Air to Air Heat Pump Grant in London

The grant position for a London homeowner

If you own a home anywhere in Greater London, the £2,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant for an air-to-air heat pump applies to you. It came into force across England on 28 April 2026 and runs to 2030. This is the flat air-to-air rate — not the £7,500 figure you may have seen quoted, which is for air-to-water systems that also make your hot water. Air-to-air heats (and cools) your rooms only, so you keep whatever heats your water now.

The honest catch, and it bites harder in London than almost anywhere: the grant can only be claimed through an MCS-certified air-to-air installer, and that certification is still rolling out through 2026. Across the capital's eight postcode areas (E, EC, N, NW, SE, SW, W and WC) genuinely certified air-to-air installers are thin on the ground. The £2,500 is real money and it is yours to claim — you may just be waiting on a certified fitter to become available. Check the current detail on our eligibility page and MCS installers page before you commit to a quote.

Why air-to-air actually suits London's housing

London's housing stock is unusually well matched to air-to-air, for one blunt reason: space. The capital is a city of flats, purpose-built blocks, and Victorian and Edwardian houses carved into conversion maisonettes. An air-to-water heat pump needs a hot-water cylinder — often a large one — and in a one- or two-bed flat in E8, N4 or SW9 there is simply nowhere to put it. Air-to-air needs no cylinder at all. A wall-mounted indoor unit and an outdoor condenser is the whole system, which is why for a great many London homes air-to-air is the only heat pump that physically fits.

That splits the London decision into two distinct cases:

• All-electric flats and ex-local-authority blocks — homes still running old storage heaters or panel heaters, common across inner London estates, have no gas boiler to protect. For these, air-to-air is a straight upgrade: far cheaper to run than storage heaters, and the £2,500 takes a real bite out of the install cost. This is the strongest London case.
• Mains-gas terraces and conversions — most of London is on the gas grid, and if you keep a working gas boiler you do not qualify for the grant just to add cooling. Where air-to-air earns its place here is a genuine full switch away from gas, or in period and top-floor flats that overheat badly in summer — the same unit that heats in winter cools in a July heatwave, which a gas boiler never will.

With the average London home changing hands around £720,000, a reversible heating-and-cooling system that adds year-round comfort is an easier decision here than in cheaper regions — but only run the numbers once you have decided which of the two cases above is yours. Our cost page breaks down the real figures after the grant.

Where you do and don't qualify — the London specifics

Air-to-air makes no hot water. Every London home keeping it as its heating will need a separate hot-water source — an immersion cylinder, or the existing boiler kept solely for water. It is best suited to:

• Flats and conversions with no space for a cylinder
• All-electric homes on storage or panel heating
• Period and top-floor properties where summer cooling matters
• Homes making a full, genuine exit from gas or off-gas heating

You will not qualify if you are keeping a gas boiler and simply want a cheap route to air conditioning — that is the single most common London misunderstanding, and it is worth being clear about before you spend on a survey.

London funding beyond the £2,500

The Greater London Authority is not the grant administrator — the £2,500 is a national Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant paid through your installer — but the city's climate policy is the backdrop to it. The London Environment Strategy sets a net-zero target of 2030, one of the more ambitious in the country, and the retrofit of London homes off fossil heating is central to hitting it.

Two extra routes matter locally. First, 0% VAT applies to heat pump installation UK-wide until 31 March 2027, which quietly stacks on top of the £2,500. Second, individual London boroughs — Croydon, Bromley and the others bordering the capital included — deliver the Warm Homes: Local Grant at their own discretion for lower-income and less efficient households. In practice most council-delivered schemes steer towards air-to-water, but if your household is eligible it is worth asking your own borough directly. We keep the current picture on our grants and funding page.

Areas we cover across the capital

This guide covers all of Greater London — the E, EC, N, NW, SE, SW, W and WC postcode areas — and the surrounding boroughs and towns that ring it, including Croydon, Bromley, Dartford, Watford and Slough. If you sit in the commuter belt just beyond, our neighbouring guides for Reading, Luton and Brighton pick up from there.

A realistic note on installers: London's density cuts both ways. There are more heating firms per square mile than anywhere in the UK, but MCS air-to-air certification specifically is scarce in 2026, and demand in the capital is high. Expect to shop around and, quite possibly, to wait. Booking a survey now, even ahead of a certified slot opening, is the practical move.

Common London objections, answered

"I've seen £7,500 quoted — why only £2,500?"

The £7,500 is the air-to-water grant. Air-to-air is a separate, flat £2,500 rate. Different technology, different figure — see our eligibility page.

"I live in a flat — can I even have one?"

Usually yes, and often more easily than a house, because no cylinder is needed. You will need permission for the outdoor unit if you are leasehold or in a conservation area, so check with your freeholder or managing agent first.

"Can I claim it right now?"

The grant is live, but a certified air-to-air installer is the gatekeeper and London has few of them yet. Line up a survey now so you are ready when a certified slot opens. Compare the true post-grant figures on our cost page.