Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) Grant London — £7,500 for ASHP 2026

Most likely yes. The criteria as of April 2024: English or Welsh domestic property (including BTL), replacing a fossil-fuel or direct-electric heating system, MCS-certified install, valid EPC (no band restriction since April 2024, no insulation-recommendations restriction since April 2024), not in receipt of overlapping public funding for the same heat pump. The previous EPC band F/G blocker and the loft/cavity insulation prerequisite were both scrapped — most London properties now qualify.

The MCS installer (us, working with the MCS heat pump partner) applies for a voucher via the Ofgem portal in your name, the voucher is approved within 5-10 working days, we deduct £7,500 from your invoice and you only pay the net amount. After commissioning, we upload the evidence pack to Ofgem and they reimburse us directly. You do not pay £7,500 upfront and reclaim — we carry the cashflow.

Pre-install. The voucher must be issued before commissioning — usually applied for inside the first week after the contract is signed, alongside the BS EN 12831 heat-loss survey. Voucher validity is 3 months from issue (6 months for ground-source). Commissioning has to happen inside that window or the voucher expires and a fresh application is needed. We schedule around the voucher window.

New (not refurbished) MCS-certified heat pump unit, replacing a fossil-fuel system (gas, oil, LPG, coal) or a direct-electric heating system. Replacing an existing heat pump does not qualify. Hybrid heat pump / boiler systems are excluded. A first-time-electrification install in an off-grid property qualifies on the ASHP route as long as a fossil-fuel system was previously installed and is being decommissioned.

Yes, but listed-building consent is a separate process to BUS eligibility — BUS does not care about listing, the local planning authority does. We coordinate the listed-building consent application in parallel with the BUS voucher process. Grade I and II* listings need more conservation-officer engagement; Grade II is typically straightforward with sensitive siting.

Owner-occupied and privately-rented BUS routes work as described. Council and housing-association installs typically use the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) rather than BUS — different application path, different rates, larger project-scale focus. We can advise on the SHDF/Warm Homes Plan landscape for landlord clients with portfolios.

BUS funds the displacement of fossil-fuel heating with a heat pump as the primary system. A hybrid (heat pump + retained boiler running on the cold days) does not displace the fossil-fuel system, it supplements it — so DESNZ excludes it from BUS. If you want a hybrid, the install runs on standard 0% VAT but without the £7,500 grant — see our heat pump vs gas page for the maths.

Most installers (us included) offer finance on the post-grant balance through partners like Kanda or Propensio — typically 0% for 12 months or 8.9% APR over 5-10 years. Net £6,500 over 10 years at 8.9% is around £80/month. The BUS grant remains a £7,500 invoice deduction regardless of how you finance the balance.

In some cases, yes. ECO4 is the fuel-poverty-targeted scheme funded by energy suppliers — eligibility hinges on benefits receipt or other fuel-poverty indicators rather than property characteristics. Where both BUS and ECO4 apply, ECO4 can top up the homeowner side of the install. We screen for ECO4 eligibility at survey if you want the combination explored.

BUS covers England and Wales. Scotland runs the Home Energy Scotland grant + interest-free loan scheme — comparable amounts, separate application. Northern Ireland has no direct equivalent at the moment; the NI Renewable Heat Premium Payment ended in 2023. We can install across England and Wales under BUS; outside that, the financial picture differs.