The Boiler Upgrade Scheme‘s monthly statistics show only 17,360 vouchers out of the 90,000 available have been issued between May 2022 and June 2023.
According to Ofgem, which publishes monthly statistic updates and does not include vouchers issued but withdrawn, this figure could be even lower at 14,986.
The BUS was created by the UK government to support the deployment of low-carbon heating systems within England and Wales. Approved low-carbon heating technologies consist of air source heat pumps (ASHP), ground source heat pumps (GSHP) and – in limited circumstances – a biomass boiler.
The application process opened in May 2022. The scheme offered an upfront capital grant of £5,000 for an ASHP or biomass boiler or £6,000 for a GSHP.
Funding of the scheme was initially £450 million until 2025 but the government’s ‘Powering Up Britain’ announcement saw the scheme extended to 2028 with an additional budget allocation in each additional year, which is yet to be determined.
In total £75,393,000 of the scheme budget has been issued via vouchers with £64,904,000 of grants paid, between 23 May 2022 and 30 June 2023, according to Ofgem statistics. This leaves a remaining budget of £125,606,000 for the scheme’s second year (which we are currently in) and £150,000,000 for the third year (1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025).
The latest figures follow an inquiry by the Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee at the beginning of this year concluded that the BUS was failing to deliver its objectives following a “disappointingly low” uptake.
Despite the low volume of BUS vouchers issued, overall heat pump installation figures in the UK remain higher. The Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), for example recorded 2022 as a record-breaking year for heat pumps with more than 30,000 MCS-certified installations registered.
The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) also recorded a roughly 10% month-on-month increase in UK heat pump installations and even suggested that BUS vouchers may be oversubscribed by 50% before it closes, should this growth continue.
