Is there a ban on oil boilers in the UK?

No. There is no legislation making it illegal to own or run an oil boiler, and no announced date on which one becomes unlawful. What exists is a framework of standards aimed at new buildings and at what may be installed, which is a different thing.

Can I replace a broken oil boiler with another oil boiler?

Today, yes. Replacement remains available and installers continue to fit oil boilers. Before spending, check the current position with your installer rather than a news article, because this is exactly the area where reporting outruns the rules.

What is the Future Homes and Buildings Standard?

A standard aimed at new build. It sets what may be installed in a building being constructed. It does not reach backwards into an existing off-grid cottage with a working boiler, which is where most of the confusion comes from.

What should I do if my boiler is nineteen years old?

Cost three routes rather than one: a modern condensing oil boiler, a heat pump with whatever fabric work it needs, and doing nothing while you save. Then compare running costs per useful kilowatt hour. That comparison is on this site.

Oil boiler ban UK: what the 2035 date actually attaches to

The phrase oil boiler ban has done more damage to household planning than almost anything else in this market. It has caused people to defer a sensible boiler replacement and it has been used to sell heat pumps into houses that were not ready for one.

What is actually in scope

Question	Position	Where to read it
Can I keep using my oil boiler?	Yes. No rule stops you.	No instrument exists to cite
Can I have it serviced?	Yes. The registration scheme for technicians continues.	OFTEC
Can I replace it with another oil boiler?	Currently yes. Confirm with your installer before you spend.	Building control guidance
Do new build homes get oil boilers?	The direction of travel for new build is away from them.	Future Homes and Buildings Standards
Is there money for switching?	Yes, a capital grant applied for by the installer.	Boiler Upgrade Scheme

The five questions people are actually asking. Policy in this area moves. The publication dates on the linked documents are the thing to check, not the date on a headline.

Why the confusion is expensive

A household that believes its boiler will shortly be illegal makes two bad decisions. It defers a replacement that would have cut its fuel bill, and it accepts a heat pump quote without pricing the fabric work, because it thinks it has no alternative. On the numbers on this site, a nineteen year old boiler running at 75% costs 1.91p a useful kilowatt hour more than a modern one. That is a live cost, today, regardless of what happens in 2035.

The three routes, side by side

LineModern oil boilerAir source heat pump

Running cost per useful kWh9.57p at 90.01pTariff divided by seasonal efficiency

Fabric work needed firstNoneUsually, in a solid wall house

Capital grantNoYes, applied for by the installer

Works with existing radiatorsYesOften not without resizing

Fuel price exposureCrude oilElectricity market

Removes the fuel delivery entirelyNoYes

The decisionTwo accountsCapital cost and running cost are separate accounts. Quotes that merge them are hiding one of the two.

Primary sources for this page

Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultationThe policy document people are usually thinking of when they say oil boilers are being banned.
Ofgem Boiler Upgrade SchemeGrant scheme for heat pump and biomass installations in England and Wales. Applications are made by the installer.
OFTECTrade body for the UK oil heating industry. Registration scheme for technicians. Cited for installation practice, not for prices.
Approved Document J, combustion appliances and fuel storage systemsThe building regulations guidance covering domestic oil tank installation and siting in England.

The oil boiler phase out, read carefully

What is actually in scope

Why the confusion is expensive

The three routes, side by side