Getting the £7,500 Heat Pump Grant in Leicester — A Homeowner's Timeline
Last reviewed: 2 October 2026
A week-by-week account of how a typical Leicester heat pump grant application runs, what you need to do at each point, and the handful of mistakes that hold applications up.
First, decide which scheme you’re applying for
If your household income is under £36,000 and your home’s EPC is D or worse, check Leicester City Council’s Warm Homes: Local Grant before anything else. It can fund a heat pump outright, and you apply through the council rather than an installer. The rest of this guide covers the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which takes £7,500 off a heat pump for any eligible homeowner or landlord.
Weeks 1–2: survey
Book a survey with an MCS-certified installer. They’ll spend two to three hours measuring rooms, windows and walls to calculate heat loss, then look at:
- radiators — which will be too small at heat pump temperatures
- cylinder space — essential if you have a combi boiler, which many Leicester terraces do
- outdoor unit position — in a narrow back yard, the noise calculation at your neighbour’s window often decides where it can go
- electrics — usually a new circuit, occasionally a consumer unit upgrade
Your job: have recent energy bills to hand and be ready to say which rooms feel cold now.
Weeks 2–3: quote
A good quote lists the heat pump model and size, every radiator being changed, the cylinder, and the grant as a deduction. It should be based on the survey, not on floor area alone.
Your job: check the installer’s MCS certification on the MCS register and compare quotes line by line. Our hidden costs guide lists what to look for.
Week 3 (or later): consent if needed
Most Leicester installations need no planning permission. You’ll need consent if your home is listed, or if it’s in one of the city’s 25 conservation areas and the unit would go on a wall or roof facing the road. Leicester City Council handles applications within the city; Oadby & Wigston and Charnwood handle their own areas.
Your job: get any consent before the grant is applied for. The voucher for an air source heat pump has a limited life, and you don’t want it ticking while a planning officer considers your case.
Week 3–4: application and confirmation
When you accept the quote, the installer applies to Ofgem online. No Energy Performance Certificate is needed since 28 April 2026.
A few days later, Ofgem emails you to confirm you agreed to the application.
Your job: reply before the deadline in the email. This is the step that most often goes wrong. Check spam and junk folders, and if you’re a landlord, make sure the installer has your email, not your tenant’s.
Weeks 4–6: voucher
Ofgem checks the application and issues a voucher to the installer. The voucher confirms the grant: £7,500, or £9,000 if you’re replacing oil or LPG heating and applied between 21 July 2026 and 31 March 2027.
Your job: don’t pay a deposit that assumes the grant until the installer confirms the voucher is issued.
Weeks 6–8: installation
Three to five days on site for most homes. Day one is usually the outdoor unit and pipework, followed by the cylinder, radiators and electrics, then filling, testing and commissioning. The installer notifies National Grid Electricity Distribution, which runs the electricity network across the East Midlands.
Your job: clear access to the radiators, cylinder cupboard and back yard, and plan for a day or two with limited hot water.
The installation process guide has the day-by-day detail.
After installation: the final bill
The installer registers the heat pump with MCS, redeems the voucher and sends your final invoice with the grant deducted.
Your job: keep the MCS certificate, commissioning paperwork and warranty documents together. You’ll need them if you claim on the warranty or sell the house.
Mistakes that delay Leicester applications
- Missing Ofgem’s confirmation email
- Applying for the voucher before planning consent was granted
- Choosing a hybrid system that keeps the gas boiler, which isn’t eligible
- An installer whose MCS certification has lapsed
Check you meet the rules in our eligibility guide.
See what a heat pump would look like in your Leicester home
The mechanism is the same in every UK home; the design is specific to yours. Our team carries out a free in-home survey including a full room-by-room heat-loss calculation, identifies the system size and configuration that fits your property, and provides a written quote with the £7,500 BUS grant already deducted.
You'll see the actual figure you'd pay — not an estimate — and the projected efficiency for your specific install.