Last Updated on July 10, 2026
The headline is always the same. £7,500 off a heat pump. What the headline never says is that the same job can be quoted thousands of pounds apart, and that for most homes the grant does not cover the whole bill. We pulled together the published 2026 UK cost data to show the real picture.
What we found, in one line
On a typical three bed home, heat pump quotes range from around £9,000 to £13,000 for what looks like the same job. After the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, most households still pay somewhere between £1,500 and £5,500. The grant helps a lot. It rarely makes the job free.
What we looked at
We gathered published air source heat pump installation costs for 2026 from UK cost guides and installer data, broken down by property size, and compared the figure before the grant with the figure after it. The point was not to find the cheapest number. It was to show the spread, because the spread is what catches people out.
Finding one: the same house, thousands apart
Cost tracks the size and heat demand of the property, which is fair enough. A flat needs less than a five bed detached. But even within one property type the range is wide.
A three bed semi lands roughly between £9,000 and £12,000 before the grant. That is a £3,000 swing on the same kind of house. A four bed detached runs from about £11,000 to £16,000. The gap is not random. It is mostly down to what each quote includes, which brings us to the part that matters.
Finding two: the grant rarely covers the whole job
Here is the cost by home size, before and after the £7,500 grant.
The pattern is clear. Only the smallest, simplest jobs get close to free. A one or two bed flat can come in at £0 to £2,500 after the grant. A three bed semi is more like £1,500 to £4,500. A four bed detached is £3,500 to £8,500, and a five bed detached can still be five figures after the grant is applied.
So the grant is a large, genuine contribution. It is not a blanket that covers every home. Anyone budgeting on the assumption that £7,500 wipes out the cost is likely to be surprised.
Finding three: where the gap comes from
The reason two quotes for the same house differ by thousands is almost always the extras, and whether they are in the quote or hidden outside it.
A heat pump runs cooler than a gas boiler, so the system around it often needs work. Radiator upgrades commonly add £2,000 to £5,000. A hot water cylinder adds £800 to £1,500. Pipework can add around £2,000. A quote that leaves these out looks cheaper on paper and then grows once the work starts. A quote that includes them looks dearer and is often the honest one.
That is the price gap in a sentence. It is frequently not a difference in the deal. It is a difference in what has been left off the page.
What it means if you are buying
Do not compare headline numbers. Compare what is included. Ask every installer to itemise the unit, the radiators, the cylinder, the pipework, the labour, and to show the grant as a separate line off the total. Then the cheap quote either holds up or reveals what it left out.
Use an MCS certified installer, because without that certification there is no grant at all. And treat any quote that is far below the rest as a question to ask, not a bargain to grab. Our companion guide walks through what a heat pump really costs after the £7,500 grant and how to read a quote line by line.
What it means if you are selling
For installers, the gap is an opportunity, not a race to the bottom. The firms that win the good jobs are usually the ones that quote the whole system honestly and explain why theirs is not the cheapest line. Clarity converts. A homeowner who understands why one quote is higher will often choose it, because it is the one they trust.
That is the whole Whito principle for trades. You do not win by being the cheapest number on a list. You win by being the one a nervous buyer can understand and check. It starts with being easy to verify, which is why checking the Gas Safe number, not the claim matters so much to the people choosing you.
Methodology and sources
Figures are aggregated from published UK air source heat pump cost data for 2026, grouped by property size, comparing typical installation cost before the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant with the net cost after the £7,500 grant is applied. Additional component costs are typical published ranges. Heat pump pricing varies by property, region and installer, so these are indicative ranges rather than a quote. The grant applies in England and Wales, with separate support in Scotland through Home Energy Scotland. Always confirm current grant rules and get itemised quotes before committing.
The sharp takeaway
The £7,500 grant is real and worth having, but it rarely covers the whole job, and the same house can be quoted thousands apart depending on what the quote includes. Compare what is in the price, not the price on its own. For homeowners that is how you avoid the surprise. For installers it is how you win the work without cutting your own throat.
Whito verifies UK heating engineers against Companies House, so you can check who is quoting before the work starts. Find a verified heating engineer near you.
