Heating grants in Northern Ireland

The short answer

If you live in Northern Ireland, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not apply to you. The £7,500 grant that cuts the price of a heat pump in England and Wales is not available here. Support for heating upgrades in Northern Ireland is run separately, it has changed several times, and what is open this month may not be open next month. The honest advice is to check NI Energy Advice and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive for current schemes, plan your budget as if no grant will arrive, and treat any support you do get as a bonus.

We cannot promise you a grant, and nobody else can either. What we can do is help you understand the options and the full costs.

Why Northern Ireland is different

Energy and housing policy is largely devolved. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each decide how to support home heating, and the result is a patchwork:

There is a second difference that matters as much as the grant rules. Many homes in Northern Ireland heat with oil, not mains gas, because the gas network reaches fewer areas than in Great Britain. That changes the sums. Moving off oil to a heat pump often saves more on running costs than moving off gas, and it removes the need for an oil tank and fuel deliveries.

Where to check for current support

1. NI Energy Advice. The free advice line for householders in Northern Ireland. They can tell you which schemes are open, who qualifies and how to apply.
2. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive. It has run affordable warmth and boiler replacement schemes aimed at lower-income households and older homes. If you are a Housing Executive tenant, upgrades to your home go through them, not through you.
3. Your council. Some councils refer residents into regional schemes or run local energy projects.
4. Your energy supplier. Supplier-funded schemes in Great Britain, such as ECO4, do not run in the same way in Northern Ireland, so ask what applies locally rather than assuming.

When you call, have ready: your postcode, the age of your home, how you heat it now, whether anyone in the household gets means-tested benefits, and whether you own or rent.

Do not sign a contract for a heat pump on the promise that a grant will be “sorted later”. If support exists, you will usually need approval before any work starts.

Planning without a grant

Most Northern Ireland homeowners will price a heat pump at full cost. That is not a reason to rule one out, but it does mean the decision rests on the house and the running costs.

A typical air source heat pump installation costs £11,000 to £14,500 before any grant (typical, checked October 2026). Radiator upgrades, if needed, add about £300 to £600 each. A hot water cylinder is usually included. See our heat pump installation cost guide for what moves that figure.

A heat pump tends to make sense in Northern Ireland when:

• Your home is reasonably well insulated, with loft and wall insulation in place.
• You heat with oil and want to stop buying fuel by the tank.
• Your current boiler is near the end of its life, so you are spending money anyway.
• You plan to stay in the home long enough for running cost savings to add up.

A new boiler may be the better buy when the house is hard to insulate, the budget is tight, or you need heating back this week. If you are on oil, our oil boiler to heat pump guide sets out how that switch works and what it involves. If a like-for-like boiler swap is what you need, start at our boiler replacement hub.

Comparing running costs fairly

The running cost comparison depends on fuel prices, which move. A heat pump’s efficiency is measured as a COP, the coefficient of performance, which means how many units of heat you get for each unit of electricity. A well-designed system in a well-insulated home often delivers around three units of heat per unit of electricity across the year. Oil prices in Northern Ireland swing with the market, so compare against what you actually paid for your last few fills, not a national average. Our running costs guide explains how to do the sum.

What to ask an installer

• Are you MCS certified? MCS is the industry certification scheme for heat pump installers. Even without a grant, MCS certification shows the installer follows recognised design and installation standards. You can check on mcscertified.com.
• Will you do a room by room heat loss calculation before quoting?
• Is the price fixed, and does it include the cylinder, radiators, controls and removal of the old oil tank if needed?
• Does any current support scheme need approval before work starts, and who applies?

How City Boiler helps

City Boiler is not an installer. We connect you with independent local installers who hold the right certifications. We will give you a straight answer on whether a heat pump suits your house, a realistic price, and a comparison with a new boiler where that makes more sense. We will not tell you a grant exists when it does not.