Is there a heating grant in Northern Ireland?
There is no NI scheme literally called the heating grant, but real heating help exists: the Affordable Warmth Scheme, run by the NI Housing Executive, funds heating, boiler and insulation measures worth up to £7,500 for lower-income households. The old NIHE Boiler Replacement Scheme is closed, and the £150m Warm Healthy Homes Fund arrives from April 2027.
If you have been told to apply for "the heating grant", "the central heating grant" or "the government heating grant", they all point at the same door: the Affordable Warmth Scheme, run by the NI Housing Executive. It is the main open government route for heating help in Northern Ireland in 2026, and none of the names people search for is its actual name, which is exactly why finding it is harder than it should be.
The short version of what it offers: heating, boiler and insulation measures worth up to £7,500 (up to £10,000 where solid-wall insulation is needed), for owner-occupied and some privately rented homes, with an income test of gross household income under £23,000 — and disability benefits such as PIP and DLA have usually been excluded from that count, so families who assume they are over the threshold often are not. You apply through the Housing Executive, an assessment decides which measures your home gets, and the scheme is due to run until March 2028. Our full answer on the scheme, kept current through the changeover, covers eligibility and timing in detail.
Just as important is what does NOT exist here, because GB coverage leaks into NI searches every winter. The Warm Home Discount (£150 off electricity) is a Great Britain scheme and has never operated in Northern Ireland. The £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme for heat pumps is England and Wales only. The NIHE Boiler Replacement Scheme is closed to new applicants. And Phoenix’s advertised £600 gas-switch cashback ended on 30 June 2026 — check directly for any current offer, and remember that was an energy-company offer, not a government grant. If a website promises you an NI heating grant under any of those names, it is selling something.
If you do not qualify for the means-tested route, the practical move is pricing the work properly rather than waiting on a scheme that may not come. Researched NI 2026 figures: an oil boiler service runs £90 to £160, and a like-for-like oil boiler replacement £2,500 to £4,500. Our free Quote Checker compares any quote against the researched NI ranges in 30 seconds, and the full grants guide linked below covers every scheme that is genuinely open right now.
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NI Trades content is researched and written in house in Northern Ireland: figures are compiled from written NI quotes and official published sources, drafted with the help of AI tools as disclosed in our editorial standards, then checked against the cited primary sources before publishing. Every page carries its sources and review date, and corrections are made fast when readers or tradespeople spot an error.