Last Updated on July 8, 2026
The heat pump grant sounds simple. Seven and a half thousand pounds off, fitted in a few weeks, sorted. Then the quote lands and the number looks nothing like you expected. This is where most people get caught, and it is not their fault.
The mistake nearly everyone makes
Most people shop the grant, not the job. They see £7,500 and read it as a discount on a set price, the way a voucher works. It is not. It is a fixed contribution towards a job that varies a lot from one home to the next.
A heat pump is not a boiler swap. It is a change of heating system. Price the whole system first, then take the grant off the total. Do it the other way round and every quote will feel like a nasty surprise.
What a heat pump actually costs
A typical air source heat pump install in the UK runs from around £10,000 to £14,000 before any grant, and more for a larger or harder to heat home. After the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, most households end up paying somewhere between £3,000 and £7,000.
That spread is wide for a reason. The heat pump unit is only part of it. The rest is the system around it, and that is where quotes rise or fall.
What the £7,500 grant is, and is not
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 towards an air source heat pump in England and Wales. Scotland has its own separate support through Home Energy Scotland, so if you are north of the border the rules and figures are different.
You do not apply yourself. Your installer must be MCS certified and they apply for the grant on your behalf, then take it off your bill. That matters, because the grant is only as reliable as the installer holding the certification. No certification, no grant.
Who actually qualifies
The grant is for replacing a fossil fuel heating system, so gas, oil or LPG. You usually need a valid EPC for the property. The details do change, so check the current rules before you commit rather than assuming last year’s version still applies.
The safest move is to ask the installer to confirm your eligibility in writing before any work is booked, not after.
Where the extra cost hides
A heat pump runs at a lower temperature than a gas boiler, so the system has to suit it. The parts of the quote that catch people out are almost always the same few things.
Radiators sometimes need upsizing so the home stays warm at that lower temperature. You may need a new hot water cylinder. Pipework and controls can need upgrading. Occasionally the electrics need attention too. A very cheap quote often looks cheap because one or more of these has been left out, and it reappears later as an extra.
How to read a heat pump quote
Ask for the system itemised, not a single figure. You want to see the unit, the cylinder, the radiator work, the pipework and controls, the labour, and the grant shown as a separate line coming off the total.
Then get two or three quotes on the same basis and compare like for like. If one is far cheaper, do not assume you have found a bargain. Assume something has been left out and ask what.
The sharp takeaway
Do not shop the grant. Shop the whole system, itemised, then take the £7,500 off the total. Get two or three quotes on the same basis, use an MCS certified installer so the grant actually lands, and treat the cheapest quote as a question, not an answer.
Whito verifies UK heating engineers against Companies House, so you can check who is quoting for your heat pump before the work starts. Find a verified heating engineer near you.
Figures are typical 2026 UK ranges. Grant rules and rates change, so confirm current eligibility before you commit.
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