Thousands of households across England and Wales have been told they are eligible to receive a £9,000 grant from July 21 to switch from heating oil to a heat pump, saving money on energy bills. The government announced that from July 21, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant increases by 20%, from £7,500 to £9,000, to help rural households make the transition.
Government support for rural households
Minister for Energy Consumers Martin McCluskey said: "This government is determined to bring down energy bills, but I know the war in the Middle East has hit households on heating oil especially hard. We have already taken action to support these households through confirming over £50 million in support for vulnerable customers on heating oil. Now, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme will help thousands of families across England and Wales switch to clean heat to protect them from volatile fossil fuels."
The grant aims to electrify families' heating, protecting them from fossil fuel price spikes and providing greater certainty over energy bills. The government sent leaflets to the 200,000 eligible homes across England and Wales last week with information on claiming the extra funding.
Industry reaction
Charlotte Lee, CEO of the Heat Pump Association UK, said: "The Boiler Upgrade Scheme continues to play a vital role in supporting households to adopt heat pumps, and this £1,500 uplift will make the transition significantly more affordable for the thousands of oil-heated homes. Many of these households have faced considerable price uncertainty in recent months, without the protection of the energy price cap, and this £9,000 grant will help shield families from volatile fossil fuel costs, by using home grown electricity, in the years ahead."
Additional measures
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme uplift runs alongside measures announced earlier in the year by the Energy Secretary to cut bills and deliver more clean, homegrown power. The Social Housing Fund receives a £100 million boost to support up to 57,000 solar installations for households in England this financial year. These measures will cut bills by hundreds of pounds and help up to one million homes reach EPC C. The Warm Homes Plan, available to all households, will roll out clean technology to millions, cutting bills and securing thousands of jobs.
Ian Rippin, CEO at MCS, said: "This uplift is an important step in making heat pumps more accessible to rural households, allowing them to see the benefits the technology can offer. As the UK’s quality mark for small-scale renewables like heat pumps, our mission is to give everyone confidence in home-grown energy. We do this by setting the standards you should always expect from an MCS certified installer and the products they use, while providing robust protections to give you peace of mind in your investment." Households considering switching can search for an MCS certified installer using the Find an Installer tool.
Matt Copeland, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at National Energy Action, said: "This is a positive step for households relying on heating oil, who have recently faced the highest and most volatile energy costs. Many families will be expecting to ration their heating in the coming winter, living in homes they cannot afford to keep warm, not through choice but constraint. Supporting the shift to cleaner heating in these homes can help deliver greater stability and lower bills. The real test will be whether this support reaches those most at risk and makes homes genuinely affordable to heat."
