The grant is fixed and the building is not. In England and Wales, Ofgem's Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 towards an air-to-water, ground source or water source heat pump, £9,000 towards an air-to-water or ground source heat pump in an eligible off-gas-grid property until 31 March 2027, £5,000 towards a biomass boiler and £2,500 towards an air-to-air heat pump in a residential property (Ofgem's Boiler Upgrade Scheme page). The condition that changes the sum is the building itself: the scheme is installer-led, the installer has to be MCS certified, and property owners apply through that installer, so a tenant's first move is a request to the landlord rather than a quote.
Sort out who owns the decision
Before anyone prices a product, write the outcome in plain words — a cold room, a boiler at the end of its life, a renovation two years away — and then find out who can answer each question it raises. One person collects the paperwork; the other makes the calls and writes down what was said and by whom.
Scroll sideways to see the full table →
| Question | Who can answer it | What they should produce |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the equipment and the flue? | Landlord, freeholder or managing agent | The tenancy or lease clause that names it |
| Is the property off the gas grid? | Energy supplier or gas network operator | The answer that decides £7,500 or £9,000 |
| What is the building rated now? | The energy certificate register | A letter from A to G with its expiry date |
| Is the installer certified for this? | MCS | The certification number and its scope |
| What works are already planned? | Building manager or owners' association | Dates, so a new system is not fitted twice |
The certification row matters because the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is installer-led and pays out only through an MCS certified installer (Ofgem's scheme page). None of the other rows is a statement of anyone's legal rights; they are routes to an answer, and the arrangements differ by country and by tenure.
What the 2024 directive changed for renters and owners
The recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, (EU) 2024/1275, entered into force on 28 May 2024 and had to be transposed into national law by 29 May 2026 (the Commission's page on the directive). The same page sets out why the building matters more than the appliance: 85% of EU buildings were built before 2000, 75% have poor energy performance, and the annual energy renovation rate is about 1%.
For homes, each EU country sets its own trajectory to cut the average primary energy use of residential buildings by 16% by 2030 and by 20 to 22% by 2035, with at least 55% of that fall coming from the worst-performing buildings. The Commission's page also says countries must provide safeguards for tenants, such as rent support or caps on rent increases (the directive page). Ask which national measure applies where you live; the directive sets the direction, and the national law sets what a landlord can and must do.
The certificate both of you can read this evening
In the UK, an Energy Performance Certificate rates a property from A (best) to G (worst), is valid for 10 years, must be ordered before a property is marketed to sell or rent, and must be shown to the buyer or tenant by the seller, landlord or letting agent (the UK government's guidance on Energy Performance Certificates). The same guidance lists what does not need one, including listed buildings where meeting minimum energy performance requirements would unacceptably alter the character or appearance, which a local authority conservation officer decides.
Reading it together takes ten minutes and replaces a lot of guessing. It names the property's current rating, its estimated energy costs and the improvements the assessor thought worth making — a far better starting point than a sales figure.
Work the grant into the quote, not the other way round
As an example, take a quoted price of £13,000 for an air-to-water heat pump on a house in England that is connected to the gas grid. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant is £7,500 (Ofgem), so £13,000 − £7,500 = £5,500 is left to find. Move the same house off the gas grid, where it qualifies for the higher grant, and the arithmetic becomes £13,000 − £9,000 = £4,000. The £1,500 difference is a fact about the building and its location, not about how keen the household is. Replace £13,000 with a real quote and the shape of the sum stays the same.
Six questions that expose a dependency
Take these into the conversation with the landlord, the assessor or the installer, and ask for the answers in writing:
- What has to be assessed before this option can be judged at all?
- Does it depend on another change first, such as insulation or a new radiator circuit?
- Which assumptions sit behind any saving figure quoted?
- What work, disruption and maintenance are included in the price?
- Who approves, installs and signs off the installation?
- What else would reach the same outcome, and what would that cost?
An answer of "unknown, pending a survey" is a result worth recording. Keep the replies with the records from a home energy observation without touching the controls, check the appliance figures against reading an energy label together, and if a shared building or a council scheme is involved, turn the gap into a council question.
Sources
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS)Accessed September 17, 2026
- Energy Performance of Buildings DirectiveAccessed September 17, 2026
- Energy Performance CertificatesAccessed September 17, 2026