No dedicated landlord boiler grant exists in 2026, but three routes can fund a replacement.
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No dedicated landlord boiler grant exists in 2026, but three routes can fund a replacement. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme gives landlords £7,500 towards an air source heat pump, or £9,000 for oil replacements off the gas grid until March 2027. ECO4 can fund a full gas boiler swap if your tenant claims qualifying benefits. Warm Homes: Local Grant covers heating upgrades in low-EPC rentals, with amounts set by each council.
Yes, but not through a scheme called "landlord boiler grant". That specific product doesn't exist.
What exists instead are three genuine funding routes that landlords can use, each with different rules, different amounts, and very different attitudes to who's actually eligible. Two of them will pay for the full cost of a new heating system if the circumstances line up. One of them, the biggest, won't fund a gas boiler at all.
Here's the honest bit most guides skip: if you're a landlord hoping the government will hand you £2,000 towards a like-for-like combi swap in a decent EPC C property with a working tenant on PAYE, you're going to be disappointed. That situation doesn't attract funding anywhere. The grants that do exist are targeted at either low-income tenants, poor-rated properties, or the move away from gas altogether.
We see this confusion daily on the eligibility checker. Landlords type in "boiler grant" expecting one scheme and find three, none of which match what they Googled. So let's go through what's actually on the table.
Three schemes accept landlord applications in 2026: the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, ECO4, and Warm Homes: Local Grant. Each one has a different angle.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) is the most landlord-friendly route on paper. It pays £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump, or £9,000 if you're replacing an oil or LPG boiler off the gas grid (that £9,000 rate runs until March 2027, after which it drops back). The catch is that it only funds heat pumps and biomass boilers. It will not fund a new gas boiler, full stop. If you're set on gas, this isn't your scheme.
ECO4 is the one that catches most landlords by surprise. It's an obligation on the big energy suppliers, funded through customer bills, and it CAN pay for a full gas boiler replacement, including installation, on a rental property. But eligibility runs through the tenant, not the landlord. Your tenant needs to claim a qualifying benefit like Universal Credit, Pension Credit, or Child Tax Credit. If they do, and the property has a low EPC (usually D or below), you may get a full-cost install with no contribution from you. We've covered ECO4 eligibility in detail separately, the key point for landlords is that you'll need tenant consent to share their benefit status with the installer.
Warm Homes: Local Grant sits somewhere in between. It replaces earlier local authority funding streams, runs until March 2028, and each council sets its own rules within a national framework. Some are generous to private landlords. Some restrict it to owner-occupiers. Cornwall, Manchester and parts of Yorkshire are known for accepting landlord applications on properties rated D or below.
And if you're a landlord whose gas boiler is genuinely on its last legs, note that the back boiler removal grant sits inside ECO4 rather than being separate.
Qualification depends on three variables: the property's EPC, the fuel it currently uses, and your tenant's income status. Get those three straight before you apply anywhere.
EPC rating. For ECO4 and Warm Homes: Local Grant, you'll typically need an EPC of D or below (some routes allow E to G only). For BUS, EPC isn't the gating factor, but you'll need loft and cavity insulation in place before the heat pump goes in. If you don't have a current EPC, get one first. It's £60 to £120 and it determines everything downstream.
Current fuel. BUS is friendliest to properties off the gas grid, particularly those running old oil or LPG boilers, because of the £9,000 uplift. ECO4 will fund a gas replacement on properties currently using gas. Warm Homes varies.
Tenant benefits. This is the make-or-break for ECO4. Qualifying benefits include Universal Credit, Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit), Income Support, Income-based JSA, Child Tax Credit, and Working Tax Credit. There's also ECO4 Flex, where councils can nominate households outside the standard benefit list based on local rules (health conditions, low income without benefits, high energy cost ratios).
A quick approach we'd recommend: run your postcode and situation through the eligibility checker before you start ringing installers. It takes two minutes and it'll tell you which of the three schemes actually applies to your property.
One more thing that trips landlords up: if your property is currently below EPC E, you can't legally let it under MEES rules without a registered exemption. Applying for a grant to upgrade it is the right move, but the timing matters. We've written a separate piece on MEES exemptions if you're in that position now.
Between £2,500 and full cost, depending on which route applies and what you're installing.
Here's the breakdown of what each scheme actually pays:
| Scheme | What it funds | Landlord payment |
|---|---|---|
| BUS (air source heat pump) | Air-to-water heat pump install | £7,500 fixed |
| BUS (oil replacement, off gas grid) | Heat pump replacing oil/LPG | £9,000 until March 2027 |
| BUS (air-to-air) | Air-to-air heat pump | £2,500 |
| BUS (biomass) | Biomass boiler (rural, off gas) | £5,000 |
| ECO4 | Full gas boiler replacement | Usually 100% of install cost |
| Warm Homes: Local Grant | Heating and insulation | Varies by council |
BUS is a fixed-value voucher. The installer knocks it off the invoice, you pay the balance. On a typical £11,000 to £14,000 air source heat pump install, you're looking at £4,000 to £6,500 out of pocket after the grant. On an oil replacement before March 2027, that shrinks further.
ECO4 is different. It's not a fixed voucher, it's a full-funded measure package. If your property and tenant qualify, and the installer's survey shows the boiler swap is cost-effective under the scheme's rules, you pay nothing. Zero. That's the theory, at least. In practice, some installers ask for a top-up contribution on more expensive installs, particularly where system upgrades are needed alongside the boiler. Always ask upfront if there's a contribution before signing anything.
Warm Homes: Local Grant amounts are set locally. We've seen packages ranging from £2,000 to over £10,000 depending on the council and the measures.
The installer applies on your behalf, not you. That's the first thing to know.
You'll pick an MCS-certified heat pump installer, they'll survey the property, and if it qualifies they'll submit the BUS voucher application to Ofgem. Once approved, the voucher is valid for three months (six months for ground source), meaning the install has to be completed within that window.
Step by step:
A tenant-consent note: BUS doesn't require tenant benefit checks, but you do need reasonable access to install the system. Coordinate the timeline with your tenant, particularly if the install involves radiator upgrades or a hot water cylinder where none existed. We've covered heat pump radiators separately for the sizing side.
One thing worth flagging honestly: heat pumps in rental properties are still uncommon, and some letting agents are nervous about them. If you're planning to sell within five years, or if the property is high-turnover, the payback maths gets harder. Heat pumps make most sense on properties you're holding long-term with settled tenants.
Apply through ECO4. This is the single biggest funding route landlords consistently overlook.
The reason it gets missed is that it feels like a tenant scheme, not a landlord one. And technically it is, the eligibility is theirs, not yours. But the outcome is your boiler getting replaced at no cost. So the practical approach is a conversation with your tenant, framed carefully.
What you're asking them to do is share their benefit status with an installer so the property can qualify for a fully-funded heating upgrade. Most tenants are happy to do this once they understand it means a new boiler, better heating, and lower bills for them. A minority won't be comfortable sharing benefit information, and that's their right.
If your tenant claims Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Child Tax Credit, or one of the other qualifying benefits, and your property is EPC D or below, you're likely eligible. The installer runs the actual eligibility check, they have direct access to verification systems and won't just take the tenant's word for it.
ECO4 Flex is worth a specific mention. This is the local authority route into ECO4, and it catches households that don't claim standard benefits but still fall under income thresholds or have relevant health conditions. Councils in Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol and several London boroughs run active Flex schemes. If your tenant is on a low income but not on benefits, ask the council directly whether they'd be nominated.
One last thing on this: don't try to push a tenant into cooperating. It's their information. If they say no, look at BUS instead (if a heat pump works for the property), or the Warm Homes: Local Grant through your council. The who qualifies for a boiler grant guide walks through the tenant-eligibility side in more detail if you want to send it to them.
And if you're weighing up which route to pursue first, our EPC grants for landlords guide covers the full picture across heating and insulation together, which is often the better way to think about it.
Open the eligibility checker. Two minutes. You'll know which of the three schemes applies to your property, your tenant, and your fuel type, without ringing round installers first.
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