The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) is a UK Government initiative to support the decarbonisation of heat in buildings. It aims to reduce the cost of low carbon heating technologies, so they are more affordable for consumers to buy and run, and this is achieved through upfront capital grants that support the installation of heat pumps and biomass boilers. The grants are available to homeowners, as well as owners of small business properties, in England and Wales. Further details on eligibility can be found here.
Ofgem has been providing quarterly updates on the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. The quarterly report covering the period from 1st February 2023 – 30th April 2023 has recently been released. We have summarised the key points below.
Vouchers:
The voucher application consists of 2 stages.
Stage 1 – installers submit a voucher application and if successful then Ofgem issue the voucher.
Stage 2 – After the commissioning of an installation, the installer submits a voucher redemption application, and a grant payment is then made once the application is successful.
Below is a summary of the number of voucher applications received, number of vouchers issued, and value of vouchers issued from May 2022 – April 2023.
Period | Voucher applications received | Vouchers issued | Value of vouchers issued |
May 2022 – Jul 2022 | 4,367 | 2,509 | £12,595,000 |
Aug 2022 – Oct 2022 | 4,552 | 3,402 | £17,113,000 |
Nov 2022 – Jan 2023 | 4,062 | 3,279 | £16,508,000 |
Feb 2023 – Apr 2023 | 4,020 | 3,716 | £18,699,000 |
Since May 2022 there has been:
- 17,001 voucher applications,
- 12,906 vouchers issued,
- A total of £64,915,000 worth of vouchers issued.
Grants
The table below documents the number of voucher redemption applications received, the number of grants paid, and the value of the grant payments.
Period | Voucher redemption applications received | Grants paid | Value of grant payments |
May 2022 – Jul 2022 | 1,191 | 908 | £4,554,000 |
Aug 2022 – Oct 2022 | 3,437 | 3,187 | £15,989,000 |
Nov 2022 – Jan 2023 | 3,524 | 3,548 | £17,851,000 |
Feb 2023 – Apr 2023 | 3,111 | 3,204 | £16,115,000 |
Since May 2022 there has been:
- 11,263 voucher redemption applications received,
- 10,847 grants paid,
- A total of £54,509,000 worth of grant payments.
The table below details the regional distribution of grants paid by technology type.
| Air source heat pump | Ground source heat pump | Biomass | Ground source heat pump (shared ground loop) | Total |
South West | 2,003 | 72 | 30 | 5 | 2,110 |
South East | 1,959 | 43 | 2 | 0 | 2,004 |
East of England | 1,426 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 1,455 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 1,102 | 38 | 4 | 0 | 1,144 |
East Midlands | 1,094 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 1,121 |
North West | 787 | 18 | 13 | 0 | 818 |
West Midlands | 756 | 20 | 10 | 2 | 788 |
Wales | 614 | 18 | 45 | 0 | 677 |
London | 432 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 438 |
North East | 271 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 292 |
Installations
The table below provides information on the installations for which grants have been paid at the completion of Stage 2.
| Air source heat pump | Ground source heat pump | Biomass | Ground source heat pump (shared ground loop) |
May 2022 – Jul 2022 | 885 | 12 | 9 | 2 |
Aug 2022 – Oct 2022 | 3,097 | 54 | 36 | 0 |
Nov 2022 – Jan 2023 | 3,387 | 107 | 50 | 4 |
Feb 2023 – Apr 2023 | 3,075 | 92 | 34 | 3 |
Since May 2022 there has been:
- 10,444 air source heat pump grants paid to date,
- 265 ground source heat pump grants paid to date,
- 129 biomass grants paid to date,
- 9 ground source heat pump (shared ground loop) grants paid to date.
The table below shows the number and types of heating systems that have been replaced by new installations.
| Gas | Oil | Direct electric | LPG | Coal | Other | None |
May 2022 – Jul 2022 | 485 | 241 | 55 | 42 | 12 | 9 | 64 |
Aug 2022 – Oct 2022 | 1,516 | 817 | 253 | 115 | 40 | 35 | 411 |
Nov 2022 – Jan 2023 | 1,596 | 795 | 324 | 130 | 40 | 41 | 622 |
Feb 2023 – Apr 2023 | 1,427 | 609 | 316 | 96 | 45 | 42 | 669 |
What is the data telling us about the Boiler Upgrade Scheme?
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has received great interest since its inception and continues to do so. This is evidenced by the similarities of the data throughout each quarter. For example, voucher applications received each quarter have remained at a similar level of circa 4,000 applications.
The data also shows that as each quarter progresses, more vouchers are being issued along with the value of vouchers issued increasing.
Voucher redemption applications received, and grants paid, picked up in quarters 2 and 3 (starting from Aug 2022 until Jan 2023) however have somewhat slowed again in quarter 4 (Feb 2023 – April). Future data will be able to reveal whether this will be a trend and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme slows down throughout the year.
Lastly, the data shows that air source heat pumps consistently remain the most popular product amongst the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, followed by ground source heat pump and then biomass boilers.
Background vector created by upklyak – www.freepik.com
