If your home is cold, costly to heat and your income is modest, your council may be able to pay for insulation, solar panels or a heat pump, with nothing to repay. This guide shows who qualifies, what the money covers and which council runs it where you live, using the government's own figures.
Type your district, borough, city or unitary council. Checked against the GOV.UK list of 73 lead authorities and 204 consortium members (updated 2 July 2026).
Being on the list means your council received an allocation. It does not mean it has capacity today: councils can run waiting lists or pause sign-ups. See the full table or check your postcode.
Quick answer: you need a low income (shown by postcode, benefit or income), a privately owned home in England rated EPC D to G, and a council with funding and capacity. Most people who miss out fail the second or third gate, not the first.
You only need one of three routes:
In England, already lived in, owned by you or a private landlord, and rated EPC D, E, F or G (an energy score of 68 or below). Homes rated A to C are excluded in every case. Park homes qualify if they are a permanent home with an equivalent rating.
Over 97% of eligible local authorities in England took part, but money and contractor capacity vary. Greater Manchester and the West Midlands run a separate devolved route. Use the lookup above or the full council table.
Living in a listed postcode is the quickest route because there is no income check, though you still need proof of address and the home still needs its EPC. The benefits route also skips the income check. The income route needs evidence: councils are not allowed to accept a self-declaration. If none of the three fits today, a change of circumstances, such as a new Pension Credit award, can change the answer. The full eligibility guide covers the edge cases: lodgers, students, disability benefits, and the ECO4 Flex route for homes rated E to G.
The EPC rule is the one people most often miss. A certificate grades the home from band A (most efficient) to G, and the scheme draws its line between C and D, at an energy efficiency score of 68. You can look up any existing certificate free on the GOV.UK register. EPCs for existing homes have been produced with the RdSAP 10 method since 15 June 2025, so if the home has changed since its last certificate, ask the council whether a fresh assessment is needed. How the EPC rule works.
Think of it the other way round from a loan. A household that pays for loft insulation, solar panels and a heat pump itself is spending thousands up front on a home that loses heat. Under this grant the council pays for the package that the survey recommends, the upgrade stays with the home, and the household keeps the lower bills. There is no interest, no instalment and nothing to repay.
The guidance sets two separate caps per home, averaged across each council's project: £16,600 for energy performance measures (insulation, glazing, doors, heating controls, solar PV, batteries) and £16,600 for low carbon heating (heat pumps, high heat retention storage heaters and, in rare rural cases, biomass). Both rose from £15,000 in the June 2026 update, so many sites still quote the old £30,000 total.
Solar and batteries do most work when you use the power yourself, so the retrofit coordinator is told to check whether a time-of-use tariff would suit you and whether a smart meter is fitted. Fossil fuel heating is never funded: no new gas, oil or LPG boilers. Every measure, pot by pot.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero funds it; your council (often as part of a consortium) runs it, procures the installers and signs off the work.
The GOV.UK online service asks about your home, income and heating, then passes an eligible application to your council. Many councils also run their own sign-up page.
Usually within 10 working days, by email or phone, to gather evidence and book a survey.
Carried out to PAS 2035:2023. A retrofit coordinator agrees a package with you that aims for EPC C where the caps allow.
TrustMark-registered, and MCS-certified for heat pumps, solar and batteries, with a guarantee in place before work starts.
Every measure is lodged with TrustMark and the home gets a new EPC.
What happens next is always your choice. You can stop at any step, turn down a heat pump, or accept only part of a package. Applying costs nothing, and no legitimate council partner will ask you for a fee or bank details to "release" a grant.
Before anyone starts work, you can check the firm yourself on the TrustMark and MCS registers in a few minutes. Here is how, and here is how to spot a fake offer.
Stuck on the form or the evidence? GOV.UK lists an assisted digital helpline for the online service (Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 12pm); the number is on the official apply page. Full application guide.
An illustrative example, not a real household: it uses only the published caps to show how tenure changes who pays.
A pre-1919 mid-terrace rated EPC E. The retrofit coordinator recommends internal wall insulation, a loft top-up, solar PV and a battery, all energy performance measures.
| Pathway | Benefit (Pension Credit) |
| Pot used | Energy performance |
| Grant ceiling (project average) | £16,600 |
| Household pays | £0 |
The tenant's income qualifies, the landlord already had one home funded, and the same package is recommended.
| Pathway | Tenant's income |
| Pot used | Energy performance |
| Grant ceiling (project average) | £8,300 |
| Landlord pays | 50% of the cost |
| Tenant pays | £0 |
Add a heat pump to either package and the second pot opens: another £16,600 for the owner occupier, or £8,300 of grant for the landlord with a matching contribution. Try other combinations in the grant estimator; landlord rules are on the landlords page.
Five government schemes share almost the same name. Only one of them pays your council to upgrade your home this way.
| Scheme | What it is | Who it is for | Money | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warm Homes: Local Grant | Council-delivered insulation, solar, batteries and low carbon heating | Low-income owner occupiers and private tenants in England, EPC D to G | Up to £16,600 + £16,600 per home on average; household pays £0 | Delivery 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028 |
| Warm Homes Plan | The umbrella programme: grants, loans and new rules | Everyone, with around £5 billion aimed at low-income households | £15 billion of public investment to 2030 | Published 21 January 2026 |
| Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund | Upgrades to social housing | Councils and housing associations, not individual households | Separate allocations to social landlords | Planned to merge with the Local Grant from 2027/28 |
| Warm Home Discount | A rebate on the electricity bill, not an upgrade | Qualifying households; usually automatic | £150 off the bill | Reopens October 2026 |
| ECO4 | Energy-supplier obligation | Low-income and vulnerable households in Great Britain | Varies by measure | Ends 31 December 2026 |
| Boiler Upgrade Scheme | Grant towards a heat pump or biomass boiler | Any eligible owner in England and Wales, no income test | £7,500, or £9,000 replacing oil or LPG off the gas grid | Runs to 31 March 2028 |
The Warm Homes Plan, published on 21 January 2026, is the umbrella: £15 billion to upgrade up to 5 million homes by 2030, with around £5 billion aimed at low-income households. The Local Grant is how most of that low-income money reaches private homes today. The full comparison.
The GOV.UK list, updated on 2 July 2026, names 73 lead authorities and 204 councils working with them in consortia, with allocations totalling £483.3m. The biggest projects are run by the Midlands Net Zero Hub (with 47 councils), the Greater London Authority (with 31 boroughs) and a Lancashire consortium led by Blackpool.
Councils in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands are missing from the national list because their combined authorities receive warm homes money through integrated settlements. 11 other councils, including Kirklees, Nottingham and Rotherham, have neighbourhoods on the eligible postcode list but do not appear by name, so residents there should ask the council directly. See every council.
Grant schemes attract suspicion, and some of it is earned. Here is what the published rules actually say.
For owner occupiers and private tenants, yes. The policy guidance says owner occupiers must not be required to contribute, and tenants are not expected to pay either. The council funds the agreed package up to the caps. You can choose to pay for extras the retrofit coordinator did not recommend, but nobody can make that a condition.
The one group that pays is landlords: a landlord's first home can be fully funded, and each further home needs a 50% contribution.
It is a grant, not a loan, and the published guidance contains no repayment mechanism for households. Landlords sign a declaration that they will not raise the rent because of the funded work, and the landlord's funding counts towards a public subsidy limit. If anyone describes the Warm Homes: Local Grant as a loan to be repaid, ask them for it in writing and check with your council.
Yes. Councils must verify eligibility with evidence and can decline a household with substantial savings or assets, because the scheme is aimed at homes in or at risk of fuel poverty. They also decide how to manage demand when there are more eligible households than money, as long as the approach is fair and consistent. Meeting the rules gets you into the process; it does not guarantee a package.
No. The guidance says the final decision to install a heat pump, storage heaters or any other heating system rests solely with the household, and that you must be given clear advice on the likely effect on your bills first. You can accept insulation or solar and decline the heating change.
Allocation is not the same as capacity. Some councils run waiting lists or pause sign-ups while contractors catch up. Register anyway through the official route, ask the council how it prioritises, and look at the other routes for anything urgent.
No countdown clocks here: just the fixed dates in the published guidance, and what each one means for a household.
Households in England on a low income living in a privately owned home rated EPC D to G. Low income is shown in one of three ways: living in an eligible postcode (IMD income deciles 1-2), someone in the home getting a listed means-tested benefit such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit, or a gross household income of £36,000 or less (or under the after-housing-costs limit for your household). Owner occupiers and private tenants can apply; social housing is excluded except as infill.
Yes. The Warm Homes: Local Grant delivery window runs from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028, and 74 council projects covering 271 local authorities were given funding. Availability on the ground varies by council: some have waiting lists. The separate Warm Home Discount (£150 off the electricity bill) reopens in October 2026.
Up to £16,600 for energy performance upgrades and up to £16,600 for low carbon heating per home, as an average across the council's project. The caps were raised from £15,000 each in the June 2026 guidance, so older articles quoting £30,000 are out of date. Owner occupiers and tenants pay nothing.
Possibly, but only as part of a package the retrofit assessment recommends. Double and triple glazing and energy efficient doors are eligible energy performance measures, but glazing has a price limit councils must meet on average, so it is often not the first measure chosen. Insulation, solar PV and batteries are fitted far more often.
No. Fossil fuel heating is not funded, so a new gas, oil or LPG boiler cannot be paid for. In a home currently heated by mains gas, a retrofit or packaged hybrid system is allowed, but only the heat pump part is funded.
It depends on your home and income. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme gives £7,500 towards a heat pump with no income test (£9,000 if replacing oil or LPG off the gas grid, until 31 March 2027), installation of energy-saving materials is VAT-free until 31 March 2027, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own schemes.
Either route ends with your council. GOV.UK runs an online eligibility checker that passes eligible applications to the right council, which usually contacts you within 10 working days; many councils and consortia also run their own sign-up pages.
No. This is an independent guide published by SEO-DONS LTD. It cannot approve or speed up an application and there is nothing to pay to apply. Use GOV.UK or your council to apply.
Apply for the grant itself through the official GOV.UK service or your council: it is free and you do not need a go-between. Use this form if you would also like independent retrofit or installation firms that cover your postcode to contact you, for a second opinion, a quote for work outside the grant, or options if you do not qualify. We pass your enquiry on. We cannot approve, speed up or guarantee a grant.