Scottish heat pump funding comes through Home Energy Scotland (HES), which is funded by the Scottish Government and administered by the Energy Saving Trust. The UK Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) you may have read about is for England and Wales only and does not apply in Scotland — anyone telling you otherwise is working from out-of-date information.
How Home Energy Scotland funding works:
- A grant is available toward an MCS-certified air, ground, or water source heat pump. A rural and island uplift can add to the grant for qualifying homes.
- An interest-free loan is available on top of the grant to help cover any remaining installation cost.
- You must be a homeowner (not a tenant), the property must be an existing home used as your primary residence, and the heat pump must provide 100% of the heating and hot water.
- A qualifying energy report (either from a Home Energy Scotland advisor or a recent EPC) must recommend the measure.
- The install must be completed by an MCS-certified installer — which is exactly why our partnership with JME Green Energy matters.
- Replacement heat pumps are not eligible for the grant (the loan may still apply).
Exact grant and loan figures, and the rural uplift amount, are set by Home Energy Scotland and can change. We confirm the current position at the survey rather than publishing numbers that might go stale.
How it works in practice with Macara Heating:
1. You have a free home survey and a heat loss assessment 2. The heat pump install is delivered in partnership with JME Green Energy, who hold the MCS certification required for Home Energy Scotland eligibility 3. We support the HES application alongside JME as part of the install process 4. Once approved, your HES funding is applied to the project 5. We complete the install and hand over the paperwork
Honest caveats. Eligibility is Home Energy Scotland's call, not ours. It depends on the property, the energy report outcome, whether the heat pump is a first-time install or a replacement, and current scheme rules. We'll walk you through eligibility at the survey and tell you honestly where you stand, but we won't promise an outcome we don't control.
We do not claim Macara Heating is itself MCS-certified. The MCS certification on the install is held by JME Green Energy, which is exactly what Home Energy Scotland requires.