Boiler Grants UK 2026: Who Can Get One Funded

Boiler Grants in 2026: What Exists in Each UK Nation

Five official routes can still pay for a boiler in 2026, and only 1 of them, ECO4, covers more than one nation. Here's how they compare, from each scheme's own pages as read on October 30, 2026.

And the routes that don't pay for a gas boiler, whatever the adverts say:

• The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays towards heat pumps and biomass boilers in England and Wales. GOV.UK (opens in a new tab) says you can't get a grant for a hybrid system that combines a gas boiler with a heat pump. Our Boiler Upgrade Scheme guide covers its £7,500 and £9,000 rates.
• The Warm Homes: Local Grant in England. Its July 2026 policy guidance says "new gas boilers cannot be funded", and that fossil fuel heating isn't eligible apart from the heat pump part of some hybrid systems.
• The Warm Homes Loan Scheme, launched on October 28, 2026. GOV.UK (opens in a new tab) lists what the loan can pay for: heat pumps, solar panels, batteries, heat network connections, wind and micro hydro. Boilers aren't on the list.
• Northern Ireland's Boiler Replacement Scheme. GOV.UK's Boiler Upgrade Scheme page says it's now closed.

The pattern is deliberate. England's grants have moved to low carbon heating, while the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish fuel poverty schemes still replace gas and oil boilers for the households they target.

ECO4 and Boilers: The 6 Rules That Decide Your Case

ECO4 has paid for more boilers than any other scheme, but its boiler rules are tighter than most "free boiler" adverts suggest. Our ECO4 scheme guide covers who qualifies for ECO4 overall. This section is only about boilers, from the ECO4 Order on legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab) and Ofgem's ECO4 Delivery Guidance (version 4.0).

1. A working condensing boiler stays. The Order treats a condensing boiler as efficient. If yours works, ECO4 can't replace it with another boiler. It can only be swapped for a heat pump, a heat network connection or new controls.
2. A broken condensing boiler must be beyond economic repair. Ofgem says a boiler only counts as broken down if, when connected to its fuel and power, it doesn't respond to a demand for heat. It can then be replaced only if parts aren't available at a reasonable cost or time, the repair costs more than a new boiler, or the repair cost is above the limit in Ofgem's repair cost tables for a boiler of that age and type. Otherwise it gets repaired.
3. Broken boiler replacements are capped. According to the Ofgem guidance, replacements of broken efficient heating systems are limited to 5,000 homes a year, shared between all the energy suppliers, and repairs have their own cap of 5,000 measures a year. A supplier that's used its share has no reason to take your job.
4. Old non-condensing boilers aren't capped. Ofgem's guidance says inefficient heating systems are eligible for "uncapped upgrades", and a non-condensing boiler counts as inefficient whether or not it still works. That's where most ECO4 boiler money has gone.
5. Insulation comes first. The Order says that in a home rated E, F or G, the cavity walls and the loft or roof must be insulated, where relevant, before a heating measure is completed. In a D-rated home, at least one insulation measure is needed unless all the relevant ones are already done. A supplier won't fit the boiler before that work.
6. Some homes are excluded from boiler work altogether. In privately rented homes, the Order doesn't let ECO4 fund the repair or replacement of a boiler or central heating system. Ofgem's guidance also says replacing a broken oil, LPG or biofuel boiler isn't eligible, though repairing one can be when nothing higher in the off-gas heating hierarchy fits.

The deadline is in the law. The Order requires ECO4 measures to be completed before 1 January 2027. A replacement that needs insulation first, then a heating survey, then an installation date in December leaves little room for delay.

What about combi boilers? No scheme funds a combi specifically. ECO4 requires any new boiler to be a condensing one with the heating system balanced afterwards, and most new combis are condensing models, so "combi boiler grant" adverts are describing the same ECO4 rules.

Grantsights Analysis: 910,494 ECO Boilers and Where They Went

The Energy Company Obligation installed 910,494 boilers in Great Britain between January 2013 and March 2026. Grantsights analysis of DESNZ Table 3.1 shows how sharply that has fallen, both in numbers and as a share of what the scheme pays for.

Quarterly boiler counts from DESNZ Table 3.1 (June 2026 headline release), added up into financial years by Grantsights. Provisional; recent quarters are usually revised upward.

The drop since April 2022 is the ECO4 design at work: boilers went from about a quarter of ECO measures to about a tenth. The latest quarter, January to March 2026, had 3,776 boiler installs, fewer than in any quarter since July to September 2022.

What kind of boiler work ECO4 actually funds. DESNZ Table 1.6 splits the 95,106 boiler measures delivered under ECO4 itself (April 2022 to April 2026, excluding carried-over ECO3 work):

That's the clearest evidence for this guide's main point. Fewer than 1 in 200 ECO4 boiler jobs was a broken-boiler replacement. If your condensing boiler has simply failed, ECO4 is the least likely route to a new one.

Where ECO boilers went. Grantsights analysis of Table 3.7 (boilers by area, January 2013 to March 2026) and Table 3.3's household counts:

Boiler counts by area from DESNZ Table 3.7 and household counts from Table 3.3 (June 2026 headline release). The household figure is the release's own count of households with at least one usual resident, so the rate is a rough guide over 13 years, not an annual chance.

A case in point is Bradford: the constituencies with the most ECO boilers were Bradford West (13,051), Bradford East (11,785), Birmingham Perry Barr (9,221) and Blackburn (9,039), against a median of 911 across Great Britain's 632 constituencies. Northern cities with older gas-heated terraces and lower incomes took the bulk of the work. A household in the South East or London has been about 6 times less likely to see ECO boiler work than one in the North West.

How many homes still have an old boiler. The English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025 (opens in a new tab) found that 82% of English homes had a condensing or condensing-combination boiler in 2024, up from 3% in 2001. Grantsights analysis of its Annex Table 2.8 puts the number still on a non-condensing standard, back or combination boiler at about 1.86 million homes (7.3%), including about 1.43 million owner-occupied homes. Those are the homes where ECO4's uncapped "upgrade" rule applies.

England: Why the New Grants Don't Pay for Gas Boilers

England's 3 newest household schemes fund no new gas boilers at all. That's the honest answer to "government boiler scheme" searches in England.

• Warm Homes: Local Grant. Councils deliver it from April 2025 to March 2028. The policy guidance lists insulation, solar panels, heat pumps, high heat retention storage heaters, controls and glazing as eligible, and says a retrofit or packaged hybrid can only receive funding for its heat pump part. If you qualify, your council could replace your heating with a heat pump at no cost to you. Our Warm Homes: Local Grant guide explains who qualifies and how to find your council's scheme.
• Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Its name confuses people: according to GOV.UK, it pays towards replacing fossil fuel heating with a heat pump or biomass boiler, so it upgrades you from a gas boiler, not to a new one.
• Warm Homes Loan Scheme. Loans of the kind GOV.UK describes go through 10 named lenders and cover low carbon technology only.

Money is tighter than it was. According to the Budget 2026 document published on October 28, 2026, the government will save £1 billion of capital grant from the Warm Homes Plan, while saying most of its funding for low-income households and social housing, delivered by mayors and councils, is protected. The same document says the Boiler Upgrade Scheme keeps £400 million in 2027 to 2028.

When a council grant still helps with heating. If someone in your home is disabled and the existing heating doesn't meet their needs, a Disabled Facilities Grant can pay for a suitable heating system. The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, section 23 (opens in a new tab) lists "providing a heating system suitable to meet his needs" as a purpose the council must approve, and the 2022 delivery guidance says central heating should be considered where the disabled person's wellbeing and mobility would otherwise suffer. Our Disabled Facilities Grant guide explains the means test and waits.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: Where Gas Boilers Are Still Funded

The devolved schemes are where a free gas boiler is still most realistic, at £10,000 or more of support in Scotland and up to £7,500 in Northern Ireland, if you meet their tests.

Scotland: Warmer Homes Scotland. Home Energy Scotland's Warmer Homes Scotland page (opens in a new tab) says the programme offers support worth £10,000 or more and lists "central heating (including electric storage heater, new gas boiler or air source heat pump)" among the improvements. You must own your home or rent privately, have lived there for at least 6 months (with exceptions for terminal illness forms), live in a home with a poor energy rating, a floor area of 230 square metres or less and a Council Tax band of A to G. Someone in the household must be 75 or over with no working heating, hold a DS1500 or BASRiS certificate, or get a passport benefit such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit Guarantee, Adult Disability Payment or Council Tax Reduction (not the 25% single person discount). Warmworks delivers the work, and in most cases the Scottish Government pays all of it. Private tenants face a catch: landlords must already keep heating in repair under the Repairing Standard, so those homes don't get heating repairs the landlord is legally obliged to provide.

Scotland: Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan. This is for homeowners of any income, but it doesn't fund gas boilers. Its grant and loan page (opens in a new tab) offers up to £7,500 grant plus an optional £7,500 interest-free loan for a heat pump, with a £1,500 rural uplift. Hybrid and air-to-air heat pumps aren't eligible.

Wales: Nest. According to the Welsh Government's Nest eligibility page (opens in a new tab), you must own or privately rent your home, get a means-tested benefit (Universal Credit, Pension Credit, income-related Council Tax Reduction, or Child Tax Credit with income under £18,660) or have a low household income, and live in a home rated 54 (E) or less, or 68 (D) or less if someone has an eligible health condition. Its overview adds that a home without heating or hot water "may be eligible for a repair or replacement to boilers". The Warm Homes Nest annual report 2024 to 2025 says the new scheme installed improvements in 348 homes between October 2024 and March 2025, including 222 households helped through its crisis route for homes with no heating or hot water. Heating systems, such as boiler replacements and LPG water heaters, made up around 31% of measures. Call 0808 808 2244.

Northern Ireland: Affordable Warmth Scheme. nidirect confirms the Housing Executive runs the scheme. The Housing Executive's own page refused automated access, so these details come from its Internet Archive copy dated March 22, 2026, and should be confirmed with the Housing Executive: households must have gross income under £23,000, own or privately rent the home, and apply through the NI Energy Advice Service on 0800 111 4455. Heating is Priority 2 after insulation, and boiler replacement applies where the boiler is at least 15 years old and the householder is over 65, has a child getting Child Benefit or a Kinship payment, or gets DLA, PIP, Attendance Allowance or Industrial Injuries Benefit. Grants go up to £7,500 (£10,000 for solid wall homes), landlords pay 50% for private tenants, and work should be finished within 3 months of approval.

If Your Boiler Breaks This Winter: What to Do First

A grant decision takes weeks, and a broken boiler in December can't wait 3 months. Here's the order that the official rules point to.

1. If you rent, it's your landlord's job. According to GOV.UK's private renting guide (opens in a new tab), landlords are always responsible for repairs to heating and hot water and to gas appliances. If repairs aren't done, contact your council's environmental health team. Don't apply for a grant your landlord should be paying for.
2. Use a Gas Safe registered engineer. HSE says anyone employed to work on gas appliances in a home must be Gas Safe registered, and you can check an engineer on 0800 408 5500. For oil or other systems, the installer must still meet building regulations.
3. Expect paperwork for a replacement. GOV.UK's building regulations guide (opens in a new tab) lists installing or replacing a heating system as work needing approval, unless your installer is registered with a competent person scheme, who'll give you a certificate within 8 weeks. Emergency boiler repairs don't need advance approval, but rules still apply.
4. Check the scheme in your nation before you pay. Warmer Homes Scotland, Nest and Affordable Warmth all say they won't fund work already started or finished. Calling first costs nothing.
5. Know what VAT you'll pay. According to HMRC's VAT Notice 708/6 (opens in a new tab), energy-efficient boilers are standard-rated unless the installation is grant-funded for a qualifying person on a scheme for low-income homes, when the grant-funded part is charged at 5%. A heat pump, by contrast, is zero-rated until 31 March 2027.
6. Keep yourself warm meanwhile. Help with bills is separate from grants for boilers. Our Warm Home Discount guide covers this winter's £150 rebate.

One cancellation trap. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (opens in a new tab) usually give you 14 days to cancel a contract signed at home. But regulation 28 excludes visits you specifically requested "for the purpose of carrying out urgent repairs or maintenance". If you call a trader out for an emergency repair, don't assume a cooling-off period covers extra work they sell you on the doorstep.

What Ofgem Doesn't Tell You About "Free Boiler" Offers

Ofgem's pages explain ECO4 accurately, but they're written for the scheme as a whole. A few things only become clear when you read the boiler rules and the statistics together.

A failed modern boiler is the hardest case to fund. Most people searching "boiler grants uk" have a condensing boiler that's stopped working. That's exactly the case ECO4 caps at 5,000 replacements a year and funded just 428 times in four years of statistics. An installer who says your broken condensing boiler "qualifies" before anyone has priced a repair is skipping the economic repair test.

"Free" can depend on insulation you didn't ask for. The minimum insulation rule means a boiler can't be fitted in a poorly insulated home until the loft and cavity walls are done. That's sensible, but it means more visits, more work and more chance the job won't finish before 31 December 2026.

Eligibility isn't an offer. Ofgem's homeowners and tenants page says it's up to energy suppliers to decide which measures they fund and how much, that you may be asked to contribute, and that "eligibility for a measure does not guarantee it will be installed". A common mistake is turning down a quote from a local plumber while waiting for a scheme that was never going to fund your job.

Private tenants are excluded from ECO4 boiler work for a reason. The law already puts heating repairs on the landlord. A red flag is any company telling a tenant that ECO4 will replace the landlord's boiler.

Heat pumps are where the open money is. In England and Wales, the funding that's growing in 2026 is for heat pumps: the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Warm Homes: Local Grant and the new loans. If your boiler is near the end of its life, it's worth comparing a heat pump quote with a boiler quote before it fails, rather than in an emergency.

Free Boiler Scams and Cold Callers: How to Check an Offer

"Free boiler" is one of the oldest cold-calling scripts in home improvement, and the official guidance gives 6 clear checks.

• Check the company through an official route. GOV.UK's ECO page says installers or agents might contact you directly, and if you're not sure an offer is genuine, contact your local council or the energy supplier they say they represent. Use a number from your bill or Ofgem's supplier contact list (opens in a new tab), not one the caller gives you.
• Ask for TrustMark registration. Ofgem (opens in a new tab) says ECO installers must be TrustMark registered with a registration number, and you should ask to see it and check it on TrustMark's website.
• Don't pay a deposit to "secure" a grant. No scheme in this guide charges an application fee. Ofgem says you should only agree to ECO work once you've had a contract, and a deposit demanded before any survey is a red flag.
• Don't give personal or bank details to an unexpected caller. Citizens Advice (opens in a new tab) says a scam often starts when someone you don't know contacts you unexpectedly. If a caller claims to be your bank, hang up and call 159.
• Take time on the doorstep. You don't have to decide on the day. For contracts signed at home, the 14-day cancellation right usually applies, with the urgent repair exception described above.
• Report it. Citizens Advice's reporting page (opens in a new tab) says to report scams to Report Fraud, the UK's national fraud reporting centre, and to its consumer helpline, which passes reports to Trading Standards. Call 101 if the scammer is local or you've sent money in the last 24 hours.

Ofgem's counter fraud page (opens in a new tab) covers fraud on the schemes it runs. If you're also thinking about new windows, our window grants UK guide covers the double-glazing version of these scams.

Sources Checked

All sources were read or downloaded on October 30, 2026, except where an archive date is given:

• GOV.UK, Help from your energy supplier: the Energy Company Obligation (opens in a new tab), Boiler Upgrade Scheme (opens in a new tab), Warm Homes: Local Grant (opens in a new tab), Warm Homes Loan Scheme (opens in a new tab), Building regulations approval (opens in a new tab) and Private renting: repairs (opens in a new tab)
• legislation.gov.uk, The Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2022, Part 5 (opens in a new tab) (articles 12, 14, 24 to 28, as amended to March 26, 2026); Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, section 23 (opens in a new tab); Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28 (opens in a new tab)
• Ofgem, ECO homeowners and tenants (opens in a new tab), ECO4 Delivery Guidance version 4.0 (opens in a new tab) (March 26, 2026), paragraphs 5.119 to 5.133 and 11.15 to 11.23
• DESNZ, Warm Homes: Local Grant policy guidance (opens in a new tab) (updated July 2026)
• HM Treasury, Budget 2026 (opens in a new tab) (October 28, 2026), paragraphs 3.7 and 4.36
• DESNZ, Household Energy Efficiency Statistics, headline release June 2026 (opens in a new tab), Tables 1.6, 3.1, 3.3 and 3.7
• MHCLG, English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025 headline findings on housing quality and energy efficiency (opens in a new tab) and annex tables (opens in a new tab), Annex Tables 2.7 and 2.8
• HMRC, VAT on energy-saving materials and heating equipment (VAT Notice 708/6) (opens in a new tab)
• Home Energy Scotland, Warmer Homes Scotland (opens in a new tab) and Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan (opens in a new tab)
• Welsh Government, Nest (opens in a new tab), Nest eligibility (opens in a new tab) and Warm Homes Nest scheme annual report 2024 to 2025 (opens in a new tab) (March 26, 2026)
• nidirect, Energy saving grants in your area (opens in a new tab); Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Affordable Warmth Scheme page, read from the Internet Archive copy of March 22, 2026 (opens in a new tab) because the live site refused automated access
• HSE, Gas safety FAQs (opens in a new tab)
• Citizens Advice, Check if something might be a scam (opens in a new tab) and Report a scam (opens in a new tab)