat pumps, but the £2,500 air-to-air grant is for homes only. An air-to-air system in the office is not covered; an air-to-water system would be.
Each case turns on one fact that is easy to overlook: a meter, an owner, a property's history, a building's use. That is why the checker asks what it does, and why it is worth telling installers about anything unusual when you ask for quotes.
If the checker points towards the grant, the pages it draws on give the detail: who qualifies sets out the ownership and heating conditions, how much you get covers the amounts, and how the grant is paid follows the steps from quote to voucher.