Oil fired boiler replacement grants: what off-gas homes can get
Last updated:
- Grants pay to move you off oil
- Grants do not fund a new oil boiler
- £9,000 off a heat pump in England and Wales
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£9,000
Oil or LPG homes, heat pump
Until March 2027, GOV.UK
£7,500
Standard heat pump grant
Boiler Upgrade Scheme, GOV.UK
£5,000
Biomass boiler, rural homes
Boiler Upgrade Scheme, GOV.UK
31 Dec 2026
ECO4 end date
GOV.UK government response
Which oil fired boiler replacement grants can you get?
Oil fired boiler replacement grants in the UK pay to move you off oil, not for a new oil boiler. ECO4, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and the Warm Homes: Local Grant do not fund new oil boilers. In England and Wales, oil or LPG homes with no mains gas can get £9,000 off a heat pump until March 2027.
You can get a grant to replace an oil boiler, but an oil boiler replacement grant pays for a low carbon system such as a heat pump, not another oil boiler. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme, ECO4 and the Warm Homes: Local Grant all point oil and LPG homes towards heat pumps.
LPG means liquefied petroleum gas, the bottled or tank gas used where there is no mains gas. The rules below treat oil and LPG homes the same way.
Oil boiler grants by scheme, checked 20 October 2026
| Scheme | Where | Help for an oil or LPG home | Pays for a new oil boiler? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boiler Upgrade Scheme | England and Wales | £7,500 off an air or ground source heat pump, plus £1,500 more until March 2027. £5,000 off a biomass boiler in rural homes off the gas grid. | No |
| ECO4 | England, Scotland and Wales | A heat pump first. A broken oil boiler can be repaired only when nothing else fits. Ends 31 December 2026. | No |
| Warm Homes: Local Grant | England | Insulation, heat pumps and solar panels for low income homes on any fuel. | No |
| Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan | Scotland | Up to £7,500 grant and £7,500 interest-free loan for a heat pump, plus £1,500 for rural homes. | Not on its list of measures |
| Nest | Wales | Free upgrades such as a heat pump, insulation or solar panels for low income homes. | Not stated by the Welsh Government |
| Northern Ireland schemes | Northern Ireland | The Boiler Replacement Scheme is closed. Affordable Warmth is run by the Housing Executive. | See the Northern Ireland section |
Keep oil, switch to a heat pump or connect to gas?
For an oil-heated home, a heat pump is the only one of these three options a grant will pay towards. A new oil boiler or a switch to mains gas is paid for by you.
Your three options compared
| Option | Grant help | Who pays | Things to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fit a new oil boiler | None from ECO4, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme or the Warm Homes: Local Grant | You pay the full cost | ECO4 can repair a broken oil boiler in a few cases (see below) |
| Switch to a heat pump | £9,000 off with the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Low income homes may get the full cost covered by ECO4 or the Local Grant | You pay the rest of the quote after the grant | Your installer must be MCS certified and fit it within 3 months of the voucher being issued (6 months for a ground source heat pump) |
| Connect to mains gas | ECO4 cannot fund gas heating in a home it treats as off-gas. The other two schemes do not fund gas boilers | You pay the full cost | You lose the extra £1,500 for a heat pump once a mains gas supply is connected |
How much off a heat pump do oil and LPG homes get?
The biggest grant for oil homes is for a heat pump. Homes in England and Wales heated by oil or LPG, with no mains gas connection, can get £9,000 off an air or ground source heat pump through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme until March 2027. That is the standard £7,500 plus an extra £1,500.
GOV.UK sets two conditions for the extra £1,500, and you need both:
- your property is heated by oil or LPG
- there is no mains gas connection at the property
The other Boiler Upgrade Scheme rules still apply:
- Ownership: you must own the property. Landlords, second homes and business premises can qualify.
- Not eligible: social housing, most new builds, and homes that already had government funding for a heat pump.
- Income: GOV.UK sets no income or benefit test.
- Applying: your MCS certified installer applies on the Ofgem website, and the grant is taken off what you pay.
We have not found any announcement that the extra £1,500 will carry on after March 2027. Our heat pump grant guide covers costs, the full eligibility rules and how to apply.
Does ECO4 replace oil boilers?
No. Ofgem's ECO4 delivery guidance (version 4.0, March 2026) says oil, LPG and biofuel boiler replacements are not eligible. ECO4 treats a home whose main heating is oil or LPG as an off-gas home.
ECO4 options in an off-gas home include:
- a heat pump, which Ofgem names as the first heating measure to consider
- biomass heating, but only in rural homes
- a repair to a broken oil or LPG boiler, but only if no other heating option on Ofgem's off-gas list fits
Those oil and LPG boiler repairs share a cap of 5,000 repairs a year with other boiler and storage heater repairs, across all energy suppliers. ECO4 also cannot fit equipment that runs on mains gas in an off-gas home, so it will not pay to convert you from oil to gas.
Insulation comes first
Before ECO4 pays for any heating work, including a repair, your home must meet Ofgem's insulation rules, unless an exemption applies:
- EPC band D: at least one insulation measure in the same job, unless the roof, outside walls, party cavity walls and floor are all insulated already.
- EPC bands E, F and G: all outside cavity walls and the loft or roof must be insulated.
- Park homes: floor, wall and ceiling insulation.
ECO4 status: ECO4 runs from 1 April 2022 to 31 December 2026. The government has said there will be no new energy supplier scheme after it. See what that means for you in our ECO4 extension guide.
Heating with oil on a low income? ECO4 may still fund work before 31 December 2026.
Can the Warm Homes: Local Grant replace an oil boiler?
The Warm Homes: Local Grant can replace oil heating with a heat pump, but it will not fit another oil boiler. The DESNZ guidance says homes on all fuel types can apply, including oil and LPG, and that any upgrade can be funded "except for fossil fuel heating".
The guidance encourages low carbon heat most in off gas grid homes heated by oil, coal or LPG. You may qualify in England if your home is rated EPC D to G and your household earns £36,000 or less, gets a means-tested benefit, or is in an eligible postcode.
It runs until 31 March 2028, where your council still has funding. Our warm homes local grant guide explains the income rules and how to apply.
Rural and park homes
Rural homes can also look at a biomass boiler, which town homes cannot get funded.
- Biomass boilers: the Boiler Upgrade Scheme gives £5,000 off, only for a rural home off the gas grid, and the extra £1,500 does not apply. ECO4 also allows biomass only in rural homes.
- Park homes: the Warm Homes: Local Grant can help if the park home is your permanent home and its energy rating is the same as EPC D to G. ECO4 requires floor, wall and ceiling insulation first. See our guide to park home insulation grants.
Oil boiler grants in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Help for oil-heated homes differs by nation. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme covers England and Wales only, so Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own help for oil-heated homes.
Scotland
The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan gives up to £7,500 grant for a heat pump, with an optional £7,500 interest-free loan on top. Rural and island homes get an extra £1,500. The heat pump must provide all of your heating and hot water.
- You must own the home and live in it as your main home. You do not need to be on benefits.
- Warmer Homes Scotland is a separate scheme for people on certain benefits, or aged 75 or over with no working heating. It can fit an air source heat pump, usually at no cost to you.
- Call us on 07599 995537 to check if ECO4 or LA Flex can fund work on your home in Scotland.
Read more in our guide to boiler grants Scotland.
Wales
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme, with the extra £1,500, works the same in Wales as in England. Low income homes in Wales have their own scheme, Nest, run by the Welsh Government.
- Nest eligibility: you own or privately rent, and you get a means-tested benefit or live on a low income.
- Your home must have an EPC score of 54 (band E) or less, or 68 (band D) or less if someone in the home has an eligible health condition.
Northern Ireland
ECO4 and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme do not cover Northern Ireland. GOV.UK says the Northern Ireland Boiler Replacement Scheme "is now closed".
- Affordable Warmth Scheme: run by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to help with fuel poverty and poor energy efficiency.
- Home heating oil support: a £100 prepaid card towards heating oil, not a boiler, from the Department for Communities. It is for homes where oil is the main heating and someone gets a qualifying benefit, such as Pension Credit or Universal Credit, or the net income is under £30,000.
For what is open now, read our guide to the boiler replacement scheme NI.
Who will not get help?
You are unlikely to get grant help if:
- you want a new oil or LPG boiler
- you rent from a council or housing association and want to apply yourself
- you live in Northern Ireland and want the Boiler Upgrade Scheme
- your home is a new build that is still being built
Not on benefits? The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has no income test, and our guide answers can I get a boiler grant if I'm not on benefits.
Prefer to talk it through?
Common questions
Is there a free oil boiler replacement scheme?
No. None of the main grants pays for a new oil boiler: ECO4, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and the Warm Homes: Local Grant fund low carbon heating instead. A low income home may get a heat pump fully funded through ECO4, until 31 December 2026, or through the Local Grant.
Can I get a grant for an LPG boiler?
No. There is no LPG boiler grant under these schemes, because LPG homes follow the same rules as oil homes. They can get the extra £1,500 off a heat pump, and ECO4 can repair a broken LPG boiler only when no other heating option fits.
Does a gas cooker stop me getting the extra £1,500?
It can. GOV.UK says the property must not have a mains gas connection, so a cooker on mains gas is likely to rule you out.
A cooker running on bottled gas is not a mains connection.
Can I use ECO4 for insulation and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme for a heat pump?
Yes. GOV.UK says you can still get the Boiler Upgrade Scheme if you have already had funding to make your home more energy efficient.
Looking at every scheme together? Our boiler replacement scheme guide lists what is open across the UK.
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Sources
- GOV.UK: Apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (overview, what you can get, eligibility, how to apply), checked 20 October 2026
- Ofgem: ECO4 Guidance: Delivery, version 4.0, 26 March 2026 (PDF), paragraphs 5.58 to 5.62, 5.104 to 5.115 and 5.119 to 5.133, checked 20 October 2026
- GOV.UK: Extending the ECO4 end date, government response, checked 20 October 2026
- DESNZ: Warm Homes: Local Grant policy guidance, July 2026 (PDF), checked 20 October 2026
- Home Energy Scotland: Grant and Loan and Warmer Homes Scotland, checked 20 October 2026
- Welsh Government: Nest eligibility, checked 20 October 2026
- nidirect: Home heating oil support and nidirect: Energy saving grants in your area, checked 20 October 2026
- MCS: Find an MCS certified installer, checked 20 October 2026
About This Page
FreeBoilerUpgrade.uk is an installer run by Reliant Energy Solutions Ltd (No. 16100301), incorporated on 25 November 2024. Every boiler is fitted by a Gas Safe registered engineer. We are not part of the government or Ofgem.
- Company: Reliant Energy Solutions Ltd, company number 16100301, address 16 Suite, Turner Business Centre, Middleton, Manchester M24 1RU
- Phone: 07599 995537
- Email: info@freeboilerupgrade.uk
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