North East England households get £7,500 off an air-to-water air source heat pump through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), deducted straight from the quote by your MCS-certified installer. From 21 July 2026 the grant rises to £9,000 for homes heated by oil or LPG. Stack 0% VAT on top (until 31 March 2027) and most households here pay £500 - £6,500 out of pocket on a typical £8,000 to £14,000 installation (indicative, June 2026).
Grant amounts and prices accurate as at June 2026; reviewed weekly.
£7,500 off an air-to-water or ground-source heat pump in England and Wales. Air-to-air units get £2,500 (added in 2026) and biomass boilers £5,000.
£9,000 from 21 July 2026 for homes heated by oil or LPG (off the gas grid), expected to run to around March 2027.
No EPC hoop any more: the EPC-certificate precondition was removed on 28 April 2026.
Your installer claims it for you: the installer must be MCS-certified and applies on your behalf, so the grant comes straight off the quote. You never front the £7,500.
Who qualifies: owner-occupiers, small landlords and second homes; most new-builds do not.
£7,500 off an air-to-water or ground-source heat pump (£2,500 for air-to-air) in England and Wales. From 21 July 2026, homes heated by oil or LPG can claim £9,000 (expected to run to around March 2027). The EPC-certificate precondition was removed on 28 April 2026. Your installer must be MCS-certified and claims the grant for you - it comes straight off the quote. Scheme extended to 2030.
0% VAT on heat pump, solar and battery installations
Residential installations of heat pumps, solar panels and home batteries are zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027 (then 5%). Applied automatically by the installer - typically worth £1,000-3,000 on a heat pump job versus standard 20% VAT.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme £7,500 standard, £9,000 for oil and LPG heated homes from 21 July 2026, plus 0% VAT until 31 March 2027. Claimed for you by your MCS-certified installer.
The heating picture in North East England
Most homes here heat with a mains-gas boiler, and the Ofgem price cap gas rate jumps 27% on 1 July 2026 (5.74p to 7.33p/kWh). With £7,500 off through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and 0% VAT until March 2027, replacing the boiler with an air source heat pump at end-of-life is now cost-competitive up front and on running costs. The coldest English region - cold-climate performance and defrost behaviour matter; modern units hold output well below freezing.
England and Wales share the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Scotland runs Home Energy Scotland, and Northern Ireland currently has no equivalent. Costs and the local heating mix differ by region.