Boiler grants in Exeter: what a landlord can actually get in 2026

Possibly — through ECO4, which is the only one of the current schemes that can fund a like-for-like replacement boiler outright. Two conditions have to hold at once: the property has to be EPC band D–G, and the household living in it has to qualify, either on a means-tested benefit or under Exeter's flexible-eligibility criteria. It's assessed per property, so in a portfolio you can easily have one qualifying rental and one that doesn't. ECO4 closes 31 December 2026, with a practical start-by date around September 2026 once installer lead times are counted.

No. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme funds air source and ground source heat pumps, plus biomass boilers in limited off-gas circumstances — never a gas or oil boiler, despite the scheme's name. If your Exeter rental needs a straight gas boiler replacement, BUS is not the route; ECO4 is. If you'd consider a heat pump, BUS is unusually accessible for a landlord: £7,500 with no income or benefits test, one grant per property, applied for by your MCS-certified installer.

Yes, if the property has no mains gas connection and is currently heated by oil or LPG — a common pattern in rural stock even within otherwise well-connected authorities. The standard £7,500 rate rises to £9,000 for an air source or ground source heat pump on that property. This is a temporary uplift, running 21 July 2026 to 31 March 2027, not a permanent increase to the base grant — worth checking the date is still live before an installer quotes on it, since it will revert to £7,500 once the window closes.

For ECO4 it depends almost entirely on your tenant's household — their benefits, or their income under Exeter's flexible criteria — plus the property's EPC band. Your own income and portfolio size are irrelevant to eligibility. For the Boiler Upgrade Scheme it's the reverse: no household test at all, so a heat pump grant is available regardless of who's living there. This is why landlords often reach the wrong conclusion from a generic "boiler grant" search — the two schemes test opposite things.

ECO4 can fully fund the measure where the household qualifies — commonly £5,000–£15,000 of work depending on what the property needs, since it usually pairs a heating measure with insulation. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump (£9,000 instead if the property is off the gas grid and currently oil- or LPG-heated, until 31 March 2027), paid to the installer, not to you. Warm Homes: Local Grant, where a council runs it, can be worth £30,000+ on a deep retrofit but is fully funded only on your first claimed property. None of these are cash payments to the landlord — they're paid to the installer against completed work.

For ECO4, yes — band D to G. If the property is already band C or better it's outside ECO4's scope entirely. For the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, no: since April 2026 there's no requirement for a valid EPC free of outstanding loft or cavity wall insulation recommendations, which removed the main reason landlord applications used to fail. Separately, MEES already requires an E or better to let legally, and the proposed EPC C standard for new tenancies is where this is heading — a grant-funded upgrade now is doing double duty.

You don't apply to a central portal — each scheme has a different front door. ECO4 goes through an obligated energy supplier or an ECO4 installer who submits on the household's behalf; Exeter can refer under flexible eligibility if a Statement of Intent is live. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is applied for by your MCS-certified heat pump installer, who deducts the £7,500 from your quote. Warm Homes: Local Grant, if Exeter runs it, is screened by the council or its retrofit coordinator. Be wary of any "Exeter boiler grant" site that asks for a fee to apply — every one of these schemes is free to apply for.

Not yet, but the window is genuinely closing. ECO4's formal end date is 31 December 2026 and the measure has to be *installed and submitted* by then, not merely applied for. Surveying, install scheduling and submission typically run 10–18 weeks, which puts the realistic last-start point around September 2026. If you have several South West rentals to work through, start with the one where the heating system is worst — that's where ECO4 funds the most and where the deadline costs you the most if you miss it.