Is the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant available in Cornwall?

Yes. Cornwall sits in England, which is covered by the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). An MCS-certified installer applies for the grant on your behalf and deducts it from your invoice — you never handle the £7,500 directly. Eligibility requires owner-occupier or private-rented tenure, a valid EPC less than ten years old, and any loft or cavity wall insulation recommendations on that EPC to be cleared before the grant applies.

What's the typical EPC band for homes in Cornwall?

Across 186,928 EPC certificates lodged for Cornwall, the median rating is band D. This is in line with the typical UK profile and means a sizeable share of properties have insulation upgrades on the table before a heat pump install. About 57% of homes sit at band D or below — the cohort with the strongest fabric-first retrofit case before commissioning a heat pump.

How much does a heat pump cost in Cornwall?

Pre-grant install costs in Cornwall typically run £8,000 to £14,000 for a 5–10 kW air-source unit. E12000009 labour rates sit close to the UK average. After the £7,500 BUS grant most homeowners pay £1,500 to £6,500 net. The figure within that range depends on heat-loss sizing, whether radiators need upgrading, and hot-water cylinder provision. A binding quote needs an MCS-certified heat-loss survey under BS EN 12831.

Do most Cornwall homes need insulation upgrades before a heat pump?

Based on the EPC sample for Cornwall, around half local homes carry an unaddressed loft or cavity wall insulation recommendation on their current EPC. The BUS rules require these to be cleared (either completed or formally exempted) before the grant applies. Typical clearance work — loft top-up to 270mm and cavity wall insulation — costs £400–£3,500 combined and can often be done under the Great British Insulation Scheme or ECO4 for eligible households.

Heat pumps across Cornwall: 2026 grant + cost guide

What the EPC data shows for Cornwall

We’ve aggregated the current Energy Performance Certificate band for 186,928 properties in Cornwall, drawn live from the GOV.UK EPC Register. The median home in our sample sits at band D, with 30% falling into band D and 27% in band C. Around 57% of homes are at band D or below — the cohort with the most realistic retrofit upside.

EPC band distribution across 186,928 properties in Cornwall
Band	Properties	Share	Retrofit context
Band A	2,831	1.5%	Already exceptional; heat pump replaces fossil heat directly
Band B	26,266	14.1%	Strong fabric; heat-pump-ready after minor checks
Band C	51,163	27.4%	Typical retrofit candidate; small upgrades likely
Band D	55,777	29.8%	Insulation prerequisites likely; well-suited post-upgrade
Band E	33,655	18.0%	Insulation recommendations typically required for BUS
Band F	12,617	6.7%	Significant fabric improvements before heat pump fit
Band G	4,619	2.5%	Fabric-first retrofit before any heat-pump consideration

EPC band distribution across 186,928 properties in Cornwall— Source: GOV.UK EPC Register. Sample collected 2026-05-14.

The typical Cornwall home

What the EPC data shows beyond the headline rating — useful context for sizing a heat-pump install.

Floor area: median 81 m² (25th–75th percentile: 62–108 m²). Heat-pump sizing scales roughly with floor area — expect a 5–8 kW unit at the median.
Current heating cost: median £807/yr (£507– £1,280 typical range). The number an installer’s running-cost saving projection sits against.
Mains gas connection: 49% of properties. Predominantly off-grid — heat-pump running-cost case is unambiguous vs oil and LPG.
Property type mix: Detached 36%, End-Terrace 14%, Mid-Terrace 20%, Semi-Detached 27%.
Dominant age band: England and Wales: before 1900 (18% of homes). Sets the fabric-first work expected before commissioning.

Does the Boiler Upgrade Scheme apply in Cornwall?

Yes. Cornwall is in England, where the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) pays £7,500 toward an air-source heat pump install. The grant is administered by Ofgem and deducted by the installer at the point of invoice — you never see the cash. To qualify, the property must be owner-occupied or privately rented, have a valid EPC issued in the last 10 years, and have no outstanding loft-or-cavity insulation recommendation on the EPC (unless an exemption is documented). In our sample of Cornwall EPCs the median rating is band D, which means most homes need to clear at least one insulation recommendation before the installer can claim the grant.

Typical install cost in Cornwall

Pre-grant install costs in Cornwall typically run £8,000 to £14,000 for a 5–10 kW air-source unit, in line with UK averages — labour rates in E12000009 sit close to the national mean. After the £7,500 BUS deduction most Cornwallhomeowners pay £1,500 to £6,500 out of pocket. The figure within that range that applies to your property depends on three things: heat-loss sizing (set by floor area, fabric and air-tightness), radiator upgrades (most pre-2000s homes need at least one or two changed), and hot-water cylinder provision. An MCS-certified engineer issues the binding quote after a heat-loss calculation per BS EN 12831.

What this means for your home

Whether a heat pump is a good fit for your specific home in Cornwalldepends on three factors the EPC alone can’t answer: roof + outdoor space for the external unit, radiator sizing throughout the heating circuit, and your current heating fuel + tariff. Propertoasty’s free pre-survey check combines your address, an EPC pull, the Google Solar API’s roof data, and a floorplan vision analysis to produce an installer-ready report — typically takes about five minutes.

Run a free pre-survey check on your home — installer-ready report, BUS-eligibility verdict, sizing range, and a list of MCS-certified installers covering Cornwall.

How Cornwall compares

Compared with the England + Wales average band-D share of roughly 45%, Cornwall’s 30% sits below the national midpoint. Bands E and worse — typical pre-1930s homes without significant retrofit — make up 27% of the local sample, which compares to the E&W average of around 22%.

EPC aggregate data contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (© Crown copyright and database right).

Heat pumps across Cornwall (local authority area): 2026 grant + cost guide