Latest Findings from Ofgem’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme Quarterly Report

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 1^st February 2023 – 30^th 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.

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