Boiler Upgrade Scheme: heat pump grants for business premises

This is a capital grant to replace existing heating with a low carbon system in a property you own. It covers homes and non-residential buildings in England and Wales, including offices and other qualifying business premises in Greater Manchester. Your MCS-certified installer applies to Ofgem and passes the grant to you as an upfront reduction in the installation price.

You must own the property and become the legal owner of the installed heating system. Existing business premises can qualify when replacing gas, oil, LPG, coal or conventional electric heating. The old fossil fuel system must be fully replaced; retaining a gas or oil boiler as part of a hybrid heating system is not eligible. Replacing an existing heat pump does not qualify.

A previous Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant at the same address, other public funding for the same heating installation, or an ECO-funded installation normally rules the project out. Social housing and ordinary developer new builds are excluded. Self-build exceptions require individual ownership and cannot be used for a property that has ever been owned by a company. Separate insulation funding does not by itself exclude an otherwise eligible heating project.

Your installer must assess the property, heat loss, proposed equipment and complete system design. Heat pumps have capacity limits of 45kWth for an individual system or 70kWth for multiple linked pumps serving one property. A shared ground loop can total up to 300kWth, with each connected pump no larger than 45kWth. Air-to-water and ground source heat pumps must meet the specified efficiency standard and be capable of meeting the building’s space heating demand.

The £9,000 heat pump grant is limited to qualifying off-gas properties replacing oil or LPG heating. There must be no current gas meter point record, including a capped or clamped connection, and the property cannot be connected to a heat network. Air-to-air heat pumps receive a separate £2,500 grant only in residential properties, so that option does not cover ordinary commercial premises.

A biomass boiler can receive £5,000 only where the premises are rural, off the gas grid and meet the emissions rules. The boiler must be no larger than 45kWth and supply the property’s full space and hot water heating demand without supplementary heating. An urban Manchester property will generally fall outside this biomass route; heat pumps do not have the same rural-location restriction.

The standard grant is £7,500 towards an eligible air-to-water or ground source heat pump, including water source systems. Qualifying off-gas properties can receive £9,000 instead until 31 March 2027. Eligible biomass boilers receive £5,000. These are fixed grants rather than a percentage of project costs: you pay the remaining quoted installation cost.³

Your quote must show the total installation cost, the full grant deducted upfront and the balance you owe. The installer must not ask you to pay the discounted grant amount while waiting for Ofgem to reimburse it. Agree who bears that amount if the application is rejected or the voucher is revoked, because that depends on your installation contract.

The installed system must belong to the property owner. Finance arrangements under which a third party retains ownership do not qualify. Before committing to finance, confirm ownership on completion and have the installer check the arrangement against the grant rules.

Ofgem’s monthly update published on 13 October 2026 reports £143,585,000 remaining in the 2026/27 budget. That figure includes applications still being decided and vouchers issued but not yet redeemed, so it is not an amount reserved for new applicants.⁴

The scheme is open and has been extended to 2030. The £9,000 off-gas grant applies only to eligible applications properly made from 21 July 2026 to 31 March 2027. Completing an application includes Ofgem receiving all required evidence, the owner’s consent and identity verification; a draft submission alone does not secure that grant rate.

Respond to Ofgem’s owner consent request within 14 days, or within 28 days when using its assisted telephone or postal route. Air-to-water heat pump and biomass vouchers last three months; ground source heat pump vouchers last six months. Installation, commissioning and redemption must fit within the relevant voucher period. Ask the installer to plan these dates before you sign the installation contract.

The normal sequence is to obtain the voucher before commissioning. A retrospective application is possible only if it is properly made within 120 days of commissioning and meets all the other rules. If a voucher expires, the installer has to withdraw or reapply and the owner must give consent again; a new voucher is not automatic.

Choose an MCS-certified installer for the technology and compare itemised quotes after a property and heat loss assessment. Agree a quote showing the grant deduction. The installer must have an active Boiler Upgrade Scheme installer account and makes the voucher application; a property owner cannot submit that application directly.

Give the installer the property address, the legally authorised owner representative’s contact details, the heating system being replaced, the proposed new system and the agreed quote. Provide a valid EPC reference if one exists. An EPC is no longer compulsory: without one, prepare a recent utility bill or fuel receipt, photographs of the existing heating and an expired EPC reference if available. Collect the old heating evidence before it is removed.

For the £9,000 grant, also prepare evidence that the premises are off the gas grid and the previous heating uses oil or LPG. Your installer submits the eligibility evidence. Where property ownership or the history of a conversion is unusual, prepare title, planning or other records that establish the building’s ownership, previous use and heating history.

Ofgem then contacts the owner directly to confirm consent and identity. For a company-owned property, a person legally authorised to represent it, such as a director, must respond personally. Prepare identification and confirm the property, technology, quote, upfront grant deduction and absence of other public funding. If the owning organisation is not listed at Companies House, use the public Letter of Authorisation template to confirm its representative’s authority.

The authorisation template asks for the organisation, installation address and postcode, the representative’s full name, job title, address, email and phone number, plus a signed and dated declaration. Provide this to your installer for the application where required.⁵

Keep ownership records, identification, the agreed quote, invoices, proof of payment and the completed installation’s MCS certificate. Ofgem may ask for documents, photographs, heating calculations or access to the premises as part of a grant audit.

Once the voucher is issued, arrange installation and commissioning within its validity period. The installer supplies the MCS certificate and submits the redemption application to Ofgem. Ofgem pays the installer after approving the claim; your benefit is the upfront reduction already applied to the quote and invoice. Each legally separate property needs its own application, and only one voucher can be redeemed for each property.