Is there a government scheme for a boiler over 15 years old?

Your situation and what you can get

Find the row closest to your home. Each one is explained in more detail further down, with links to the official rules.

Benefits, EPC bands and the cap figures come from GOV.UK and Ofgem's ECO4 delivery guidance. Being in a row is not a guarantee: a survey decides what is funded.

Why boiler age alone doesn't qualify you

None of the current schemes has an age rule for boilers. Ofgem describes three things ECO4 can do with a boiler: repair it, replace it or upgrade it (Ofgem). Which one applies depends on two facts about the boiler, not its birthday:

• Is it condensing? Ofgem's delivery guidance treats condensing boilers as efficient and non-condensing boilers as inefficient (paragraph 5.123).
• Has it broken down? A boiler counts as broken if, with its electricity and fuel connected, it does not respond properly to a demand for heating or hot water (paragraph 5.121).

Age turns up in exactly one place. When an efficient boiler has broken, the installer checks whether it can be repaired economically using Ofgem's Boiler Economic Repair Cost Comparison Tables, which set a maximum repair cost by boiler type, age and condition (paragraph 11.23). Age is read from the nameplate, installation certificate or warranty paperwork and rounded down to whole years (paragraph 11.25). So age can help a broken boiler qualify for replacement, but only once it has broken.

The one age rule you will find is about people, not boilers. Warmer Homes Scotland can help a household where someone is aged 75 or over and has no working heating (Home Energy Scotland).

The 2010 boiler scrappage scheme (closed)

The 15-year figure comes from here. In the Pre-Budget Report on 9 December 2009, the Chancellor announced a boiler scrappage scheme, properly called the Greener Boiler Incentive. The House of Commons Library briefing on it (SN/SC/5253) sets out how it worked:

• It covered England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland made their own decisions.
• Householders could apply through the Energy Saving Trust between 5 January and 26 March 2010.
• Successful applicants got a £400 voucher off a new A-rated boiler or a renewable heating system such as a biomass boiler or heat pump.
• The boiler being scrapped had to be G-rated and the main boiler heating the home. Applicants under 60 also needed it to be working. Applicants aged 60 or over could apply whether it worked or not.
• The budget was £50 million, for up to 125,000 households. It was fully allocated and the scheme closed to new applicants on 26 March 2010. Vouchers had to be used within 12 weeks.
• British Gas, E.On, npower and Scottish & Southern matched the £400, so some households could get up to £800 off.

Where "over 15 years old" came from

The rule was always "G-rated", not an age. Few people knew their boiler's rating, so the guidance gave rules of thumb: a permanent pilot light meant the boiler was very likely G-rated, and a gas boiler over fifteen years old, or an oil boiler over twenty-five, was likely to be eligible.

In 2010, fifteen years back meant a boiler fitted around 1995. A boiler that is 15 years old now was fitted around 2011, and the next section explains why that boiler is very probably condensing.

No national scrappage scheme has run since. If a company advertises a "boiler scrappage scheme" now, it is the company's own discount, not government money. GOV.UK advises that if you are unsure whether an offer is genuine, you check with your local council or the energy supplier the company says it represents (GOV.UK). Our guide to spotting free boiler scams has more checks.

Is your old boiler inefficient?

For the schemes, "inefficient" has a narrow meaning: a non-condensing boiler. ECO4's definition of an inefficient central heating system is one that includes a non-condensing boiler or performs no better than one (paragraph 5.110). A condensing boiler counts as efficient, even if it is old and you think it is tired.

The quick checks

The first three signs come from the Energy Saving Trust; any one of them means the boiler is condensing. The pilot light test comes from the 2010 scrappage guidance.

Check the installation date on the nameplate, your Building Regulations compliance certificate or the warranty paperwork. Gas boilers fitted after 2005 are condensing, so most gas boilers that are 15 years old today are condensing. The likely non-condensing ones were fitted before about 2005.

Energy labels and the 2015 minimum

Since 26 September 2015, most new gas and oil boilers rated up to 70 kW have had to reach a seasonal space heating efficiency of at least 86% under the ecodesign rules (Regulation 813/2013, Annex II). From the same date, suppliers had to provide an energy label with each new space heater (Regulation 811/2013, Article 3). Together these are often called the ErP rules. A 15-year-old boiler predates them, so it won't have a label, but that does not make it non-condensing.

Looking up your model

Boiler performance data used in SAP, the government's method for energy ratings and EPCs, is held in the Product Characteristics Database. A surveyor or energy assessor can look your make and model up there. Your EPC matters too, because ECO4 eligibility depends on the band. You can find it on GOV.UK for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or on the Scottish EPC Register.

ECO4: the main route for an old boiler until 31 December 2026

ECO4 is the Energy Company Obligation. Energy suppliers have to fund heating and insulation work in low-income homes, and they pay installers to carry it out. Ofgem stresses that it is not a grant scheme: suppliers decide which projects they fund and at what level, and in some cases you may be asked to contribute (Ofgem).

ECO4 was due to end on 31 March 2026. An order made in March 2026 extended it by nine months, so it now ends on 31 December 2026 (SI 2026/361). Our guide to what the ECO4 deadline means explains what that means for applications.

Who qualifies

According to GOV.UK, you might be eligible if you live in private housing and get one of these benefits:

• Universal Credit
• Pension Guarantee Credit or Pension Savings Credit
• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Child Benefit (Ofgem notes this applies within income limits set in the ECO4 guidance)
• Housing Benefit

If you own your home, it must have an EPC rating of D, E, F or G. If you rent from a private landlord, it must be E, F or G and you need the owner's permission. Our free boiler scheme guide walks through the benefit route in more detail.

If nobody in the home gets one of those benefits, your council may still refer you through ECO4 Flex, often called LA Flex, if it has published a Statement of Intent. The main route is a gross household income under £31,000 a year; others cover proxy indicators, certain health conditions made worse by a cold home, and bespoke methods the government has approved (paragraphs 3.185 to 3.198). Our LA Flex guide explains how to find your council's Statement of Intent.

What ECO4 does with an old boiler

Every boiler fitted under ECO4 must be a condensing boiler, and the installer has to balance the radiators afterwards so each room heats evenly (paragraph 5.140). Replaced or upgraded boilers come with a warranty of at least two years, and repairs with at least one year (Ofgem). Our page on condensing boiler installation grants covers what the upgrade involves.

Three rules that catch people out

• Insulation comes first. A band D home must get, or already have, roof, wall or floor insulation. Bands E to G need cavity walls and the loft or roof insulated, unless an exemption applies (paragraphs 5.58 to 5.61).
• Private rented homes are mostly excluded. Boiler repairs, replacements and upgrades are generally not eligible in privately rented homes. The exceptions are first-time central heating, renewable heating and district heating connections (paragraph 3.79).
• No mixing with other grants. Ofgem says ECO4 funding must not be blended with other government schemes such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme on the same project.

What replaces ECO4 from 2027

The Warm Homes Plan is the government's programme for home upgrades to 2030. It says supplier obligations are being brought to a close because they did not represent strong value for money. The Great British Insulation Scheme ended on 31 March 2026, and ECO4 is the last of them.

For low-income households in England, the plan says the government will keep delivering through the Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund for now, then merge them from 2027/28 into a single low-income scheme delivered area by area. We had not found published eligibility rules for that scheme when we checked on 15 October 2026.

What the plan does say is which measures it wants to fund: solar panels, batteries, insulation where needed, smart controls and heat pumps. Gas boilers are not on that list. Our Warm Homes Plan guide will be updated when the 2027/28 rules appear.

Warm Homes: Local Grant (England, now)

The Local Grant is only available in England, through councils that have funding. Your home must be privately owned, by you or your landlord, with an EPC of D to G. Household income must usually be £36,000 a year or less, though you may still qualify above that in certain postcode areas or if someone gets certain benefits. The improvements GOV.UK lists are insulation, air source heat pumps, smart controls and solar panels. A new gas boiler is not among them.

Boiler Upgrade Scheme and loans: heat pumps, not gas boilers

Despite the name, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not pay for a new gas boiler. It gives a grant towards replacing fossil fuel heating, meaning oil, gas, electric or LPG, with a heat pump or biomass boiler (GOV.UK). Boiler age does not matter, and there is no income test.

• £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump
• £5,000 towards a biomass boiler, for rural homes off the gas grid
• £2,500 towards an air-to-air heat pump
• An extra £1,500 towards an air or ground source heat pump until March 2027, if your home is heated by oil or LPG and has no mains gas connection

You must own the property, which can include a second home or one you let out, and it must be in England or Wales. Hybrid systems that pair a gas boiler with a heat pump are not covered. Social housing and most new builds are excluded. Your MCS certified installer applies to Ofgem for you and takes the grant off your bill. For the full rules, read our Boiler Upgrade Scheme guide. If you are weighing up whether to keep gas at all, our article on the gas boiler ban explains what the law does and doesn't require.

Warm Homes Loan Scheme

The government has also set up a lender-led loan scheme. Its scheme rules describe government support that lowers the interest rate on loans from approved lenders, with a first consumer phase from September 2026. The eligible measures include heat pumps, biomass boilers for rural homes, solar panels and batteries. Gas boilers are not on the list, and only listed measures can be financed. Lenders run their own credit checks.

Scotland: Warmer Homes Scotland

ECO4 also applies in Scotland, and Scotland has its own programme too. Warmer Homes Scotland is funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by Warmworks. Home Energy Scotland says it offers eligible households support worth £10,000 or more, and the measures can include central heating with a new gas boiler, electric storage heaters or an air source heat pump, as well as insulation and renewables (Home Energy Scotland). Unlike the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which does not cover Scotland, it can fund a gas boiler.

Your household must include someone who:

• is aged 75 or over and has no working heating, or
• has a DS1500 or BASRiS certificate completed by a medical professional, or
• gets a passport benefit at any rate, such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit Guarantee, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction (not the single person or student discount) or Adult Disability Payment.

The home must be owned by you or privately rented, be your main home for at least six months, have a poor energy rating, have a floor area of 230 square metres or less, be in council tax band A to G and meet the tolerable standard.

You can't apply if Warmer Homes Scotland has supported you in the last 12 months (mygov.scot). In most cases the Scottish Government meets all the costs; where you pay part, an interest-free loan is available, subject to a credit check and an administration fee. It does not fund work a private landlord already has to do under the repairing standard, which includes keeping heating working. To apply, call Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282 or use its online self-assessment tool.

If no scheme fits: paying for a replacement

Many households with a 15-year-old boiler will find that no scheme applies, usually because the boiler is condensing and still works. By the schemes' own definition, that is an efficient boiler.

If you decide to replace it anyway, the Energy Saving Trust gives £3,500 as the typical cost in Great Britain of replacing a G-rated gas boiler with an A-rated one, with thermostatic radiator valves. Your price will depend on your setup. It recommends getting at least three quotes, and for gas and LPG boilers the installer must be Gas Safe registered.

Some energy suppliers, manufacturers and installers sell boilers on finance, including 0% deals. These are commercial products, not government schemes, so check the total amount payable and what happens if you miss a payment. Our comparison of interest-free boiler finance and ECO4 sets the two side by side.

Before paying, it is worth one check. If your boiler turns out to be non-condensing and someone in your home gets a qualifying benefit, ECO4 may cover the upgrade, as long as the work is done by 31 December 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

All sources were checked on 15 October 2026. Paragraph numbers in the text refer to Ofgem's ECO4 Guidance: Delivery, version 4.0.

About this guide

Who wrote it: the ApplyFreeBoiler Team at Reliant Energy Solutions Ltd, an ECO4 heating and insulation installer working in England and Scotland.

How we checked it: every rule, amount and date was checked on 15 October 2026 against GOV.UK, Ofgem's ECO4 delivery guidance, legislation.gov.uk, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Home Energy Scotland, mygov.scot, the Energy Saving Trust and the House of Commons Library. Paragraph numbers point to the exact rule.

What we couldn't confirm: the eligibility rules for the single low-income scheme planned from 2027/28, which we had not found published; which lenders are offering Warm Homes Loan Scheme loans; and the details of the separate scrappage schemes run in Scotland and Wales in 2010. We left those out rather than guess.

Updates: we'll review this page when the government publishes the 2027/28 low-income scheme rules, and again after ECO4 closes on 31 December 2026.

Changelog: 15 October 2026, first published.