Boiler grants: what help you can get

Boiler grants for a new gas boiler are rare. The best-known scheme, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, doesn’t pay for one at all: it pays towards a heat pump or a biomass boiler. Help with a gas boiler comes mainly through means-tested schemes such as ECO4, and in Wales through Nest. Who you are and where you live matter more than which boiler you want.

Boiler grants from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme gives a grant towards replacing a fossil fuel heating system, gas included, with a low carbon one. GOV.UK lists what it pays, with one grant per property:

• Air source heat pump: £7,500.
• Ground source heat pump: £7,500.
• Biomass boiler: £5,000.
• Air-to-air heat pump: £2,500.

A home heated by oil or LPG with no mains gas can get an extra £1,500 towards an air or ground source heat pump, until March 2027. A hybrid system, a gas boiler paired with a heat pump, isn’t eligible. Nor will the scheme replace a low carbon system you already have.

So if you want a new gas combi, this scheme is not the route. If you are open to a heat pump, read the GOV.UK scheme page, which says who can apply.

ECO4 boiler grants for low income households

The Energy Company Obligation, ECO, is a government scheme in Great Britain that obliges energy suppliers to promote energy efficiency work in the homes of low income, fuel-poor and vulnerable households. Its current phase, ECO4, runs until 31 December 2026. Heating system upgrades are among the work it can fund. That is why people asking about a free boiler usually mean this scheme.

Funding isn’t guaranteed, and it isn’t open to everyone. Whether you qualify depends on your circumstances. Start at Ofgem’s ECO page, not with a company that has phoned or knocked on your door.

Nest boiler grants in Wales

Nest is the Welsh Government’s Warm Homes Programme. An adviser checks whether you can get free home energy efficiency improvements. An eligible household may get a package that could include a boiler repair or replacement, alongside insulation, heat pumps or solar panels. You can call Nest free on 0808 808 2244, and calls are welcome in Welsh. The details are on the Welsh Government’s Nest page.

Help in Scotland

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme doesn’t cover Scotland. Home Energy Scotland gives free, impartial advice on 0808 808 2282. Its funding finder points to schemes such as the Scottish Government’s Warmer Homes Scotland programme. Start at Home Energy Scotland. It says it never cold calls, so treat an unprompted caller who claims to be from it with suspicion.

Northern Ireland

GOV.UK says the Northern Ireland Boiler Replacement Scheme is closed and points to nidirect for local energy-saving grants. Check there for what is open now, because schemes in Northern Ireland are separate from those in the rest of the UK.

If you don’t qualify for boiler grants

Most homeowners pay for a replacement themselves. A like-for-like combi boiler swap is the cheapest route, and our combi boiler prices page shows what each type and model costs fitted, including VAT. Prices do not take any grant off, because most households won’t get one. Our VAT guide explains when a reduced rate may apply to grant-funded work.

If you want to spread the cost, our finance tool works out the monthly payments on an amount and a rate you choose, and it names no lender. When you are ready to compare, get free quotes from local Gas Safe installers and ask each one whether any scheme applies to your home.

Sources: GOV.UK, Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Ofgem, ECO, Welsh Government, Nest and Home Energy Scotland, read on 3 November. Scheme rules change, so check the source before you rely on a figure.