Boiler Upgrade Scheme 2026: What's Changing for Installers and Grant Claims
%25203%2520(1).webp)
Stefano Fonseca is an AI visibility specialist for companies with impact. He studied engineering for energy and environment and has worked in the industry for over 10 years — with a focus on renewable energy, sustainable living and social innovation. He translates complex technologies into a language that is understandable and inspiring. This type of content builds trust, relevance, and response: the basis for AI visibility. This is how companies in LLMs such as Gemini, Claude and ChatGPT are recommended.
On 28 April 2026, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme was overhauled — and on 21 July the headline grant rose again. Air-to-air heat pumps now qualify, the EPC hurdle is gone, and MCS certification sits on a statutory footing. For installers, the rules of the grant claim have quietly shifted. Here is what matters.
What changed in the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in 2026?
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme was substantially overhauled on 28 April 2026. New regulations opened the scheme to air-to-air heat pumps, removed the requirement for a valid EPC to apply, put MCS certification on a statutory footing, and extended the scheme's end date to 2030. The 2026–2028 budget rose to £1.5 billion to support higher installation volumes.
For installers, this widens the pool of eligible work: a contractor certified for air-to-air can now claim grant support on systems that were out of scope a year ago.
How much can your customers claim in 2026?
The grant is worth £7,500 for an air-to-water heat pump and £7,500 for a ground source heat pump, with £5,000 for a biomass boiler. From 21 July 2026, homes off the gas grid — those replacing oil or LPG — receive an increased grant of £9,000 for a qualifying air or ground source heat pump.
For an off-gas customer, the £9,000 grant can bring the net cost of a heat pump close to — or below — a like-for-like fossil replacement, which changes the sales conversation on the doorstep.
How do installers apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant?
The installer, not the homeowner, drives the BUS claim. The process runs in a fixed order:
- Hold MCS certification for the technology: Only an installer certified by MCS for the specific technology being fitted can participate; a newly qualifying installer must complete the job and gain full certification before applying.
- Issue the MCS Customer Commitment at first contact: The Customer Commitment must reach the customer before any contract is signed.
- Deduct the grant from the quote: Show the BUS grant as a clear deduction from the total; the customer pays only the net amount.
- Apply for the voucher via Ofgem's installer portal: Submit the voucher application on the homeowner's behalf; approval typically takes two to four weeks.
- Commission and redeem within the deadline: The voucher is valid for three months (air-to-water and air-to-air) or six months (ground source), and the application must be properly made within 120 days of the commissioning date on the MCS certificate.
What do the new MCS and consumer-protection rules mean for installers?
Under the redeveloped MCS scheme, installers no longer need separate Consumer Code membership to deliver BUS work. Consumer protection now sits in the MCS Customer Commitment, which the business signs up to directly. The Customer Commitment has to reach the customer at the first point of contact, before any contract.
MCS certification also moved onto a statutory footing in April 2026, so the scheme's standards now carry legal weight rather than sitting purely as a scheme rule.
How should installers reflect the grant on a quote?
Since the start of 2026, installers must deduct the grant from the upfront cost rather than leaving the customer to reclaim it — and the quote has to show the BUS grant as a distinct deduction from the total. The customer pays the net figure; the installer recovers the grant from Ofgem after commissioning.
That shifts the administrative and short-term cash-flow burden onto the installer, who now carries the grant value between installation and redemption. It makes accurate, MCS-compliant quoting and clean grant paperwork a commercial issue, not just a compliance one.
Conclusion: The grant got bigger and the paperwork moved to the installer
The 2026 overhaul widens who qualifies and lifts the grant to £9,000 for off-gas homes, but it also makes the installer responsible for the claim, the Customer Commitment and the upfront deduction. Installers who build these steps into a single, MCS-aligned workflow will claim faster and see fewer rejected vouchers.
With autarc: Turn a bigger scheme into cleaner claims
The wider the scheme gets, the more grant claims each installer processes — and every rejected voucher ties up cash. autarc gives installers one place to size the system with AI-assisted heat loss calculation, produce an MCS-compliant quote with the grant already deducted, and keep the design and grant documentation a BUS claim needs. Book a free demo to see how autarc streamlines your grant workflow from survey to redemption.
References
- Apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme: What you can get — GOV.UK, accessed 29.07.2026, gov.uk
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme Application in 2026 — Cucumber Eco, accessed 29.07.2026, cucumbereco.co.uk
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme explained — Energy Saving Trust, accessed 29.07.2026, energysavingtrust.org.uk
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme Overhauled: April 2026 — HEM Guide, accessed 29.07.2026, home-energy-model.co.uk
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme: Guidance for Installers — Ofgem, accessed 29.07.2026, ofgem.gov.uk
- BUS Overhauled April 2026: Rule Changes — UKEM Group, accessed 29.07.2026, ukem.co.uk
- MCS welcomes changes to Boiler Upgrade Scheme — MCS, accessed 29.07.2026, mcscertified.com
- The redeveloped MCS Installer Scheme — NICEIC, accessed 29.07.2026, niceic.com