The Boiler Upgrade Scheme normally pays £7,500 towards an air-to-water or ground source heat pump. Since 21 July 2026 there has been a higher rate of £9,000 for off-gas-grid properties replacing a heating system fuelled by oil or LPG. Ofgem states that the higher rate is available until 31 March 2027.
That matters here more than it does in most of the country. Grantham has mains gas. A great deal of the county around it does not, and runs on an oil tank in the garden or a bank of LPG bottles. If that is your property, this page is about you.
Sources: Ofgem, “Boiler Upgrade Scheme: Guidance for Property Owners”, version 5.1, checked 3 September 2026, https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/guidance/boiler-upgrade-scheme-guidance-property-owners; GOV.UK, “Apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme”, checked 3 September 2026, https://www.gov.uk/apply-boiler-upgrade-scheme
What the higher rate is, and what it is not
It is £9,000 instead of £7,500 towards an air-to-water heat pump, or a ground source heat pump. It is not a separate scheme, it is not a separate application, and there is no additional form. It is the same Boiler Upgrade Scheme, paid at a higher value where the property qualifies.
Everything else about the scheme is unchanged, and the two things that matter most about it are still true. It is installer-led, so an MCS certified installer applies to Ofgem on your behalf and the value comes off your invoice rather than being paid to you. And it carries no insulation requirement. Ofgem recommends you consider efficiency improvements where practical and affordable. It does not make them a condition.
The rest of the scheme’s rules, values and exclusions are set out in the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant explained.
Off gas grid does not mean what most people assume
This is the condition that catches people, and it is worth reading slowly. Ofgem’s guidance sets out that an off-gas-grid property is one that:
| Condition | What it actually means |
|---|---|
| Is not fuelled by mains gas | A capped or clamped gas supply meter point still counts as fuelled by mains gas |
| Has no record of an existing gas meter point at the property | Not just no supply today. No record of one |
| Is not attached to a heat network | District or communal heating is excluded |
| Is not a new-build property | New builds are outside the scheme in any case |
The second and third lines are where properties fail. A house that was connected to gas years ago, had the meter pulled or capped when the owner moved to oil, and has run on oil ever since, is not off gas grid for this purpose. There is a record of a meter point. The property may still qualify for the standard £7,500, but not the higher rate.
If you are not certain which applies to your property, that is a question to settle before you commission anything, not after. Your installer will need to establish it as part of the application.
Source: Ofgem, “Boiler Upgrade Scheme: Guidance for Property Owners”, version 5.1, checked 3 September 2026.
The date that decides it is the application date, not the installation date
This is the most useful thing on this page, and it is the opposite of what most people assume when they see a March deadline.
The grant value is fixed by the values in force when the application is properly made, which is a defined term in the scheme. The application is submitted by your MCS certified installer, not by you. So the question is not whether the heat pump is fitted and running by 31 March 2027. The question is whether a valid application has been submitted before the higher rate ends.
Ofgem’s timeline after that point is:
- You confirm your consent to Ofgem within 14 calendar days of being asked, or the application can be rejected
- The installation must be completed within 3 months of approval, or 6 months for a ground source heat pump
So an application properly made in, say, February 2027 can be commissioned well into the spring at the higher value. What cannot happen is an installer starting the paperwork in April and hoping.
One caution, and we would rather say it than let you rely on us. The end date comes from Ofgem’s guidance. The instrument that sets the values, the notice of approved grant categories, states when the current values took effect but does not itself publish the closing date. If you are working close to the deadline, have your installer confirm the position with Ofgem in writing before you sign anything. Do not take a date from us, or from any other website, when several thousand pounds turns on it.
Sources: Ofgem, “Boiler Upgrade Scheme: Guidance for Property Owners”, version 5.1; GOV.UK, “Notice of approved grant categories and values for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme”. Both checked 3 September 2026.
Working backwards from the deadline
If the higher rate is worth having to you, the useful exercise is to work backwards rather than forwards. Between today and a properly made application there is:
- A decision about whether a heat pump suits the building at all. This comes first, and for a good number of older rural properties the honest answer is not yet. Is your property ready for a heat pump sets out what decides it.
- A heat loss survey by an MCS certified installer. This is the calculation that sizes the system, and no quotation is worth reading without one behind it.
- More than one quotation. The scheme value is identical whoever installs it, so the grant tells you nothing about which quotation is better. What actually decides the cost of an air source heat pump sets out the lines to compare.
- The application itself, submitted by whichever installer you appoint.
None of those four steps is quick, and installers get busier through the autumn as boilers fail. Starting them in the new year leaves very little room.
What the higher rate does not do
It does not make a heat pump right for a property that is not ready for one. Nothing in the scheme stops you installing a heat pump into a building that will run it badly, and the £1,500 does not change the physics of a poorly insulated farmhouse with undersized emitters.
It also does not tell you what the system will cost to run. That depends on the building, the tariff and how you live in it, and it is the reason comparing a heat pump against your current heating is a survey question rather than a table on a website.
Oil is a volatile fuel to be exposed to, and a lot of people in this county are tired of that exposure. That is a legitimate reason to look at this seriously. It is not a reason to skip the survey.
Where our knowledge ends
Eco Connect is an independent advisory business. We do not install heat pumps, we do not size or specify them, we do not perform MCS heat loss calculations, and we cannot apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme on your behalf. Only an MCS certified installer can do that.
We cannot tell you whether Ofgem will treat your property as off gas grid. We can tell you what the test is, help you find out where you stand before you spend money, and look at the property with you to work out what should honestly happen first.
To find installers, use the MCS tool and get more than one quotation: https://mcscertified.com/find-an-installer/
For a first indication of whether a heat pump might suit your home, the government publishes its own heat pump check. Ofgem describes it as a general resource that does not assess grant eligibility, which is the right way to read it: https://www.heat-pump-check.service.gov.uk/
Information and source control
Information correct as of: 3 September 2026.
Grant values, eligibility rules and dates change, and this page describes a rate with a published end date. Every figure here is dated and linked to the Ofgem or GOV.UK source it came from. Check the source before you rely on it, including ours.
- Ofgem, Boiler Upgrade Scheme: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-and-social-schemes/boiler-upgrade-scheme-bus
- Ofgem, Boiler Upgrade Scheme guidance for property owners: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/guidance/boiler-upgrade-scheme-guidance-property-owners
- Apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme: https://www.gov.uk/apply-boiler-upgrade-scheme
