The £9,000 Off-Gas Uplift Explained
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme normally pays £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump in England and Wales. From 21 July 2026 until 31 March 2027, homes heated by oil or LPG that have no mains gas connection can claim £9,000 instead — an extra £1,500 on top of the standard grant.
The uplift exists because off-gas homes are usually the most expensive to convert. Oil-heated properties are often older, larger and rural, and frequently need bigger radiators, a new hot water cylinder and more pipework than a typical suburban gas home. The extra £1,500 is intended to narrow that gap.
Important: the uplift applies to oil and LPG homes with no mains gas connection. Homes heated by coal or other solid fuel stay at the standard £7,500. Air-to-air heat pumps do not qualify for the uplift at all.
Who Qualifies for the £9,000 Rate
To claim the higher rate, all of the following need to be true:
- Your home is off the mains gas grid. There must be no gas connection to the property. A capped or disconnected supply is not the same as having no connection — your installer will confirm this during the survey.
- Your main heating system runs on oil or LPG. This is the existing system the heat pump replaces.
- You are installing an air source or ground source heat pump. Water source heat pumps also fall within the scheme. Air-to-air units sit under a separate £2,500 grant and are not eligible for the uplift.
- The property is in England or Wales. Scotland runs its own Home Energy Scotland grant and loan; Northern Ireland has separate arrangements.
- You own the property. Owner-occupiers and private landlords both qualify. New-build homes are generally excluded unless self-built.
There is no means test. Your income, savings and benefit status are irrelevant to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme — that is what separates it from ECO4, where qualifying benefits are the entry requirement.
The EPC Requirement
You need a valid Energy Performance Certificate, issued within the last ten years, for the property. The rule that used to trip people up — that the EPC must carry no outstanding loft or cavity wall insulation recommendations — was removed on 8 May 2024. Since then an EPC with outstanding insulation recommendations no longer blocks the grant.
That said, insulating first is still sensible. A heat pump in a leaky house needs a bigger unit and more electricity, so the running costs rise. If your EPC flags loft or cavity wall insulation, check whether you qualify for free insulation grants before the heat pump goes in.
What a Heat Pump Actually Costs Off-Gas
Typical installed prices for an air source heat pump in the UK run £10,000 to £15,000 before any grant, with off-gas rural properties clustering towards the upper end. Ground source systems typically start around £18,000 and rise steeply where a borehole is needed.
| Property | Typical install cost | After £9,000 |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3 bed cottage, oil-fired | £10,000-£12,000 | £1,000-£3,000 |
| 3-4 bed rural house, oil-fired | £12,000-£15,000 | £3,000-£6,000 |
| Large or poorly insulated property | £15,000+ | £6,000+ |
These are typical ranges, not quotes. What pushes an off-gas job up the range is usually the same handful of items:
- Radiator upgrades. Heat pumps run at lower flow temperatures than an oil boiler, so some radiators need to be larger. Expect a few to be swapped rather than the whole house.
- A new hot water cylinder. Many oil systems already have one, but it may be too small or poorly insulated for heat pump use.
- Electrical supply. Older rural properties sometimes need a supply upgrade or a new consumer unit.
- Removing the oil tank. Decommissioning and removal is usually a modest extra, and it frees up outdoor space.
Running Cost: Heat Pump vs Oil
Oil prices move with the wider fuel market, so treat any single figure with caution. Over the past few years, heating oil has typically sat somewhere in the range of 60p to 90p per litre, and a typical three or four bedroom off-gas home burns roughly 1,500 to 2,500 litres a year. That puts typical annual oil spend somewhere between about £1,000 and £2,000, before servicing.
A well-designed heat pump in the same property typically costs £800 to £1,400 a year to run on a standard electricity tariff, and less on a heat-pump-specific or time-of-use tariff. The saving is real but modest at current prices — the stronger arguments are usually price stability, no delivery scheduling, no tank, and lower maintenance.
Be realistic: anyone promising you will halve your heating bill is guessing. The honest answer is that a properly sized heat pump in an oil home is normally somewhere between slightly cheaper and meaningfully cheaper to run, and the £9,000 grant is what makes the upfront maths work.
How to Apply
You do not apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme yourself. Ofgem runs the scheme and the installer applies on your behalf, then deducts the grant from your quote. The steps are:
- Find an MCS-certified installer. Certification under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme is mandatory. The installer must also be a member of a consumer code — either RECC or HIES.
- Get a survey and a written quote. The quote should show the full price, the grant deducted and your balance. Get more than one.
- Confirm the £9,000 rate is applied. If your home is oil or LPG heated and off the gas grid, check the quote uses £9,000, not £7,500. Ask the installer to state it in writing.
- The installer applies for the voucher. You will be asked to confirm consent — Ofgem contacts you directly to check you agree to the application.
- The work is completed and commissioned. The installation must be commissioned within 120 days of the voucher being issued, so do not sign up if you cannot commit to that window.
- You pay the balance. The grant goes to the installer; you never handle the money.
The 31 March 2027 Deadline
The £9,000 rate is time-limited. It runs to 31 March 2027, after which off-gas oil and LPG homes revert to the standard £7,500 unless government extends it. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme itself is funded beyond that date, so this is a change to the amount, not the existence of the grant.
Because the install must be commissioned within 120 days of the voucher, and surveys plus lead times can easily add two or three months on top, anyone hoping to use the uplift should be getting quotes well before the deadline rather than in the final weeks. Demand for MCS installers rises ahead of a deadline, so waiting narrows your choice.
Should You Wait?
If your oil boiler is nearing the end of its life, the uplift is the best offer currently available for off-gas homes. If your boiler is newer and running well, it is reasonable to hold off — but you would then be planning around the standard £7,500. Read our comparison of all heat pump grants before you decide, and if you have no space for a wet system, the newer £2,500 air-to-air grant or the forthcoming heat battery grant may fit better.