Air to air heat pump grant, FAQs
Honest answers to the questions our customers actually ask. Last updated for 2026.
Can I get a grant for an air-to-air heat pump?
Yes — this changed in 2026. In England and Wales the Boiler Upgrade Scheme now pays £2,500 towards an air-to-air heat pump in a residential property, for applications from 28 April 2026. Your MCS-certified installer applies and deducts it from your quote. It's not available in Scotland or Northern Ireland. A lot of older web content still (wrongly) says no grant exists, because before 28 April 2026 there wasn't one.
Is the air-to-air grant £7,500 or £2,500?
£2,500. The £7,500 figure is for air-to-WATER and ground-source heat pumps, which run your radiators and heat your hot water through a wet system. Air-to-air only heats (and cools) the air in your rooms and makes no hot water, so it attracts the lower £2,500 grant. Air-to-air is also excluded from the £9,000 off-gas uplift that air-to-water/ground-source homes can get.
What's the catch with the air-to-air heat pump grant?
There are three honest catches. First, you must use an MCS-certified air-to-air installer — and MCS certification for air-to-air is still being rolled out through 2026, so eligible installers are genuinely scarce right now; no MCS-certified job means no grant. Second, the air-to-air system must REPLACE your existing heating — you can't keep your gas boiler and add air-to-air just for cooling. Third, air-to-air makes no hot water, so you'll keep a separate hot-water source. If those three line up for your home, the £2,500 is real.
Do I qualify if I keep my gas boiler and just want cooling?
No. This is the single biggest misunderstanding. The grant is for replacing your heating system with air-to-air, not for adding an air-conditioning unit alongside a boiler you keep. If you want summer cooling and intend to keep your gas boiler for heating, you do not qualify for the £2,500 — and we'd rather tell you that in 30 seconds than sell you a survey.
I have electric storage heaters — do I finally qualify?
Yes, and you're exactly who the 2026 change targeted. gov.uk lists the systems you can replace as 'oil, gas, electric or LPG', so all-electric and storage-heater homes now qualify (the one bar is already having a heat pump). Removing the old EPC requirement helped too. Air-to-air against storage heaters is also the strongest running-cost case there is — a SCOP-4 unit uses roughly a quarter of the electricity for the same heat.
Is it true air-to-air is only for homes replacing direct electric heating?
No — that's a common myth from installer blogs, not the law. gov.uk's own eligibility page lists 'oil, gas, electric or LPG' as the systems you can replace, and the legislation's only air-to-air-specific restriction is 'residential buildings only'. Air-to-air is best SUITED to electric-heated homes and flats because they have no wet system to rip out, but it is not legally restricted to them — a home replacing a gas boiler is listed as eligible.
Do air-to-air heat pumps qualify for 0% VAT?
Generally yes, on the installation, across the UK. Under HMRC VAT Notice 708/6, installing a qualifying air source heat pump is zero-rated (0% VAT) until 31 March 2027, then reverts to 5% (not 20%). HMRC's view is that most fixed air-conditioning units are air source heat pumps; the unit must be permanently fixed (not portable) and must provide heating. It's a price reduction, not cash back — and it stacks on top of the £2,500 grant.
Is air-to-air eligible for ECO4 or a 'free' heat pump scheme?
No. Ofgem's ECO4 guidance states an air-to-air system 'is not considered to be a renewable system in ECO4', because it doesn't heat your water — only air-to-water qualifies. So any site offering 'a free air-to-air heat pump on ECO4' is incorrect. ECO4 is a low-income/benefits scheme running to 31 December 2026, and it doesn't cover air-to-air.
Are air-conditioning units and air-to-air heat pumps the same thing?
Essentially yes. A modern reversible ('heat pump') air-conditioning system IS an air-to-air heat pump — the same hardware moves heat in either direction, warming your rooms in winter and cooling them in summer. 'Air conditioning' emphasises the cooling; 'air-to-air heat pump' emphasises the heating. HMRC and MCS both treat modern reversible air-con as air source heat pumps. A cooling-only unit that can't heat would not qualify for the grant.
Is there an air-to-air heat pump grant in Scotland?
Effectively no. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme doesn't operate in Scotland, and Scotland's own Home Energy Scotland grant and loan require a heat pump to provide 100% of your heating AND hot water — which air-to-air can't, because it makes no hot water. So a Scottish homeowner wanting air-to-air has no capital grant; only the UK-wide 0% VAT relief applies. We'd rather tell you that honestly than pretend otherwise.
Is there an air-to-air grant in Wales or Northern Ireland?
Wales: yes — the Boiler Upgrade Scheme covers England and Wales, so the £2,500 air-to-air grant applies (and low-income households may separately get the means-tested Nest scheme, though that typically funds air-to-water). Northern Ireland: no — there's no Boiler Upgrade Scheme in NI, so the dependable support is the UK-wide 0% VAT relief.
Can a flat or park home get the air-to-air grant?
Flats: yes — air-to-air suits flats well (small outdoor unit, no cylinder or radiators needed) and BUS is open to residential properties in England and Wales; just check your lease, as a freeholder's consent for the external unit is usually needed. Park/static homes: likely eligible now the EPC requirement has been removed, but that point comes from secondary sources, so confirm with an MCS installer and Ofgem before relying on it — for some park homes ECO4 or the Warm Homes: Local Grant is the more reliable route.
How much does an air-to-air heat pump cost, and what's the net price after the grant?
A single-room split runs about £1,200-£3,000; a 2-room multi-split £2,800-£4,500; a 3-4 room whole-home system £3,500-£7,000, all including 0% VAT. gov.uk cites a typical install at about £4,500 for a flat or small house. Deduct the £2,500 grant (where you qualify) and net cost can fall to roughly £300-£4,500 depending on size. Note a single-room top-up usually doesn't qualify for the grant.
Will an air-to-air heat pump actually save me money?
It depends what you're replacing. Against electric storage/panel heaters or LPG, yes — meaningfully (roughly £500-£1,000+ a year, with payback often under 2-4 years net of the grant). Against oil, the saving is modest. Against mains gas, it's roughly break-even on running cost at current prices — you'd buy it for the summer cooling and low install cost, not to beat your gas bill. We show the honest maths on the cost page rather than promise a single headline number.
How do I get hot water if air-to-air doesn't provide it?
You keep a separate hot-water source — most commonly an electric immersion cylinder (which you may already have), a standalone hot-water heat pump, or existing water heating. Important: you generally can't keep a fossil-fuel boiler running your SPACE heating and still get the grant (that's an ineligible hybrid); keeping a boiler for hot water only is a grey area, so confirm your exact setup with an MCS installer. A heat battery is also £2,500 grant-eligible, but it's one grant per property, so you can't claim both.
When did air-to-air become eligible, and can I actually claim it right now?
Eligible from 28 April 2026, under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2026. 'Right now' comes with one honest caveat: the £2,500 is fully in force, but MCS is still accrediting certification bodies (via UKAS) to sign off air-to-air installers, with no fixed completion date — so MCS-certified air-to-air installers are scarce in some areas. Confirm a prospective installer is MCS-certified specifically for air-to-air before you sign, because the grant only pays out on an MCS-certified job.