Loading scheme
Loading scheme
The largest grant available to an ordinary household with no means test attached. Your installer claims it, so you never see the money — you see a smaller invoice. The catch is the insulation rule on your EPC.
Headline award
£7,500
A fixed grant off a heat pump, claimed by your installer and taken off the quote.
Illustrative figures.
Award for a heat pump
£7,500
Air, ground or water source
Typical bill after grant
£5,408
The median air source job of £12,908, less the grant
Heat pumps in 2025/26
30,940
Grants redeemed in England and Wales. Up 23% on 2024/25
Median time to install
11 weeks
From first quote to commissioning
Illustrative. Typical bill after grant and Heat pumps in 2025/26 come from DESNZ's published statistics. The other figures are placeholders.
What it pays
One award per property, paid to the installer and deducted from your quote before you pay anything. The amount does not change with your income, the size of your home or how much the job costs.
| Measure | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Air source heat pumpThe overwhelming majority of claims. Covers roughly half a typical installed cost. | £7,500 | The overwhelming majority of claims. Covers roughly half a typical installed cost. |
| Ground source heat pumpIncludes water source and shared ground loop schemes. Groundworks are not covered. | £7,500 | Includes water source and shared ground loop schemes. Groundworks are not covered. |
| Biomass boilerRural properties off the gas grid only, and the property must be hard to heat with a heat pump. | £5,000 | Rural properties off the gas grid only, and the property must be hard to heat with a heat pump. |
| Hot water cylinderNo separate award. A cylinder fitted as part of the heat pump job sits inside the same quote. | Included | No separate award. A cylinder fitted as part of the heat pump job sits inside the same quote. |
Funded to 31 March 2028
Applications have to be in before 31 March 2028. Schemes with a published end date rarely extend at the last minute, and installer diaries fill up first.
Last checked against these sources on 1 September 2026.
Illustrative. Placeholder figures to show what this page will hold. Real ranges arrive with the quote and performance data behind them.
Who qualifies
Written as the published rules work rather than as the marketing describes them. If one line on the left fails, nothing else matters.
How to apply
Each step carries roughly how long it takes, because the total is what decides whether the work happens this winter or next.
Look up the certificate for your address. If it recommends loft or cavity wall insulation, that work has to be done — or the recommendation formally set aside — before the grant can be claimed.
Three is the usual advice. Ask each for the room-by-room heat loss calculation and the design flow temperature in writing, not just a price.
You never apply yourself. The installer submits the voucher application to Ofgem against your property and your chosen system.
Ofgem emails you to confirm you asked for the work and understand the grant is coming off the price. Miss this and the voucher lapses.
A straightforward swap is two to four days on site. Longer if radiators, pipework or a new cylinder are part of the job.
Your invoice already has the grant taken off. The installer claims it back from Ofgem afterwards, so a delay there is their problem, not yours.
Combining
No scheme will fund the same measure twice. Getting the order right — insulation under one scheme, heating under another — is where the money is.
Scotland runs its own grant and loan instead; a property cannot be in both schemes.
What changed
Amounts, qualifying benefits and end dates all move. Anything you read about this scheme that predates the most recent entry here should be treated as out of date.
23 October 2023
Air and ground source awards went from £5,000 and £6,000 to a flat £7,500, which roughly doubled monthly applications within two quarters.
1 April 2024
The scheme moved from a fixed annual budget to a longer commitment, which is why installers stopped warning customers about mid-year closures.
15 May 2025
Loft and cavity recommendations can now be set aside where the installer's heat loss calculation shows the system works without them.
Questions
No. Only an MCS-certified installer can apply, and they do it against your property once you have accepted their quote. You confirm the application by email, and the grant is deducted from your invoice.
No. The award is the same regardless of income, property value or how much the installation costs. It is one award per property, not per person.
That is the most common reason an application stalls. Either do the insulation and get a new EPC, or have your installer evidence why it is not needed for the system to perform. A certificate more than ten years old has to be renewed either way.
No. The scheme pays to move a property off fossil fuel. Replacing a heat pump that is already there does not qualify, even if the old one is failing.
Sometimes. It can be combined with 0% VAT and, in some circumstances, with supplier obligation funding for other measures. It cannot be combined with another grant paying for the same heat pump.
The voucher is tied to that installer, so it has to be reissued to a new one. The MCS certification body and your consumer code are the route in — which is why checking both before you sign matters.
Keep reading
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£7,500 + £7,500 loanHow it worksStart with your postcode. We work from what is already recorded about the property, not from a form you have to fill in.