The £7,500 Heat Pump Grant: How It Works in Northamptonshire
The short answer
The government's Boiler Upgrade Scheme takes £7,500 off the price of an air source or ground source heat pump for homes in England and Wales. If your home is heated by oil, LPG or electric heaters, the grant is £9,000 from 21 July 2026 to 31 March 2027. You don't apply yourself: your installer claims it and takes it off your bill.
How much is the grant?
| What you install | Grant |
|---|---|
| Air source or ground source heat pump | £7,500 |
| Heat pump replacing oil, LPG or direct electric heating (21 July 2026 to 31 March 2027) | £9,000 |
| Biomass boiler (rural homes off the gas grid) | £5,000 |
| Air-to-air heat pump | £2,500 |
Some rural villages in Northamptonshire aren't on mains gas, so homes there heated by oil or LPG can get the higher £9,000.
Who can get it?
- You own the home (including landlords), in England or Wales. Most new-build homes and social housing aren't eligible.
- You're replacing a fossil fuel or direct electric heating system.
- The home has a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). The installer checks the insulation rules when they survey.
- The installer is MCS certified for heat pumps and belongs to a consumer code such as RECC or HIES.
What does a heat pump cost after the grant?
A typical air source heat pump for a 3-bedroom home costs roughly £11,000 to £15,000 to install, including a new hot water cylinder and any radiators that need upsizing. After the £7,500 grant, that's usually around £3,500 to £7,500. Heat pumps fitted to homes also have 0% VAT until 31 March 2027. Our instant heat pump estimate gives a figure for your home in a minute.
Will it cost more to run than gas?
On a standard tariff, about the same. From October to December 2026, the price cap is 26.32p per kWh for electricity and 7.97p for gas. A heat pump makes around 3 units of heat for every unit of electricity, so each unit of heat costs about 8.8p, against about 8.9p from a 90% efficient gas boiler. If you come off gas completely, you also stop paying the gas standing charge, about £108 a year.
It gets cheaper with a heat pump tariff, or with solar panels and a battery, which make and store your own electricity. Homes on oil, LPG or electric heaters usually save more.
What about loans?
The government's £15 billion Warm Homes Plan will add low- and zero-interest loans for heat pumps, solar panels and batteries, with grants for lower-income homes. Details are due later in 2026, and we'll add them to our quotes when the scheme opens.
How to get started
- Get an instant estimate of your size, price after the grant and running cost.
- Book a free survey with our MCS-certified heat pump partner, who checks your heat loss, radiators and where everything will go.
- Get a fixed quote with the grant already taken off. The installer claims the grant once it's fitted.
Grant rules can change. Check GOV.UK: Boiler Upgrade Scheme for the latest, and Ofgem for current energy prices.