What the figure counts
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes Boiler Upgrade Scheme statistics every month. One table, Q1.2, breaks down the vouchers redeemed, meaning installations finished and paid for, by local authority. For Liverpool, the September 2026 release shows 184 heat pumps paid for between the scheme's start in May 2022 and September 2026.
It is a count of grant-funded heat pumps only. A heat pump bought without the grant, fitted by a social landlord, or paid for through another scheme does not appear in it. It also counts by the address of the property, so it is a fair measure of where the grant has been used, not of every heat pump in the city.
Setting it against the city
Liverpool had 207,491 households on census day 2021. Against that, 184 grant-funded heat pumps is about one for every 1,128 households. The census itself found 561 households using renewable heating, alone or with another type, in March 2021, so the grant has added to a small base rather than transformed it.
The statistics do not explain why. Three local facts help read them. Only 46.8% of households owned their home in 2021, and the scheme needs an owner to apply through an installer. 26.4% rented socially, and social housing is outside the scheme. And DESNZ estimates only 15.65% of the city's domestic properties have no gas meter; most Liverpool homes are replacing gas, not oil or LPG.
Reading the number fairly
A small count is not a verdict on whether heat pumps suit Liverpool homes. It reflects who can apply, what the homes are heated with now, and how many owners have made the change in a little over four years. Watching the same table in later releases is the simplest way to see whether take-up in the city is picking up, and comparing it with the census renewables figure shows how far the grant has added to what was there in 2021.
Who in Liverpool can use it
- Owner-occupiers replacing a gas, oil, LPG or electric heating system.
- Private landlords, since GOV.UK says the owner can be the owner of a property rented out to tenants. 26.1% of Liverpool households rented privately in 2021.
- Owners of electric-heated homes: electric heating counts as a system being replaced. 20,288 Liverpool households were heated by electricity alone in 2021.
Who cannot
- Social housing, which GOV.UK lists among the properties the scheme cannot fund.
- Most new builds, with narrow exceptions set out on GOV.UK.
- A property that has already had government funding or support for a heat pump, which matters for anyone who has also applied to the council's Warm Homes: Local Grant.
How it works, briefly
The homeowner does not apply. An installer certified by MCS applies on the owner's behalf, the grant is taken off the quote, and the installer is paid the grant once the work is done. The amount, the conditions and the current rules are on GOV.UK's eligibility page. GOV.UK also says the installer must commission and install the heat pump within a set period after applying, so the planning position needs to be settled before the application, not after. For a Liverpool home, the local questions therefore come before the grant: whether Class G covers the position, whether the building is listed or in a conservation area, and where the cylinder goes. The street check covers the first two.