Warm Homes Local Grant
The Warm Homes: Local Grant is a government funded scheme that pays for insulation, solar panels and low carbon heating in lower income homes in England. Councils deliver it, and eligible homeowners usually pay nothing. Each home can receive up to £15,000 for energy performance work and up to £15,000 for low carbon heating. The scheme runs until 31 March 2028.
Please note: InstantGrant is an independent, private information and support service. We are not the government, a council or an installer, and we cannot approve or pay the Warm Homes: Local Grant. Your council or its delivery partner makes every decision. Always confirm the latest rules with them before any work starts.
Check If I Qualify for the Warm Homes Grant
What Is the Warm Homes: Local Grant?
The Warm Homes: Local Grant is a £500 million scheme funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and delivered by councils across England from 2025 to 2028. It helps lower income households in poorly rated homes cut their energy bills through insulation, solar panels and heat pumps. It is part of the government's wider Warm Homes Plan.
Who Runs the Scheme
The government sets the rules and funding, while each council runs the scheme locally, often with a delivery partner or a group of neighbouring councils. Greater Manchester and the West Midlands run their own versions with separate funding. This is why the application steps and waiting times can vary from one area to another.
How It Differs From ECO4 and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme
Feature | Warm Homes: Local Grant | ECO4 | Boiler Upgrade Scheme |
|---|---|---|---|
Who funds it | Government, through councils | Large energy suppliers | Government, through Ofgem |
Income test | Yes | Yes, mainly benefits | No |
Where it applies | England | England, Scotland, Wales | England, Wales |
Pays for gas boilers | No | In limited cases | No |
End date | 31 March 2028 | 31 December 2026 | 2030 |
How Much Can You Get From the Warm Homes: Local Grant?
Owner occupiers can receive up to £15,000 for energy performance work, such as insulation and solar panels, plus up to £15,000 for low carbon heating, such as a heat pump. That makes up to £30,000 per home, usually with nothing to pay. Private landlords get one home fully funded, then pay 50% for further homes.
Grant Limits for Each Type of Home
Type of home | Energy performance work | Low carbon heating | Owner contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
Owner occupied home | Up to £15,000 | Up to £15,000 | None |
Private landlord's first eligible home | Up to £15,000 | Up to £15,000 | None |
Private landlord's additional homes | Grant covers 50% | Grant covers 50% | 50% of the cost |
Social housing, limited in-fill cases only | Grant covers 50% | Grant covers 50% | 50% of the cost |
Why Your Award May Be Different
The £15,000 limits are managed by each council across its whole project, not promised to every home. Your retrofit assessment decides which measures your home needs, and the grant covers those measures. A home needing only loft insulation will receive far less than one needing wall insulation and a heat pump.
Who Qualifies for the Warm Homes: Local Grant?
You qualify if your home is in England, privately owned or privately rented, and has an EPC rating of D to G. Your household must also meet one of three income routes: living in an eligible postcode, receiving a means tested benefit, or having a gross household income below £36,000 or below the After Housing Costs threshold.
Property Rules
The home must be in England.
It must be owner occupied or privately rented.
It must have an EPC rating of D, E, F or G. Homes rated A to C are never eligible.
New homes and homes that have never been lived in are excluded.
Privately rented homes rated F or G need a registered exemption under the private rented property rules.
Park homes and homes owned by charities that are not registered social housing providers can also qualify.
Household Rules: The Three Income Routes
Route | How you qualify | Income check needed? |
|---|---|---|
Postcode route | You live in an eligible postcode in the most income deprived 20% of areas in England | No |
Benefits route | Someone in your home receives a qualifying means tested benefit | No, benefit evidence instead |
Income route | Gross household income below £36,000, or below the After Housing Costs threshold for your household | Yes |
Qualifying Benefits
Under the benefits route, someone in your household must receive one of these:
Universal Credit
Pension Credit
Housing Benefit
Income based Jobseeker's Allowance
Income related Employment and Support Allowance
Income Support
What Is the After Housing Costs Route?
If your gross income is above £36,000, you may still qualify. Councils can work out your income after tax and after rent or mortgage payments. If that remaining income falls below the threshold for your household size, you are eligible. This route helps families with high housing costs, so ask your council to check it if you are close to the limit.
What Does the Warm Homes: Local Grant Pay For?
The grant pays for two types of work: energy performance upgrades, such as insulation, glazing and solar panels, and low carbon heating, such as heat pumps. It does not pay for gas or oil boilers. A retrofit assessor decides which measures suit your home, with the aim of improving its energy rating, ideally to EPC band C.
Energy Performance Measures
These come from the energy performance pot of up to £15,000:
Loft, cavity wall, solid wall, underfloor, flat roof and room in roof insulation.
Double or triple glazing and energy efficient external doors.
Draughtproofing.
Solar panels, battery storage and smart heating controls.
Our guide to home insulation grants explains each insulation type in more detail.
Low Carbon Heating Measures
These come from the low carbon heating pot of up to £15,000. They include air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps and high heat retention storage heaters. Heat pumps must be MCS certified products fitted by certified installers.
What the Grant Does Not Pay For
The Warm Homes: Local Grant does not fund gas or oil boilers, because it is designed to move homes away from fossil fuel heating. It also cannot fund homes already rated C or above, or measures your assessment does not recommend. If you need a gas boiler, see our boiler and heating grants guide for other options.
Start My Free Warm Homes Grant Check
How Do You Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant?
You apply through GOV.UK, not through an installer. The GOV.UK service checks your postcode and passes your details to your council or its delivery partner. The council then checks your evidence, arranges a retrofit assessment and books approved installers. Greater Manchester and West Midlands residents apply through their combined authority instead.
Step by Step Application Process
Check your EPC rating on the GOV.UK energy certificate register.
Apply on the GOV.UK Warm Homes: Local Grant service, which checks your postcode.
Wait for your council or its partner to contact you and ask for evidence.
Send your evidence of benefits, income or address.
Book your retrofit assessment, where an assessor surveys your home and plans the measures.
Get the work installed by approved contractors, with nothing to pay within the grant limits.
What Evidence to Prepare
Have these ready before you apply, so your application is not delayed:
Proof of address, such as a council tax bill.
Benefit award letters, if you are using the benefits route.
Payslips, pension statements or tax returns for everyone in the household, if you are using the income route.
Rent or mortgage statements, if you want the After Housing Costs route checked.
Your landlord's written consent, if you rent privately.
What if Your Council Has Paused Applications?
Demand is high, and some councils have stopped taking new applications for now. Leicestershire County Council, for example, has paused new applications and asks residents to register interest through GOV.UK so it can hold their details. Applying through GOV.UK still puts you in the queue for when funding reopens.
Warm Homes: Local Grant for Landlords and Tenants
Private tenants can apply with their landlord's consent, and the tenant household must meet the income rules. Private landlords get one eligible home fully funded across the scheme, then contribute 50% for every additional home. Social housing is not eligible, except in limited in-fill cases with a 50% landlord contribution.
Private Tenants
If you rent privately and your household meets one of the income routes, you can apply. Your landlord must give written consent before any survey or work. The improvements stay with the property, so they benefit you and future tenants.
Private Landlords
Only one rental home per landlord can be fully funded. For each further home, you pay 50% of the cost of the works. Homes rated F or G need a registered exemption first. Plan which property to put forward first, as the full funding can only be used once. Our guide to EPC grants for landlords covers wider options.
Council and Housing Association Tenants
Social housing is generally not eligible. Councils can only include it as in-fill, for example when treating a whole street, capped at 10% of a project's homes and with a 50% contribution from the social landlord. Social landlords use the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund instead.
Can You Combine the Warm Homes Grant With Other Grants?
You can use other schemes for different improvements, but not to pay for the same item twice. The Warm Homes grant and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme cannot both fund one heat pump. If you qualify for the Warm Homes grant, it usually covers more, because it can pay the full cost up to the limits.
With the Boiler Upgrade Scheme
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme gives £7,500 off a heat pump with no income test. It is a good fallback if you do not qualify for the Warm Homes grant, or if your council has paused applications. See our £7,500 heat pump grant guide for the rules.
With ECO4
ECO4 can also fund insulation and heating for households on qualifying benefits, but it ends on 31 December 2026 and supplier funding is limited. The same measure cannot be funded by both schemes. If you qualify for both, ask which one can complete the work sooner.
If You Do Not Qualify
Heat pumps and insulation are charged at 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, whatever your income. The government also plans low and zero interest loans for home upgrades, phasing in from 2027 under the Warm Homes Plan. Full loan details have not yet been published.
Is the Warm Homes: Local Grant Available Outside England?
No. The Warm Homes: Local Grant is for England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each run their own schemes for lower income households, and ECO4 also covers Scotland and Wales until 31 December 2026.
Alternatives in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Nation | Main alternative | Who it helps |
|---|---|---|
Scotland | Warmer Homes Scotland, plus the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan | Households in or at risk of fuel poverty, and all homeowners for the grant and loan |
Wales | Nest | Low income or benefit households in poorly rated homes |
Northern Ireland | Affordable Warmth Scheme | Households with income below £23,000 |
How Long Does It Take and When Does the Scheme End?
There is no fixed timescale. After you apply, you wait for eligibility checks, a retrofit assessment and installer booking, which can take several weeks or longer where demand is high. The scheme runs until 31 March 2028, but each council's funding can run out sooner, so applying early matters.
What Can Slow Your Application Down
Missing income or benefit evidence.
Waiting for landlord consent.
High demand in your council area.
Extra surveys for solid walls, heat pumps or listed buildings.
What Happens After March 2028?
The Warm Homes: Local Grant is funded until 31 March 2028. Future support for lower income homes will come through the Warm Homes Plan, which the government published in January 2026. Our guide to what is replacing the ECO4 scheme tracks the changes as they are confirmed.
How to Avoid Warm Homes Grant Scams
Your council or its named delivery partner will contact you only after you apply through GOV.UK. The scheme never charges a fee. Be careful with cold callers who use the Warm Homes name, promise a free gas boiler or ask for money to speed up your application.
Warning Signs to Watch For
Someone asks for a fee to "secure" or "fast track" your Warm Homes grant.
A caller offers a free gas boiler through the Warm Homes grant, which never funds gas boilers.
You are contacted about the scheme without ever having applied, and the caller will not name your council.
You are pressured to sign on the day of a visit.
How to Check a Contact Is Genuine
Hang up and call your council on the number shown on its official website. Ask whether the company is its Warm Homes delivery partner. Genuine installers should be TrustMark registered, and heat pump installers must be MCS certified.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Is the Warm Homes: Local Grant?
Owner occupiers can receive up to £15,000 for energy performance work, such as insulation and solar panels, and up to £15,000 for low carbon heating, such as a heat pump. Most eligible homeowners pay nothing. The exact amount depends on what your retrofit assessment recommends for your home.
What Is the Income Limit for the Warm Homes: Local Grant?
Your gross household income must be below £36,000 a year under the income route. If it is higher, you may still qualify through the After Housing Costs route, a qualifying benefit or an eligible postcode. Postcode and benefit routes do not need an income check.
Which Benefits Qualify for the Warm Homes: Local Grant?
Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, income based Jobseeker's Allowance, income related Employment and Support Allowance and Income Support all qualify. Only one person in your household needs to receive one of them, and your home must still have an EPC rating of D to G.
Does the Warm Homes: Local Grant Pay for a New Gas Boiler?
No. The scheme only funds low carbon heating, such as air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps and high heat retention storage heaters. Gas and oil boilers are not covered. If you need a gas boiler, ECO4 may help until 31 December 2026 if you qualify.
Can Landlords Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant?
Yes. Private landlords can get one eligible rental home fully funded across the scheme, then pay 50% of the cost for each additional home. The tenant household must meet the income rules, and homes rated F or G need a registered exemption first.
My Council Has Stopped Taking Applications. What Can I Do?
Some councils have paused new applications because of high demand. You can still register your interest through GOV.UK, so your council holds your details for when funding reopens. In the meantime, check the Boiler Upgrade Scheme or ECO4 if you qualify.
Is the Warm Homes: Local Grant Available in Scotland or Wales?
No. The Warm Homes: Local Grant is for England only. Scotland offers Warmer Homes Scotland and the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan, Wales offers Nest, and Northern Ireland offers the Affordable Warmth Scheme for lower income households.
When Does the Warm Homes: Local Grant End?
The scheme is funded until 31 March 2028. However, each council has its own budget, and some have already paused new applications because of demand. Applying early through GOV.UK gives you the best chance of getting help before local funding runs out.
About This Guide
This guide was written by InstantGrant using current information from GOV.UK, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's Warm Homes: Local Grant policy guidance and council websites. It was last checked on 30 September 2026. Rules and local funding change often, so always confirm the latest position with your council before any work begins.