Which scheme you apply to
Find the line that describes your home. Each one names the scheme and where the application actually starts.
- You own your home, or rent privately, in England, on a lower income, certain benefits or in a lower-income postcode. Warm Homes: Local Grant. The upgrades are free, your council organises and pays for them, and the application starts at gov.uk/apply-warm-homes-local-grant. Who qualifies, and how it works ↓
- You own a home in England or Wales and want to replace a gas, oil or LPG boiler with a heat pump, whatever your income. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme: £7,500 off the price, or £9,000 if you are off the gas grid and replacing oil or LPG (until 31 March 2027). You do not apply yourself — a certified installer claims it for you. Boiler Upgrade Scheme guide →
- You live in England, Scotland or Wales and someone in the home is on a qualifying benefit. ECO4, through an energy supplier. It is not part of the Warm Homes Plan, it runs until 31 December 2026, and the work has to be finished by then. ECO4 guide →
- You rent from a council or housing association. You do not apply. Your landlord upgrades its homes through the Social Housing Fund (bidding for Wave 3 closed on 25 November 2024), so the question to ask is whether your home is in one of its programmes.
- You would rather borrow than wait for a grant. The Warm Homes Loan Scheme is part of the plan, but as at 22 October 2026 no bank or building society has been publicly named as offering one of its loans, so there is nothing to apply to yet.
- You live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Warm Homes: Local Grant is England only, and each nation runs its own schemes: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.
One scheme you will still see named elsewhere: the Great British Insulation Scheme closed on 31 March 2026 and has no application route now.
Independent information
This is an independent information service. Energy Pages is not the government, a delivery agent, or an installer. All scheme detail on this page comes from official sources — DESNZ, GOV.UK guidance, Trustmark registration data, and Energy Saving Trust cost estimates. Warm Homes: Local Grant eligibility rules are set nationally by DESNZ and are the same in every participating English council area; your council verifies your evidence and decides the exact package. Always check the current position on the official GOV.UK pages before making decisions.
What the Warm Homes Plan is
The Warm Homes Plan is the government's plan for upgrading homes and cutting energy bills. It was published on 21 January 2026 and last updated on 18 March 2026, and it is the framework meant to carry this work on once the Energy Company Obligation ends — ECO4 is still running, until 31 December 2026. Two of the figures it gives for schemes inside it: £2.7 billion to 2030 for the expanded Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and an initial £2 billion of government support behind a new zero and low-interest loan offer.
Two structural points commonly confuse people.
First — the Warm Homes Plan is an umbrella, not a scheme. There is no application to it. The schemes underneath it each have their own eligibility rules, their own way in and their own funded measures. When someone says they want to get help from the Warm Homes Plan, they almost always mean Warm Homes: Local Grant, the free route for owner-occupiers and private tenants in England. Treating the umbrella as the scheme is how people end up with the wrong eligibility advice.
Second — it is government money, not an energy-supplier obligation. ECO4, which has run since April 2022 and ends on 31 December 2026, is funded by an obligation on energy suppliers, and you go through a supplier to use it. The Warm Homes Plan's schemes are funded through the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, so you go through your council (for the Local Grant) or a certified installer (for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme) instead.
The shift to Treasury funding and local-authority delivery has trade-offs. Coverage depends on your own council rather than on a list that is still filling up: 271 English authorities were allocated funding in a single round that closed in December 2024, each works from its own pot, and a council that exhausts its allocation stops taking applications. Greater Manchester sits outside the national scheme altogether. Application is more bureaucratic because of the council-level survey and approval steps. But the per-property funding ceiling is higher, and the scope of funded measures is broader.
Warm Homes Plan timeline: start dates and the 2030 deadlines
There is no single Warm Homes Plan start date. The Plan was published on 21 January 2026 and it does not open or close: each scheme underneath it runs to its own dates, and one of them, Warm Homes: Local Grant, was already delivering before the Plan was published. The 2030 rental deadlines fall on landlords, and the Plan's 2030 figures are targets.
The dates below carry different weight. Law means it is in a statutory instrument or in HMRC's published rules. Decided means the government has published a decision that is not yet in force. Plan ambition means a target or intention in the Plan, not a promise to any household.
| Date | What happens | Where | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 November 2024 | Bidding for Wave 3 of Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund closed. Delivery carries on, and the Plan adds funding for it in 2026/27. | Where: England | Status: Closed to bids; funded in 2026/27 | Source: GOV.UK: Social Housing Fund Wave 3 |
| 1 April 2025 | Warm Homes: Local Grant opened for delivery, before the Plan was published. | Where: England only | Status: Open scheme | Source: WH:LG policy guidance, updated June 2026 (PDF) |
| 21 January 2026 | The Warm Homes Plan published. It is a policy document, so there is nothing to apply to. Corrected on 18 March 2026 (pages 41, 49 and 82). | Where: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland receive Barnett consequentials, based on the Plan's spending in England | Status: Published | Source: GOV.UK: Warm Homes Plan |
| From September 2026 | Warm Homes Loan Scheme: the consumer launch phase, under its Scheme Rules. A second lender window is expected to open in late 2026, for onboarding in early 2027, with dates to be confirmed. As at 22 October 2026 gov.uk names no participating lender. | Where: UK-wide | Status: Plan scheme; no lender named | Source: Scheme Rules, September 2026 (PDF); GOV.UK lender page |
| 31 December 2026 | ECO4: the last day for installations to be completed. It is not part of the Plan. | Where: England, Scotland and Wales | Status: Law | Source: SI 2026/361 |
| Until March 2027 | Boiler Upgrade Scheme: an extra £1,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump for homes with no mains gas connection that are heated by oil or LPG, on top of the standard £7,500. | Where: England and Wales | Status: Open scheme | Source: GOV.UK: Boiler Upgrade Scheme |
| 31 March 2027 | The 0% VAT rate on installing certain energy-saving materials ends; the 5% rate applies from 1 April 2027. | Where: UK | Status: Law | Source: HMRC VAT Notice 708/6 |
| From 2027 | The Plan says a new Warm Homes Agency will offer impartial advice on home upgrades, online and by phone. | Where: UK, subject to agreement with the devolved governments | Status: Plan ambition | Source: Warm Homes Plan |
| From 2027/28 | The government intends to merge Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Social Housing Fund into one low-income scheme, moving to area-based delivery. The Plan promised more detail in spring 2026; Energy Pages had not found it on gov.uk as at 22 October 2026. | Where: England | Status: Plan ambition | Source: Warm Homes Plan |
| Second half of 2027 | New-style EPCs launch, the certificates the 2030 rental standards are measured on. They were due from October 2026; the government moved them on 9 March 2026. | Where: England and Wales; in March 2026 the government said it would agree the new launch date with industry and the devolved administrations | Status: Decided | Source: GOV.UK: EPC reforms |
| 31 March 2028 | Warm Homes: Local Grant's delivery window closes. DESNZ says its dates may change. | Where: England only | Status: Open scheme | Source: WH:LG policy guidance, updated June 2026 (PDF) |
| 31 December 2029 | Boiler Upgrade Scheme: in law Ofgem must refuse to issue a voucher after this date, and a ground source heat pump voucher expires by 31 March 2030 at the latest. The Plan says its funding expands each year to 2029/30. | Where: England and Wales | Status: Law | Source: SI 2022/565, reg 15, as amended |
| By 2030 | The Plan's targets: up to 5 million homes upgraded, up to a million families lifted out of fuel poverty, over 450,000 heat pump installations a year, and solar panels on up to 3 million more homes. | Where: Not stated, except the heat pump figure, which is for the UK | Status: Plan ambition | Source: Warm Homes Plan |
| 1 April 2030 | Social rented homes must reach EPC C against one EPC metric, unless an exemption applies. A home already at C on the current rating before this date counts until its EPC expires. Decided on 1 April 2026; the Regulator of Social Housing will regulate compliance. | Where: England | Status: Decided | Source: Social rented response |
| 1 October 2030 | Private rented homes must reach EPC C, unless an exemption applies, with landlords spending up to £10,000 per property. Decided in January 2026, before the new-style EPCs were moved, and subject to Parliament's approval. | Where: England and Wales | Status: Decided, not yet law | Source: Private rented response |
| 1 April 2039 | Social rented homes must also reach EPC C against a second EPC metric. | Where: England | Status: Decided | Source: Social rented response |
Checked against GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk on 22 October 2026.
How does the Warm Homes Plan affect me?
It affects you through the schemes and rules underneath it, never directly: nobody applies to the Plan itself, and what changes for you depends on whether you own or rent, your income, and which nation you live in.
- You own your home in England and are on a lower income. Warm Homes: Local Grant (England only) is the route: free upgrades arranged and paid for by your council, for a household that meets one of three national eligibility pathways, in an EPC D–G home. It has been delivering since April 2025, with a delivery window to 31 March 2028 that DESNZ says may change, and the Plan says the government intends to merge it with the Social Housing Fund into one low-income scheme from 2027/28. Who qualifies, and how it works ↓
- You own your home and are not on a lower income. In England or Wales, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme takes £7,500 off an air source or ground source heat pump replacing fossil fuel heating (gas, oil, LPG or electric), or £9,000 if you have no mains gas and are replacing oil or LPG (until March 2027), whatever your income. In law Ofgem cannot issue a voucher after 31 December 2029. Installing certain energy-saving materials carries 0% VAT anywhere in the UK until 31 March 2027, then 5%. If you would rather borrow, the Warm Homes Loan Scheme (UK-wide) has its consumer launch phase from September 2026 under its Scheme Rules, but as at 22 October 2026 gov.uk names no participating lender. Boiler Upgrade Scheme guide →
- You rent privately, or you are a private landlord. The change falls on the landlord. In January 2026 the government decided that private rented homes in England and Wales must reach EPC C by 1 October 2030, unless an exemption applies, with landlords spending up to £10,000 per property and spending from 1 October 2025 counting towards that cap. It needs Parliament's approval and is not yet law; until then the existing EPC E minimum applies. A home rated C on the current EPC rating before 1 October 2029 counts as meeting it until that EPC expires, and short-term lets are out of scope for now. The date was set before new-style EPCs were moved to the second half of 2027, so check the government response before planning work around it. A private tenant in England on a lower income can be helped through Warm Homes: Local Grant: the landlord completes a declaration form, the first home per landlord is fully funded, and the landlord pays 50% towards any more.
- You rent from a council or housing association in England. You do not apply. On 1 April 2026 the government decided that social rented homes in England must reach EPC C against one EPC metric by 1 April 2030 and against a second by 1 April 2039, unless an exemption applies, with the Regulator of Social Housing regulating compliance; it is not yet in force. Bidding for Wave 3 of the Social Housing Fund (England) closed on 25 November 2024 and the Plan adds funding for it in 2026/27, so the question to ask your landlord is whether your home is in its programme.
- You live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland receive Barnett consequentials, funding adjustments based on the Plan's spending in England, and run their own schemes. In Wales the Boiler Upgrade Scheme applies, the 2030 private rented decision covers Wales, and Nest is the Welsh Government's own free scheme (Wales guide). In Scotland the routes are Home Energy Scotland and Warmer Homes Scotland (Scotland guide). In Northern Ireland they are the Affordable Warmth Scheme and NISEP, through NI Energy Advice (Northern Ireland guide). Scotland and Northern Ireland get neither the Boiler Upgrade Scheme nor Warm Homes: Local Grant; the Warm Homes Loan Scheme and the VAT relief are UK-wide.
The schemes under the umbrella
Most homeowners go through the Local Grant or the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and social tenants are covered through their landlord. The loan scheme is part of the plan but is not yet something a household can use.
| Route | Who it's for | Cap | Delivered via |
|---|---|---|---|
| WH:LG | Owner-occupiers and private tenants in England — not social housing | £16,600 energy performance + £16,600 low carbon heating | Local authority partner |
| WH:SHF | Social housing tenants (via their landlord) | Set by social landlord | Housing association / council |
| BUS | Owners in England or Wales replacing fossil fuel heating | £7,500 per heat pump; £9,000 off the gas grid replacing oil or LPG (to 31 Mar 2027) | MCS-certified installer |
| Warm Homes Loan Scheme (no lender yet) | Owner-occupiers and private landlords, UK-wide | A loan, not a grant — caps set per measure | A participating lender, none named as at 22 Oct 2026 |
Consumer route
Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG)
The consumer-facing route. Delivered by your local authority through a council-appointed delivery partner (sometimes the council itself, sometimes a managing agent like AgilityEco, E.ON, or a regional energy company). England only, and eligibility is national rather than local: DESNZ sets the EPC D–G gate and the three household pathways, and they are the same in every participating council area. Funds whole-home retrofit packages tailored to your property's needs. The caps are set per measure type, not as one figure per property: £16,600 per home for energy performance upgrades and £16,600 for low carbon heating, which councils may average across a project and must meet by project closure.
Social housing
Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF)
For social landlords — housing associations and council housing departments — to fund energy efficiency upgrades to their social housing stock. Social tenants do not apply directly; the landlord bid to DESNZ for Wave 3 (bidding closed on 25 November 2024) and rolls out works across qualifying properties. If you are a social tenant, your route is to ask your landlord whether your block is in a WH:SHF programme.
Heat pump
Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS)
The heat-pump-replacement route, with no eligibility gate other than: you are in England or Wales, you own the property (including if it is a business, a second home, or one you rent out to tenants), and you are replacing a fossil fuel heating system (gas, oil, LPG) with an MCS-certified air source or ground source heat pump. The grant is £7,500, or £9,000 if you are off the gas grid and replacing oil or LPG (for applications from 21 July 2026 to 31 March 2027). Your installer claims it on your behalf and takes it off your invoice. In law Ofgem cannot issue a voucher after 31 December 2029.
Loan · not yet available
Warm Homes Loan Scheme
The plan's loan offer: government money paid to lenders so they can offer cheaper loans for heat pumps, solar, batteries and similar work, to owner-occupiers and private landlords anywhere in the UK. You would borrow from a bank, building society or other lender, never from the government. As at 22 October 2026 no participating lender has been publicly named, so there is nothing a household can apply for yet.
Two schemes that are not part of it
ECO4 is an energy-supplier obligation that runs alongside the plan until 31 December 2026 — open, but a separate scheme with its own way in. The Great British Insulation Scheme closed on 31 March 2026 and has no application route now. It was never one of the plan's schemes; it ran alongside ECO4 through the energy suppliers.
The route most people mean
Warm Homes: Local Grant eligibility, explained
First, the thing that saves the most wasted time: Warm Homes: Local Grant is an England-only scheme. There is no Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish version of it. If your home is in Wales you want Nest, in Scotland Home Energy Scotland or Warmer Homes Scotland, in Northern Ireland the Affordable Warmth Scheme or NISEP — the phone number for each is in the list further down this page.
Second: within England the rules are national, not local. Plenty of guides say eligibility is whatever your council decides. It is not. DESNZ sets two gates and they are the same in every participating council area.
The property gate is the EPC. The home must be rated D, E, F or G. Properties rated A to C are ineligible in all circumstances, with no local discretion. Council Tax band is not part of it — that test belonged to the Great British Insulation Scheme, which closed on 31 March 2026.
The household gate is one of the three pathways below. You need one of them, not all three. Meeting one means you may qualify, not that you will: your council verifies the evidence and self-declaration on its own is not accepted. What councils genuinely decide is prioritisation — which eligible households they reach first — and that is where fuel poverty and off-gas-grid targeting come in. Councils were asked to set an off-gas-grid target, but it is non-binding and separate from eligibility: any fuel type qualifies, and being off the grid is not a way round the EPC gate or the three pathways.
Pathway 1
Deprivation route
The property's postcode sits in income decile 1 or 2 of the English Index of Multiple Deprivation. This one is about the postcode rather than the household's paperwork, so nothing needs to be proved about income or benefits — but the EPC D–G gate still applies on top of it, as it does to all three pathways.
Pathway 2
Means-tested benefits route
Someone in the household receives one of a closed list of benefits: Housing Benefit, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Pension Credit or Universal Credit. An ECO Flex route 2 referral from the council also counts. Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit are not on the Warm Homes: Local Grant list, and the benefit does not override the EPC gate — an EPC-C home is still ineligible.
Pathway 3
Household income route
Gross household income of £36,000 a year or less, per the gov.uk apply service, or below the published after-housing-costs equivalised threshold for your household size. No benefit is needed for this route. Again the EPC D–G gate still applies, and the council checks the figures rather than taking your word for them.
ECO Flex / LA Flex — the discretionary route
If you do not fit the standard routes but face energy hardship — high heating costs, vulnerable household member, mental or physical health impacts of cold — your local authority can nominate you through ECO Flex (also called LA Flex or Local Authority Flexible Eligibility). Each council publishes its own "Statement of Intent" listing the discretionary categories it will consider. Worth checking your council's website before assuming you do not qualify. ECO Flex is not a scheme of its own: it is the referral route into ECO4, so it ends with ECO4 on 31 December 2026 and the installation has to be finished by that date. Ofgem is also clear that being included in a council's declaration does not guarantee measures will be installed.
How to apply — step by step
End-to-end timeline from registration to installation is typically 3-6 months. Survey availability and works complexity drive the variance.
Apply on gov.uk — central government first, council second
England only. Start at gov.uk/apply-warm-homes-local-grant, which opens the government's live national eligibility questionnaire: which country the property is in, your tenure, your postcode and address, then your household income. It screens by postcode, so it will tell you there and then if your own council has paused or withdrawn, and Greater Manchester addresses are redirected to the GMCA Retrofit Portal. West Midlands addresses go through this same service and are forwarded to the council under the devolved programme. Assisted-digital helpline 0800 098 7950, Monday to Friday 8am–6pm and Saturday 9am–12pm. If the questionnaire rules you out, the alternative routes apply: BUS, or ECO4 through an obligated energy supplier — or through your council under ECO4 Flex if you are not on a qualifying benefit. ECO4 runs to 31 December 2026 and the installation has to be completed by that date. The Energy Saving Trust's free advice line (0800 444 202 in England) will route you correctly.
Your council picks it up
If the questionnaire passes you, gov.uk sends your answers and contact details to your council or its official contractor, and the council will usually contact you within 10 working days. Have ready: address, current EPC band, household composition, current heating system, gross household income, and any qualifying benefits. Council Tax band is not asked for — it is not a Warm Homes: Local Grant test. The council verifies the evidence against the national criteria; self-declaration on its own is not accepted.
Property survey by an accredited assessor
Visits the property, records construction details, EPC inputs, heating system, ventilation, and any structural constraints. Produces a Retrofit Assessment under PAS 2035 standard. The output is a recommendations list with cost estimates and target EPC band. Typically 4–6 weeks after eligibility confirmation.
Measures approved and installer assigned
The delivery partner approves the recommended measures and assigns a Trustmark-registered installer (and MCS-certified where heat pumps or solar are included). You receive a written package of works and indicative install date. Approval typically takes 2–4 weeks.
Installation
On-site works run from 1 day (loft top-up only) to 4 weeks (full external wall insulation plus heat pump install). The installer notifies Building Control via Trustmark and registers the work on the relevant compliance registers (MCS for heat pumps, BBA for solid wall insulation systems, etc.).
Post-install verification and updated EPC
A Retrofit Coordinator reviews the completed works against the original assessment. A new EPC is commissioned reflecting the improved state. You receive a completion pack — commissioning records, warranties, EPC, and a Retrofit Handover document. This is the trail to keep for sale, lettings, or future works.
What WH:LG funds — by category
Funded measures are determined by the property survey, not by the household's preferences. The package targets the EPC band uplift required under the local authority's scheme criteria, typically C or above.
Fabric
Fabric measures (insulation)
- Loft insulation top-up to 270mm
- Cavity wall insulation (where present and uninsulated)
- Solid wall insulation — external (EWI) or internal (IWI)
- Floor insulation (suspended timber or solid)
- Room-in-roof insulation
- Draught-proofing throughout
- Window upgrade to double or triple glazing (where existing is single)
Heating & renewables
Heating and renewables
- Air source heat pump replacing fossil fuel system
- Ground source heat pump (rural / large-plot properties)
- Solar PV system (typically 3–6 kW)
- Battery storage paired with solar (typically 5–10 kWh)
- Hot water cylinder (where heat pump requires)
- Smart heating controls and weather compensation
- Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) where required
Not funded under WH:LG
Standalone gas boiler replacement (use the open market, or ask an obligated energy supplier whether ECO4 can fund a heating measure before the scheme ends on 31 December 2026), EV charging points (use the OZEV grant), aesthetic refurbishment, kitchen or bathroom upgrades, anything outside the energy-performance scope of PAS 2035.
Check your eligibility
The card below summarises what Warm Homes: Local Grant asks for. Council Tax band is not one of the tests — the gates are the EPC band and one of the three national pathways above. The definitive check is the government's own questionnaire at gov.uk/apply-warm-homes-local-grant, which also tells you whether your own council is still taking applications.
Warm Homes: Local Grant at a glance
England only. EPC D–G, plus one of three national pathways — IMD income decile 1–2, a qualifying means-tested benefit, or household income of £36,000 or less.
Key eligibility factors:
- England only — not Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland
- EPC band D, E, F or G
- Household income of £36,000 a year or less, a qualifying means-tested benefit, or a low-income postcode
- Owner-occupiers and private tenants with the landlord's consent (not social housing) — owner-occupiers and tenants are not expected to contribute anything, and a private landlord gets one home fully funded and pays half the cost on each additional home
- Separate caps for energy performance and low carbon heating, funding a whole-home package of measures — the caps are averaged across a council's whole project, not a sum a household can claim
- Apply on GOV.UK first and you are passed to your council, which decides — some councils have paused while their funding lasts. Greater Manchester and the West Midlands are funded through their combined authorities instead: West Midlands households still apply through the same GOV.UK service, while Greater Manchester households are sent to the GMCA retrofit portal
Check your property against the live MHCLG EPC register to see your current band and the schemes you may qualify for — free, in under a minute.
Check your propertyNo current EPC on file? You will need a new assessment to apply. The cost varies by assessor and the size of the property; some local authority WH:LG packages cover the cost. Book an EPC assessment via energyperformancecertificates.co.uk.
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Regional rollout — find your council
WH:LG is an England-only scheme, and its delivery window runs from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028, dates DESNZ says may change. 271 English local authorities were allocated funding, across 74 projects, which is over 97% of eligible English councils. The expression of interest window closed on 1 December 2024 and was a single round, so the list is not growing; if anything the movement now runs the other way, as individual councils exhaust their allocation and stop taking applications. Rugby Borough Council has. There is no central list of which councils have paused, which is why the government's own questionnaire — step one below — is the only reliable way to find out about yours. Your route in:
- Start at gov.uk/apply-warm-homes-local-grant (England). The government's national eligibility questionnaire is live. It screens by postcode, tells you if your own council has paused or withdrawn, sends Greater Manchester addresses to the GMCA Retrofit Portal, and passes your answers to your council if you get through. Assisted-digital helpline 0800 098 7950. Many councils run their own route alongside it, so their "[council name] Warm Homes" page is worth a look too — but the gov.uk service is the front door.
- Phone Energy Saving Trust on 0800 444 202 (England). Free, impartial advice routed to your nearest delivery partner.
- Phone Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282 (Scotland). Warmer Homes Scotland is the equivalent route.
- Phone Nest on 0808 808 2244 (Wales). Nest is the Welsh Government's energy scheme.
- Phone NI Energy Advice on 0800 111 44 55 (Northern Ireland). The Housing Executive's advice service is the route into the Affordable Warmth Scheme — district councils stopped administering it in September 2023 — and it can also point you at the right NISEP Scheme Manager.
If your council has paused or is not taking applications, two alternative routes apply: BUS for heat pump replacement (no local-authority gate), and ECO4 through an obligated energy supplier — or through your council under ECO4 Flex if you are not on a qualifying benefit. ECO4 runs to 31 December 2026 and the installation has to be completed by that date, so anyone starting now is working in weeks rather than months. GBIS is not a fallback: it closed on 31 March 2026.
Scotland
Scotland — Home Energy Scotland and Warmer Homes Scotland
Two separate Scottish schemes, both open. The Home Energy Scotland grant and loan offers up to £7,500 towards clean heating and up to £7,500 towards insulation, with an interest-free loan available on top, and no closing date published. You cannot apply direct: ring Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282 and an advisor emails you the application link. Warmer Homes Scotland is the separate means-tested route.
Read Scotland guide →Wales
Wales — Nest scheme
The Welsh Government's scheme for Wales, open with no published end date and demand-led rather than run in application windows. Free to the household: advice, a home assessment and a tailored package of works, arranged by Nest on 0808 808 2244.
Read Wales guide →The Local Grant against the other routes
If you qualify for multiple routes, the order is usually: WH:LG first (highest cap, most comprehensive), BUS for the heat pump element if not covered, then ECO4 through an obligated energy supplier — or ECO4 Flex through your council if you are not on a qualifying benefit and face energy hardship. ECO4 runs to 31 December 2026 and the work must be finished by then. GBIS is not in the order: it closed on 31 March 2026. The routes are not always combinable — WH:LG packages typically subsume BUS rather than stacking with it.
| Aspect | WH:LG | BUS | GBIS | ECO4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funding limit | £16,600 and £16,600two separate cost caps, not one pot — energy performance / low carbon heating | £7,500£9,000 off the gas grid replacing oil or LPG, to 31 Mar 2027 | Per-measure | No set amountnot a grant — the supplier decides what it funds |
| Funded by | Treasury (DESNZ) | Treasury (DESNZ) | Energy suppliers | Energy suppliers |
| Apply via | gov.uk, then your councilthe council delivers and pays | MCS installer | Energy supplier | Energy supplier, or council via Flex |
| Income gate | £36,000 or lessor IMD decile 1–2, or a qualifying benefit | None | CTB + EPC | Income/benefit |
| EPC requirement | D–GA–C ineligible in all circumstances | None | D–G | D–GE–G for private renters |
| Scope | Whole-home | Heat pump only | Insulation | Heating + insulation |
| Live in 2026? | Yes | Yes | No (closed 31 March 2026) | Yeswork must be completed by 31 Dec 2026 |
The two £16,600 caps — what they really cover
WH:LG runs to two separate caps, set out in the WH:LG policy guidance (updated June 2026): £16,600 per home for energy performance upgrades (insulation, glazing, ventilation) and £16,600 per home for low carbon heating (heat pumps, and solar where it supports the heating package). They are not one combined pot, and a measure is funded against the cap it belongs to. Councils may average the caps across a project and must meet them by project closure, so an individual home can sit above or below either figure. The actual support depends on what your property needs to reach the local authority's target EPC band — typically C or above. Three realistic package examples:
Light retrofit
D-rated semi reaching C
Loft top-up, cavity wall insulation, smart controls, possibly a hot water cylinder upgrade. No heat pump if existing gas boiler is efficient.
Medium retrofit
E-rated solid-wall reaching D
External or internal solid wall insulation, loft top-up, heat pump replacing gas boiler, MVHR or trickle ventilation, heating controls.
Deep retrofit
G-rated off-grid reaching D
Full external wall insulation, complete glazing replacement, ground or air source heat pump, solar PV with battery, ventilation strategy, hot water cylinder. A package this size draws on both caps — the insulation, glazing and ventilation against the energy performance cap, the heat pump and solar against the low carbon heating one.
The figure to ask about: not "how much is the grant", but "how much will my property need". The Retrofit Assessment at step 3 of the application produces the answer. If you want to estimate before applying, a heat pump quote from an MCS-certified installer plus an Energy Saving Trust insulation quote gives a useful indicative total.
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Not sure which scheme fits your home?
Tell Energy Pages about your home and what you want to change. Warm Homes: Local Grant is England only and starts on gov.uk; the Boiler Upgrade Scheme covers England and Wales and goes through a certified installer. Energy Pages will tell you which route fits, and where an installer is the next step, pass your details to one matched firm, not a list of cold callers.
Your details go to one matched installer, and only where an installer is the right next step. No multi-broker lead sales.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Warm Homes Plan?▾
The Warm Homes Plan is the government's plan for upgrading homes and cutting bills, published on 21 January 2026. It is not something a household applies to. The money reaches households through separate schemes underneath it: Warm Homes: Local Grant (England only, free upgrades, apply at gov.uk/apply-warm-homes-local-grant), the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (England and Wales, your installer applies), the Social Housing Fund (through your social landlord), and the Warm Homes Loan Scheme, for which gov.uk named no participating lender as at 22 October 2026. ECO4 runs alongside it until 31 December 2026 but is a separate supplier scheme, and the Great British Insulation Scheme closed on 31 March 2026. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own schemes.
How much funding is available?▾
Warm Homes: Local Grant works to two separate cost caps: £16,600 per home for energy performance upgrades and £16,600 per home for low carbon heating. They are not a single pot, and each measure is funded against the cap it belongs to. Local authorities may average the caps across a project and must meet them by project closure, so an individual home is not hard-limited to either figure. The actual amount depends on the property's needs and the measures funded. BUS provides £7,500 towards a heat pump replacing a fossil fuel system, or £9,000 off the gas grid replacing oil or LPG until 31 March 2027. GBIS funded individual insulation measures at no cost to many households until it closed on 31 March 2026; the insulation route still open is ECO4 through an obligated energy supplier, which runs until 31 December 2026.
Who is eligible for Warm Homes: Local Grant?▾
Warm Homes: Local Grant runs in England only. The rules are national — DESNZ sets them, and they do not vary from council to council. The property must be an existing English home rated EPC D, E, F or G; bands A to C are ineligible in all circumstances. The household must then meet one of three pathways: a postcode in Index of Multiple Deprivation income decile 1 or 2; a specified means-tested benefit (Housing Benefit, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Pension Credit or Universal Credit) or an ECO Flex route 2 referral; or a gross household income of £36,000 a year or less, or below the published after-housing-costs equivalised threshold. Council Tax band is not a criterion, and being off the gas grid is not a pathway. Meeting the rules means you may qualify — your council verifies the evidence, and what it decides locally is who to reach first, not who is eligible.
Is there an application for the Warm Homes Plan?▾
No. The Warm Homes Plan is the umbrella, and you apply to a scheme underneath it — the list at the top of this page says which. For most owner-occupiers and private tenants in England that is Warm Homes: Local Grant, and it goes central government first, your council second. Step one is the national service at gov.uk/apply-warm-homes-local-grant, which runs a live eligibility questionnaire, screens by postcode and passes your answers to your council or its official contractor; the council will usually contact you within 10 working days. From there: property survey by an accredited assessor, eligibility confirmation, measures recommended and quoted, installation by Trustmark-registered or MCS-certified installer, post-install verification. Many councils also run their own application route alongside the national service, and the council is the body that organises and pays for the work.
When does the Warm Homes Plan start?▾
There is no single start date. The Plan was published on 21 January 2026 and is a policy document, not something you apply to, so it does not open; each scheme underneath it runs to its own dates. Warm Homes: Local Grant (England only) has been delivering since 1 April 2025, with a delivery window to 31 March 2028 that DESNZ says may change. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (England and Wales) is open, and in law Ofgem cannot issue a voucher after 31 December 2029. The Warm Homes Loan Scheme (UK-wide) has its consumer launch phase from September 2026 under its Scheme Rules, but as at 22 October 2026 gov.uk names no participating lender. The 2030 rental deadlines fall on landlords: the government has decided that private rented homes in England and Wales must reach EPC C by 1 October 2030, subject to Parliament, and that social rented homes in England must reach EPC C against one EPC metric by 1 April 2030. The timeline on this page gives every date with its source.
How does the Warm Homes Plan affect me?▾
Through the schemes and rules underneath it, never directly: nobody applies to the Plan itself, and what changes for you depends on whether you own or rent, your income and which nation you live in. A lower-income owner-occupier or private tenant in England is most likely to use Warm Homes: Local Grant, for free upgrades arranged by the council. A homeowner in England or Wales replacing fossil fuel heating with a heat pump can use the Boiler Upgrade Scheme whatever their income. If you rent, the change falls on your landlord: the government has decided that private rented homes in England and Wales must reach EPC C by 1 October 2030, subject to Parliament, and that social rented homes in England must reach EPC C against one EPC metric by 1 April 2030. Scotland and Northern Ireland get neither the Boiler Upgrade Scheme nor Warm Homes: Local Grant, and each runs its own schemes. The answer by situation is on this page.
What measures does WH:LG fund?▾
WH:LG funds whole-home retrofit packages tailored to the property survey, typically including: cavity wall, solid wall, loft and floor insulation; air source heat pump replacement of fossil fuel heating; solar PV with battery storage where appropriate; ventilation improvements; heating controls. The package is determined by the assessor based on what the property needs to reach the target EPC band, not by the household's preference for specific measures.
Is Warm Homes: Local Grant available everywhere in England?▾
Not quite. WH:LG is England only, and rolled out via local authority partnerships, with 271 councils allocated funding. The expression of interest window closed on 1 December 2024 and was a single round, so the list is not growing; the delivery window runs to 31 March 2028, dates DESNZ says may change. Greater Manchester sits outside the national scheme and is sent to the GMCA Retrofit Portal, while West Midlands households apply through the same gov.uk service and are forwarded to their council under the devolved programme. Individual councils also run out of money and stop taking applications, and the gov.uk questionnaire is the only place that will tell you about yours. If your local authority is not taking applications, alternative routes apply: BUS for heat pump replacement, and ECO4 via an obligated energy supplier — or via your council under ECO4 Flex if you are not on a qualifying benefit. ECO4 runs to 31 December 2026 and the installation must be completed by then. GBIS is not a route: it closed on 31 March 2026.
How is the Warm Homes Plan different from ECO4?▾
ECO4 has run since April 2022, is funded by an obligation on energy suppliers, and was extended to 31 December 2026 — every installation has to be completed by that date. Warm Homes Plan is direct Treasury funding through DESNZ, delivered via local authorities and dedicated agencies. WHP places more emphasis on heat pump replacement and renewables, whereas ECO4 is insulation- and heating-replacement-focused. ECO4 is also not a grant scheme, so there is no set household amount — the supplier decides what it will fund.
Can private tenants apply?▾
Yes, under Warm Homes: Local Grant in England, with the landlord taking part: the landlord completes a declaration form, the first home per landlord is fully funded, the landlord pays 50% towards any more, and tenants are not expected to contribute. For social tenants, upgrades go through the social landlord under WH:SHF rather than through the tenant.
Do I need an EPC to apply?▾
Yes — your current EPC band is used to assess eligibility and target band. If your EPC has expired (over 10 years old) or you have never had one, you will need a new assessment before applying. The cost of a new EPC varies by assessor and the size of the property, and it is a recoverable cost in some local authority WH:LG packages.
How long does the application take?▾
From initial registration to installation typically 3-6 months. Eligibility screening: 2-4 weeks. Property survey: 4-6 weeks after eligibility confirmation. Quote and approval: 2-4 weeks. Installation: depends on works complexity, typically 1-4 weeks of on-site work.
What if I am not eligible?▾
Two alternative routes commonly fit: the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (£7,500 for heat pump replacement, or £9,000 off the gas grid replacing oil or LPG until 31 March 2027, no EPC or income gate), and ECO4 through an obligated energy supplier — or, if you are not on a qualifying benefit but face energy hardship, through your council under ECO4 Flex, which is the referral route into ECO4 rather than a scheme of its own. ECO4 runs to 31 December 2026 and the installation has to be completed by that date. It is not a grant, so the supplier decides what it funds and there is no set household amount, and being eligible does not mean a supplier will decide to install. The Great British Insulation Scheme closed on 31 March 2026 and is no longer one of them.
Are the £16,600 cost caps guaranteed?▾
No. They are limits on what may be spent, not an entitlement, and they sit on different measure types — one on energy performance upgrades, one on low carbon heating. The actual support depends entirely on what the property needs. A property already at band D needing only loft top-up and a heat pump may receive £8,000-£12,000. A solid-wall G-rated property will draw on both caps. And because councils may average the caps across a project, an individual home can sit above or below either figure — the requirement is that the project meets them by closure.
What happens if I sell my home after WHP work?▾
The improvements stay with the property — there is no clawback if you sell. The new EPC reflecting the improvements is a legitimate sale asset; in a 2013 DECC study of sales from 1995 to 2011, higher-rated properties sold for around 6-14% more than G-rated equivalents. Where the funding came from a registered charge or covenant (rare under WH:LG), the conveyancer will surface it during sale.
Related grant routes
Insulation · closed
GBIS — insulation
Closed 31 March 2026. It ran as ECO4's insulation-only sibling on broader Council Tax band eligibility, delivered by energy suppliers. The guide explains what it covered and where the route goes now.
Read GBIS guide →Heat pump
BUS — heat pumps
£7,500 for a heat pump, or £9,000 off the gas grid replacing oil or LPG. No income or EPC gate. Claimed by your MCS installer on your behalf.
Read BUS guide →Grants hub
All UK energy grants
Every live grant scheme, comparison table, current eligibility criteria.
Read grants hub →Scotland
Scotland grants
Warmer Homes Scotland and HES — the devolved equivalent routes north of the border.
Read Scotland guide →Wales
Wales — Nest scheme
The Welsh Government's scheme, for homes in Wales. Free to the household, open, no published end date — ring Nest on 0808 808 2244.
Read Wales guide →EPC
EPC ratings explained
Your EPC band is the qualification gate for most grants. What the bands mean and how to improve.
Read EPC guide →Know your route?
The Local Grant starts on gov.uk and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme starts with a certified installer. If you are still not sure which applies, the list at the top of this page is the place to begin.