Who Qualifies For Heating & Boiler Grants
There are two main criteria that need to be met in order to qualify for a grant. The occupier of the property must be in receipt of an income-related benefit and the boiler or heating system must also be eligible.
Benefit criteria
If anyone in the property receives at least one of the income-related benefits below (with a qualifying component as applicable) a grant can be claimed to pay for a replacement boiler or full Central Heating system:
Main benefit (at least one required)
- State Pension Credit (top up to State Pension)
- Child Tax Credit (household income under £15,850)
- Income Support (with qualifying component 1)
- Income Based Jobseekers Allowance (with qualifying component 1)
- Income-Related Employment Support Allowance (with qualifying component 1 or 2)
- Working Tax Credit (household income under £15,850 AND qualifying component 3)
Qualifying Component 1 (with relevant main benefit above)
- Child under 16
- Child under 20 in full-time education (but not university)
- Child Tax Credit including a disability element
- Disabled Child Premium
- Disability Premium
- Pension Premium
Qualifying Component 2 (with relevant main benefit above)
- Work Related Activity or Support Component
Qualifying Component 3 (with relevant main benefit above)
- Child under 16
- Child under 20 in full-time education (but not university)
- Severe Disability Element
- Disabled Worker Element
- Aged 60 or Over
Boiler/system criteria
If you have a Central Heating system already installed, your boiler must be C-rated or below in order to qualify. This means that the efficiency of the boiler will be 86% or less. Most boilers that are at least 5 years old should qualify, providing they are not condensing.
If you know the make and model of your boiler, you can check the efficiency rating on the SEDBUK boiler database.
Back-boilers located behind a fire will be rated higher than C and will therefore qualify. However, due to the large amount of work involved in fitting a new boiler, a contribution towards the cost may be required.
If you do not have Central Heating but the property is mainly heated in one of the following ways, you can also qualify to have a full Central Heating system installed:
- Solid fuel fires (e.g. coal/wood)
- Gas fires
- Electric fires (fixed)
- Electric fires (portable)
In these cases, there must be a mains gas in the property i.e. you have a gas meter. A contribution towards the cost may be required due to the amount of work required in fitting a full system. Unfortunately, warm air systems and electric storage heaters do not qualify.
Note that grants are not available to cover the cost of replacing radiators only. There must be an inefficient boiler or full heating system.
