Lancashire · Blackburn with Darwen · Blackpool
Lancashire heat pump installers: a district-by-district guide
Fourteen councils, one county, very different homes: Pendle's terraces, Ribble Valley's farms, Blackpool's electric heaters. The rules and grants that apply, and the figures for each district.
An independent guide by SEO-DONS LTD. Despite the name, we are not installers and we refer you to no one.
The 14 councils
Each pane is a council
Shaded by the share of homes without a gas meter, with the number of grant-funded heat pumps in each. Open a pane for that district's route and figures.
- Ribble Valley 15.38% off gas 161 grants paid
- Lancaster 14.37% off gas 220 grants paid
- Fylde 11.16% off gas 103 grants paid
- West Lancashire 10.83% off gas 180 grants paid
- Blackpool 10.81% off gas 176 grants paid
- Preston 10.61% off gas 177 grants paid
- Wyre 9.08% off gas 146 grants paid
- Chorley 5.82% off gas 217 grants paid
- Rossendale 4.57% off gas 84 grants paid
- Pendle 4.25% off gas 75 grants paid
- Blackburn with Darwen 3.31% off gas 97 grants paid
- South Ribble 3.14% off gas 175 grants paid
- Burnley 3.06% off gas 37 grants paid
- Hyndburn 2.65% off gas 44 grants paid
Warm Homes: Local Grant
Cosy Homes in Lancashire, and where it stands
The Lancashire councils run their Warm Homes: Local Grant through Cosy Homes in Lancashire (CHiL), with Blackpool Council as lead authority. CHiL lists Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Burnley, Chorley, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire and Wyre. It funds energy efficiency and clean heat such as a heat pump, each within a national cap of £16,600 per home averaged across each project, for homes rated EPC D to G in an eligible postcode, where household income is under £36,000 or someone receives a means-tested benefit. Homeowners contribute nothing; under the national guidance a landlord contributes nothing towards the first property and 50 per cent on later ones.
The status matters more than the rules right now: CHiL says funding for 2026/27 is fully committed and the scheme is not taking applications, and it plans to send application forms in March 2027. Fylde is the exception on the list: it is not among CHiL's councils, and the government's allocation list does not include it under Blackpool, so its route is unconfirmed. The CHiL page has the detail.
The other route
Boiler Upgrade Scheme
Open to owners in every district, landlords included, replacing fossil fuel or electric heating: £7,500 off an installer's quote, or £9,000 for an oil or LPG home with no mains gas, for applications properly made by 31 March 2027. The installer applies. Eligibility is on GOV.UK.
Off the gas grid
Where off-gas homes cluster
The government's 2024 estimates put six councils above one property in ten without a gas meter: Ribble Valley 15.38%, Lancaster 14.37%, Fylde 11.16%, West Lancashire 10.83%, Blackpool 10.81% and Preston 10.61%. The reasons differ. Ribble Valley is rural, and 7.1% of its households used oil alone in 2021, double the national 3.5%. Blackpool is urban; only 0.1% of its households used oil, but 9.4% relied on electric heating alone.
At the other end, in Hyndburn, Burnley, South Ribble and Blackburn with Darwen more than ninety-six properties in a hundred had a gas meter. The off-gas page sets out each district.
Mill terraces
East Lancashire is a county of terraces
In Pendle 52.7% of households lived in a terraced house in 2021, in Hyndburn 50.4%, in Burnley 46.6% and in Blackburn with Darwen 43.4%, against 23.2% nationally. A terraced house can have one air source unit under Class G, usually in the back yard, and the sound calculation to the neighbour's window decides the spot. See mill terraces.
Grants paid
Uptake varies more than sixfold between districts
Between May 2022 and September 2026, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme paid for 220 heat pumps in Lancaster and 217 in Chorley, but only 37 in Burnley and 44 in Hyndburn. The twelve Lancashire districts together had 1,619; Blackpool added 176 and Blackburn with Darwen 97. The grants page sets the counts against households.
Set against households, Ribble Valley had one grant-funded heat pump for every 166 households and Burnley one for every 1,078. The pattern broadly follows the homes: districts with more off-gas, detached and owner-occupied homes have used the scheme most so far, and terraced, gas-heated East Lancashire least.
Planning
Usually no application, with two exceptions
In England most air source heat pumps on houses are permitted development under Class G: one unit on a terraced or semi-detached house, two on a detached house, up to 1.5 cubic metres, off pitched roofs, and passing the MCS 020 a) sound calculation. Ground source heat pumps within a home's grounds come under Class C. The exceptions that matter in Lancashire are listed buildings, which Class G does not cover, and conservation areas, where units must not face the road.
The national planning dataset records 5,587 listed-building entries across the 14 councils, 1,343 of them in Lancaster alone, so check before choosing a spot. The planning rules page covers the detail.
Renting
Who decides
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is for owners, including landlords; a tenant needs the landlord's agreement for a heat pump. Ownership varies across the county, from 75.5% of households in Ribble Valley to 58.3% in Preston in 2021. CHiL covers privately rented homes too, with a landlord contribution after a landlord's first property. See renting in Lancashire.
Common worries
What Lancashire households ask first
"My terrace has only a small yard."
Class G sets no yard size. One unit on a terraced house, sized and placed to pass the MCS 020 a) sound calculation, is the rule. A wall bracket can save floor space.
"CHiL is closed, so there is no help."
CHiL is fully committed for 2026/27, but the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is open to owners now, and CHiL plans to send forms in March 2027.
"We are on oil out in the Ribble Valley."
Oil homes with no mains gas get the higher £9,000 grant band until 31 March 2027, and many have room for ground source.
"Our flat in Blackpool is all electric."
A heat pump can cut the electricity needed for heating; a building of flats can have one outdoor unit under Class G with the owner's agreement.
Every guide
Find your page
- District finderYour council's route and figures
- All 14 districtsOne table
- Cosy Homes in LancashireThe Warm Homes route and status
- Off-gas LancashireRural and coastal districts
- Mill terracesHeat pumps in a terraced street
- Grants paid by districtWho has used the scheme
- Oil and LPG homesThe higher grant band
- How homes are heatedCensus 2021 by district
- East LancashireTerraces and gas
- The Fylde coastBlackpool, Fylde and Wyre
- North Lancashire and Ribble ValleyThe most off-gas homes
- Central and West LancashirePreston, Chorley, South Ribble, West Lancashire
Questions about heat pumps in Lancashire
Are you heat pump installers in Lancashire?
No. Despite the name, this is an independent guide by SEO-DONS LTD. We do not survey, quote or fit, list no firms and pass no details on. MCS keeps the official register of certified installers.
Can I apply to Cosy Homes in Lancashire now?
Not at the moment. CHiL says its funding for 2026/27 is fully committed and it is not taking applications; it plans to send application forms in March 2027.
Which Lancashire districts have the most homes off the gas grid?
Ribble Valley (15.38% of domestic properties without a gas meter in 2024), Lancaster (14.37%), Fylde (11.16%), West Lancashire (10.83%) and Blackpool (10.81%), on the government's estimates.
Is Fylde in the Warm Homes scheme?
Unconfirmed. Fylde is not among the councils CHiL lists, and the government's allocation list does not include it under Blackpool. Ask Fylde Council what applies there.
Who publishes this
Named for what people search, not for what we do
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 do not survey, quote for or fit heat pumps and we do not list, rate or recommend firms; MCS keeps the official register of certified installers.
The form below reaches the publisher, who replies by email with the source that answers your question. Your details go to no installer and asking commits you to nothing.
Where the figures come from
- ONS Census 2021 for each district
- DESNZ off-gas estimates and grant statistics
- Cosy Homes in Lancashire and the government's allocation list
- Every source, with dates
A question about a heat pump for a Lancashire home?
Tell us which district the home is in and what heats it now. SEO-DONS LTD, the publisher of this guide, replies by email. We are not installers and we do not pass your details to any firm.
What happens next
- Your message reaches SEO-DONS LTD, which publishes this guide to Lancashire's districts.
- We reply by email with the rule, dataset or council page that answers it.
- Your details are not passed to installers, and asking commits you to nothing.