Guide · the choice
Gas boiler or heat pump? What's funded and what isn't
When a gas boiler needs replacing, more Liverpool households are asking whether a heat pump would be better. This guide doesn't tell you which to choose; it sets out what each involves, what's funded, and the questions that decide it.
Short answer
A new gas boiler has no government grant and carries VAT at the standard rate; it's fitted by a Gas Safe registered engineer. A heat pump can get £7,500 under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme for eligible owners in England through an MCS certified installer, and installation in a home is zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027. There's no ban on replacing a gas boiler in an existing home.
Side by side
The two options compared
| New gas boiler | Heat pump | |
|---|---|---|
| Who fits it | Gas Safe registered engineer, boilers | MCS certified installer |
| Government grant | None | Boiler Upgrade Scheme: £7,500 for an air-to-water or ground source heat pump, for eligible owners |
| VAT on installation | Standard rate | 0% in a home until 31 March 2027, then 5% |
| Survey needed | Basic | Heat loss assessment, room by room |
| Other changes | Usually few | May need larger radiators, pipework, a hot water cylinder |
| Annual check | HSE advises servicing at least annually | Follow the manufacturer's servicing schedule |
The grant
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme, accurately
Despite its name, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme doesn't pay for boilers. It pays towards replacing fossil-fuel heating with a heat pump or biomass boiler. For an eligible property owner in England or Wales, through an MCS certified installer, it pays £7,500 towards an air-to-water or ground source heat pump in most homes. The installer applies, and the amount comes off the price.
A higher £9,000 applies only to off-gas-grid homes replacing oil or LPG, until March 2027, which is rarely relevant in Liverpool, where 0.1% of households heat with oil (Census 2021). A gas-heated Liverpool home would usually be looking at £7,500.
The rules
Is anyone making you switch?
No. There's no confirmed date for phasing out gas boilers in existing homes, and replacing a failed gas boiler with a new one is allowed. What has been set is the Future Homes Standard, under which new homes in England are to be built with low-carbon heating and, in most cases, solar panels from 24 March 2027, after a transition. That applies to new builds, not to your existing home.
The dates that might affect your choice are the VAT relief on heat pumps, which ends on 31 March 2027, and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which runs until 2030 subject to its budget.
The questions
What decides it for your home
- Insulation. Heat pumps work best in well-insulated homes at lower flow temperatures.
- Space. An outdoor unit, and often a hot water cylinder indoors.
- Radiators. Some may need to be larger.
- Timing. A heat pump takes longer to plan; a sudden winter breakdown favours a quick boiler replacement unless you've planned ahead.
- Running costs. These depend on your tariff and how efficiently the system is designed, so treat any single savings figure with caution and ask how it was worked out.
Honest advice
Who to ask, and what to watch for
A gas engineer will naturally talk about boilers and an MCS heat pump installer about heat pumps. Ask each for a written proposal with the full price, and for the heat pump, the heat loss assessment behind it. Be wary of offers of a heat pump at no cost, or of a "government boiler grant": the scheme is a fixed amount off the price, and it never covers gas boilers.
Check the gas engineer on the Gas Safe Register and the heat pump installer on the MCS register, for the right technology.
The long view
Choosing for the next fifteen years
Whatever you install now will probably heat the home for many years. The comparison that matters is the total cost and comfort over that time, not just the price this week. If you're likely to replace the boiler soon, getting a heat pump survey before it fails gives you a real choice rather than an emergency decision.
Solar alongside
Heat pumps and solar panels
Some households pair a heat pump with solar panels, since a heat pump runs on electricity. Panels make most in summer and least in winter, when heating demand peaks, so they won't cover a heat pump's winter use, but they reduce the electricity bought across the year and can earn export payments. Both are zero-rated for VAT when installed in a home until 31 March 2027.
If you rent
Tenants and landlords
If you rent, the choice is your landlord's. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is open to property owners, including landlords, so a landlord replacing a gas boiler in a let property in Liverpool could use it for a heat pump, subject to the scheme's conditions. Social housing is excluded. Tenants who are interested can raise it with their landlord, but can't apply themselves. See repair or replace and Liverpool homes and heating.
Starting out
A sensible first step
If your boiler is ageing but still working, the best time to explore a heat pump is now, before it fails. Ask an MCS certified installer for a survey and heat loss assessment, and ask a Gas Safe registered engineer what a like-for-like replacement would involve. With both in hand, you can choose on the merits rather than in a hurry.
Whichever way you go, keep the survey, quote and certificates with the home's other documents.
Sources used on this page
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme: what you can get · GOV.UK (3 November 2026)
- VAT Notice 708/6, energy-saving materials and heating equipment · HMRC (3 November 2026)
- Future Homes and Buildings Standards: consultation response, March 2026 · GOV.UK (PDF) (2 November 2026)
- Find a certified installer · MCS (3 November 2026)
- Gas Safe Register and the engineer ID card · HSE (3 November 2026)
- Census 2021 TS046, central heating, Liverpool and England · Nomis (3 November 2026)
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