The Government is increasing the threshold
Households will be able to claim up to £9,000 after the Government announced it was raising the amount available through a scheme. Those struggling with the soaring costs of heating oil will receive larger grants to swap their oil boilers for electric heat pumps, the Government has confirmed.
Ministers are boosting grants under the “boiler upgrade scheme”, which currently provides £7,500 for households to replace their fossil fuel boiler with a heat pump, to £9,000 for properties dependent on heating oil and LPG.
Officials say the move will benefit households and small businesses in England and Wales, particularly those in rural locations, helping them to electrify their heating and gain greater stability over their energy bills. Families heating their homes with heating oil or LPG have faced rocketing costs in the aftermath of the Iran war.
Data reveals that prices for heating oil – which is not covered by the Ofgem energy price cap that shields consumers with gas boilers from extreme energy price spikes – doubled to record highs between February and March.
The Government has already pledged £53 million in targeted support for “vulnerable” heating oil consumers, focusing on “those households that are most exposed”.
Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “Heating oil and LPG customers have been among the hardest hit by the current crisis.
“The three million households relying on these fuels sit outside the energy price cap and have no equivalent protection when global prices spike.
“These households are disproportionately in rural areas, have lower incomes, and live in older, harder-to-upgrade properties.”
He noted that while the £9,000 grant for such homes would be “very welcome”, it might not fully cover the costs for those unable to afford the remainder or whose properties require substantial preparatory work before a heat pump can be fitted.
According to the Energy Saving Trust, installing an air source heat pump typically costs around £11,000, though this varies depending on the pump’s size, the property’s dimensions and age, and any necessary upgrades like new radiators.
Mr Francis explained: “Therefore, the expansion of this scheme must be accompanied by specialist local advice for households, stronger consumer protections during the works, and targeted additional support for those who cannot meet the shortfall.
“The measure of success is not how many grants are issued, but whether the households most exposed to fossil fuel price shocks are genuinely better off as a result.”
