Merseyside Heat Pumps
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Wirral · Sefton · St Helens · Knowsley · Halton

Merseyside heat pumps: borough by borough

Five boroughs share a combined authority, an estuary and a reliance on mains gas, but not the same homes, the same Warm Homes route or the same take-up of grants. Pick a borough to see its figures together, or ask for a heat pump quote for your own home.

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Wirral

Warm Homes: Local Grant: run by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Wirral Council's page says the scheme is administered by the combined authority. Intake: Whether applications are open today is not confirmed. Check the council's or the combined authority's page before you plan around it. Source: GOV.UK allocation list; Wirral Council

Boiler Upgrade Scheme: 257 heat pumps paid for from May 2022 to September 2026, about 1.8 per 1,000 households, against about 3.9 across England and Wales. Source: DESNZ

The Wirral page

Households (2021)
143,253
Mains gas only
84.3%
No gas meter (2024)
4.88%
Semi-detached
41.6%
Terraced
23.5%
Owner-occupied
65.0%
Social rent
15.4%
Listed-building records
736

Sources: council and combined authority pages and the GOV.UK Warm Homes: Local Grant allocation list; DESNZ Boiler Upgrade Scheme statistics and off-gas estimates; ONS Census 2021; planning.data.gov.uk. Read 3 November 2026. England and Wales mains gas only: 73.8%.

469,363households across the five boroughs in 2021
84.1%used mains gas as their only heating, against 73.8% in England and Wales
1.5grant-funded heat pumps per 1,000 households to September 2026; England and Wales about 3.9
2Warm Homes delivery routes: the combined authority, or Sefton Council

The boroughs compared

Five boroughs, one measure at a time

The bars show heat pumps paid for by the Boiler Upgrade Scheme for every 1,000 households, from the scheme's start in May 2022 to September 2026. Wirral leads with about 1.8; Knowsley is lowest at about 1.1. Every borough is well below the England and Wales figure of about 3.9, and Liverpool, shown for comparison, is lower still.

The same pattern shows in applications. The government's figures put the North West at 40.3 applications per 10,000 households against 56.1 for England and Wales. Merseyside's boroughs sit at the low end of a low region.

The comparison page sets every figure side by side: gas, house types, tenure, grants and listed buildings.

Heat pumps paid for per 1,000 households
  • Wirral 1.8
  • Sefton 1.5
  • Halton 1.5
  • St Helens 1.5
  • Knowsley 1.1
  • Liverpool (comparison) 0.9

England and Wales: 3.9

DESNZ Boiler Upgrade Scheme statistics, May 2022 to September 2026; households from ONS Census 2021.

Warm Homes: Local Grant

Who runs it where

The government's allocation list names the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as the lead for the whole city region, with £31,805,813 for 2025 to 2028. Delivery is split. In Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley and Halton the combined authority runs the scheme: Knowsley Council's page says it is administered and managed by the combined authority, and Halton residents register on the combined authority's own page. Sefton is different: the council's Retrofit Team delivers it, with funding passed through the combined authority, until April 2028.

The rules are national. Households qualify through an eligible postcode, a means-tested benefit or a gross income of £36,000 or less, in a home rated EPC D to G. Owner-occupiers contribute nothing towards the work. Under the national guidance, the council or consortium appoints the installers, and each home's work sits within caps of £16,600 for energy performance measures and £16,600 for low-carbon heating, averaged across the project.

Whether each route is taking applications today is not confirmed. The routes page has each borough's position and links.

Combined authority route

Wirral · St Helens · Knowsley · Halton

Registration and surveys arranged by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

Council route

Sefton

Sefton Council's Retrofit Team, until April 2028, for privately owned homes rated D or below; apply through GOV.UK.

Comparison only

Liverpool

Liverpool City Council's own scheme; its 2026/27 year is oversubscribed.

Open to owners now

Boiler Upgrade Scheme

£7,500 off an air or ground source heat pump, claimed by an MCS certified installer.

Heating

A region that runs on gas

In 2021, 84.1% of households in the five boroughs used mains gas as their only central heating, far above the England and Wales figure of 73.8%. The range is narrow: from 83.4% in Knowsley to 84.9% in St Helens. The government's 2024 estimates put the share of properties without a gas meter at between 2.21% in Knowsley and 5.62% in Sefton, against 15.65% in Liverpool, where electric heating is far more common.

So a heat pump here is nearly always a swap for a gas boiler. That makes the design matter more than the grant. A heat pump is several times more efficient than any boiler, but electricity costs more per unit than gas, so the running cost depends on how well the system is sized and set up: radiators large enough to run at a low flow temperature, a cylinder for hot water, and controls that keep the heat steady. Ask the installer for the heat-loss survey and the expected efficiency in writing, and compare the running cost with your gas bills.

Oil and LPG are rare: together they were the only heating for between 0.5% and 1.1% of households in each borough, so the higher grant band for oil and LPG homes applies to very few homes here. Electric heating is the main alternative to gas, used alone by 5.4% of Sefton households and 3.7% in St Helens. The census heating page has the full table.

Homes

Semis first, then terraces

The semi-detached house is the typical home here. 43.1% of households across the five boroughs lived in one in 2021, against 31.5% nationally, led by St Helens (47.0%) and Sefton (46.1%). Terraces account for 25.3%, most in Halton (33.4%) and Knowsley (31.5%); detached houses for 16.9%, most in Halton (21.0%).

Plan view of a pair of semi-detached houses with gardens, showing an outdoor unit at the rear corner of one house by its side passage, a dashed line to the neighbour's nearest window, and the road-facing front wall marked as excluded above the ground floor.
A pair of semis from above: the side passage or the rear is the usual spot, and the sound calculation is done to the nearest neighbouring window.

For a heat pump, a semi usually means a unit at the side or the back of the house, where there is room for air to move and a short pipe run. England's permitted development rules allow one unit on a semi-detached or terraced house without an application, if it passes the MCS 020 a) sound calculation to the neighbour's nearest window and stays off pitched roofs and road-facing walls above the ground floor. The house types page goes through semis, terraces and flats; planning rules has the conditions in full.

Tenure

Social housing and renting

Social renting is common in Knowsley (25.3% of households in 2021) and Halton (24.3%), well above the England and Wales figure of 17.1%. Homes let by councils and housing associations are outside the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and changes to their heating are the landlord's decision. Private renting is highest in Wirral (18.9%) and Sefton (18.2%). A private landlord can use the Boiler Upgrade Scheme like any owner, and the Warm Homes: Local Grant covers privately rented homes too; under the national guidance a landlord contributes nothing towards the first property and 50 per cent on later ones. See renting.

The coast

Sefton and Wirral shores

Sefton and Wirral are the two boroughs on the open coast, and they have the most purpose-built flats (13.6% and 11.9% of households). They also have the most listed-building records: 736 in Wirral and 568 in Sefton. A heat pump near the sea raises practical questions about the unit's position and protection from salt air, and a flat raises questions about who owns the wall. The coastal homes page covers both.

Borough pages

Read your borough

Common worries

What people here ask first

  • Will it heat a 1930s semi? Yes, if it is designed for that house's heat loss. Older semis often need some larger radiators and better loft insulation; the survey decides.
  • Will the neighbours hear it? The MCS 020 a) calculation checks the noise at their nearest window before the unit counts as permitted development.
  • Is the grant still open? The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is open to owners now. The Warm Homes: Local Grant's intake in each borough is not confirmed; check the route page.
  • Will it cost more to run than gas? It can, if it is badly designed or set up. Running costs depend on the design, the tariff and the house, so ask the installer for an estimate based on your own gas bills.

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Questions from Merseyside homes

Can I get a quote for a heat pump in Merseyside here?

Yes. Send the form at the foot of this page, saying which of the five boroughs the home is in and what heats it now. It reaches SEO-DONS LTD, which runs this site, and we reply by email. MCS keeps the official register of certified installers.

Who runs the Warm Homes: Local Grant in my borough?

For Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley and Halton, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. In Sefton, the council's own Retrofit Team delivers it with funding passed through the combined authority.

Why have so few heat pumps been funded here?

The statistics give no reasons. The five boroughs averaged about 1.5 grant-funded heat pumps per 1,000 households to September 2026, against about 3.9 across England and Wales, and almost every home here is on mains gas.

Does this site cover Liverpool?

Only as a comparison row in the tables. Liverpool City Council runs its own Warm Homes scheme, and its housing differs from the five boroughs covered here.

About this site

Who runs this site

Published by SEO-DONS LTD (company no. 16766013), 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ. The company's record is on Companies House. We are not part of a council, the combined authority or any grant scheme.

For a heat pump quote for a home in any of the five boroughs, fill in the form below. Your request comes to SEO-DONS LTD and the reply is sent by email. Asking commits you to nothing. Figures checked 3 November 2026 against the Boiler Upgrade Scheme statistics, the off-gas estimates, the 2021 census and the Warm Homes: Local Grant allocation list.

Get a heat pump quote for a home in your Merseyside borough

Tell us which borough the home is in, what kind of house or flat it is and what heats it now, so the quote can fit the home. The form goes to SEO-DONS LTD, the company that runs Merseyside Heat Pumps, and we reply by email.

What happens next

  1. Your details reach SEO-DONS LTD, the company behind this borough-by-borough site.
  2. We read what you tell us about the borough, the house and its heating, and reply by email.
  3. A quote request costs nothing, and you stay under no obligation to go ahead with any work.
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Published by SEO Dons Ltd. We don't install heat pumps ourselves. We reply by email. See our privacy notice.

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