Warm Homes: Local Grant
Get grants of up to £30,000 for energy-efficiency home upgrades
Grants of up to £30,000 are on offer from local authorities to make your home warmer and more energy efficient. The grant can be used to help pay for upgrades including insulation, solar panels, and heat pumps.
What is the Warm Homes: Local Grant?
The Warm Homes: Local Grant offers grants for energy-efficient home improvements, such as insulation, draught-proofing, double glazing, solar panels and heat pumps.
It's for low income households in England that live in a home with a poor energy performance rating. While it's England-only, there are similar schemes in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
It launched on 1 April 2025 and is expected to run until 31 March 2028, and sits alongside similar schemes – such as the Great British Insulation Scheme – so eligible households may be able to benefit from both.
Who can get the Warm Homes: Local Grant?
You could be eligible if your household income is less than £36,000, you live in an eligible postcode, or you’re receiving a means-tested benefit (such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit or Housing Benefit) AND all of the following applies:
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You live in England
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You own your home or rent from a private landlord
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Your home has an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of D to G
Park homes are eligible to apply for the grants if the property is your permanent residence and the energy performance of your home is equivalent to an EPC band D to G rating.
The scheme is open to households using all fuel types, including mains gas and off gas-grid households (those heated by fuels such as electricity, oil, coal, or liquid petroleum gas).
You’ll need to ask you landlord to apply. Landlords can only get the full grant for their first property upgraded. They can then get 50% funding for any additional eligible properties.
I live in a park home. Am I eligible for the grant?
I don't have mains gas - can I apply?
If you rent, your landlord will need to apply for the grant
What home upgrades can I get?
You can get about £15,000 worth of energy-efficiency improvements for your home, and a further £15,000 grant towards installing low-carbon heating, such as a heat pump.
The aim of the scheme is to boost the EPC rating of your home to at least a 'C' once the improvements have been installed.
Here's what you could get:
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Low-carbon heating, such as air and ground source heat pumps, and in some cases, high retention storage heaters.
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Energy-efficiency improvements, including insulation, solar panels and battery storage, among others
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Cavity wall insulation
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Flat roof insulation
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Internal wall insulation
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Loft insulation
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Park home insulation
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Room-in-roof insulation
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Solid/external wall insulation
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Underfloor insulation
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Heating controls
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Hot water cylinder insulation
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Hot water cylinder thermostat
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Hot water cylinder/tank
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Low energy lighting
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Solar PV
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Solar thermal
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Battery storage (only eligible when complementing Solar PV)
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Digital/smart controls
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Draught proofing
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Double/triple glazing
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Energy efficiency doors
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Air-source heat pump
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Ground-source heat pump
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Hybrid heat pump
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Shared ground loops
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High Heat Retention Storage Heaters
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Biomass boilers
List of possible energy-efficiency improvements covered by the grant
How to apply for the Warm Home: Local Grant
How you apply depends on whether you own your home or rent.
Homeowner? You can apply online or via your local authority
If you're the homeowner, the quickest and easiest way to start the application process is to use the Government's online eligibility checker. You'll be asked your address and to confirm whether your annual household income is more or less than £36,000. You may also be asked to confirm the EPC rating the Government has on record for your home.
If eligible, you'll be asked to provide your email and/or phone number, then you can automatically send your application to your local authority.
Alternatively, you can get in touch with your local authority directly to apply.
Renting? You MUST apply to your local authority directly
If you're a tenant in a privately rented home and your landlord supports your application for the Warm Homes: Local Grant, you'll need to get in touch with your local authority directly to apply.
I've applied, what happens next?
Your local authority should get in touch with you within 10 working days to discuss your application and ask for any additional information. It will then arrange for a home survey to be done.
Your home survey will be carried out by an official contractor, who is vetted by your local authority. They will not sell you any services and will never ask for your bank details.
It's worth noting, some local authorities are accepting applications but aren't ready to process them yet. This means you can create an application, but it won't be processed until your local authority has signed up for the service.
No. All suppliers and contractors will be paid directly by your local authority for the measures they install. Households won't receive any grant payments.
There are two pots of funding under the scheme, one for energy performance measures and one for low carbon heat measures. Each pot of funding is capped at £15,000 on average, which means local authorities can spend more or less than this on any one home, as long as they can average this out by the time the scheme ends in March 2028.
No, your local authority will find Trustmark accredited suppliers to carry out the work on your home. You won't need to source your own suppliers for the work.
Will I get given the money to spend?
Will I have to find my own suppliers to carry out the work?
Other schemes that offer free insulation and similar energy-efficiency measures
There are other energy-efficiency initiatives available to some:
Great British Insulation Scheme (and ECO4 scheme). Some households in England, Wales and Scotland can get free insulation, and other energy-efficiency improvements, if your home has an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of D or below. See our Great British Insulation Scheme guide.
Boiler upgrade scheme. As part of the drive to reduce carbon emissions, the Government is offering grants of £7,500 to households in England and Wales to help towards the cost of installing a heat pump. We have all you need to know in our Heat Pump Grants guide.
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Wales Warm Homes Nest scheme. The Warm Homes Nest scheme offers free energy-efficiency home improvements (including insulation, heat pumps and solar panels) to homeowners and renters who receive certain benefits. But you must also have evidence of suffering with a chronic respiratory, circulatory or mental health condition to be eligible. You could get a new boiler, radiators, heating controls and insulation.
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Warmer Homes Scotland. Home Energy Scotland's Warmer Homes Scotland initiative offers free energy-efficiency installations to homeowners and private renters who have lived in their property for at least six months and are on certain benefits. The improvements may include a new central heating boiler, radiators, heating controls, insulation or renewables.
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Northern Ireland Affordable Warmth Scheme. If your annual household income is less than £23,000, you could be eligible for improvements, from insulation to heating systems and controls, and even a full conversion from heating oil to gas central heating.
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The Northern Ireland Sustainable Energy Programme (NISEP). This is generally only open to low-income households in Northern Ireland. It provides funding for energy-efficiency measures, such as boiler upgrades, new LED lights, smart heating controls and draught proofing. See our Cheap Northern Ireland energy guide for full info.
Yes, but for a different energy-efficient measure.
Can I apply to the Great British Insulation or ECO4 schemes as well as the Warm Homes local grant?
Other ways to cut your energy bill
Here are some energy-saving basics to keep your costs down:
The one bright spark in the energy market has been the return of more fixed tariffs. Right now, most people should switch to a fixed deal to save £100s on energy bills.
Join our energy comparison site, the Cheap Energy Club to get a bespoke comparison of predicted costs over the next year, compared to switching, and see our Should you fix? guide for a rundown of all your switching options.
For full info on how to switch energy supplier read our guide.
With the Price Cap rising again in April, energy costs are unaffordable for many. If you're struggling to pay your bill, energy firms have an obligation to help you.
See our What to do if you're struggling guide, which takes you through the best ways to get help and advice with energy bills and debt, and ensure you're getting all the help you're entitled to.
There are lots of ways to reduce what you use. See our Energy saving tips, the Energy mythbusters guide for less clear-cut issues, and our Heat the human guide.
Fixed monthly Direct Debit payments – where you pay a fixed estimate each month – can be about 6% cheaper than paying by cash, cheque or card when you receive a bill.
See Energy Direct Debits help for more info.
Every time you receive a bill, do a meter reading. Don't rely on your energy provider's estimate, these are often way out. If they're underbilling, you'll have a big whack to pay when they get an actual reading. If they're overbilling, then they've unfairly got your cash.
If your direct debit is way off-kilter, call up and request for it to be changed. You have a range of rights to ensure it's correct. See our full Energy Direct Debits guide for more help.
You can also check with your supplier to see if you can get a free smart meter, which sends automatic meter readings to your supplier – so no more estimated bills. For more, see our Smart meters guide.
A push from the Government means prepay energy is now the cheapest way to pay for your energy, compared with those that pay by Direct Debit or on receipt of a bill. However, the most competitive deals are typically offered to those who pay by Direct Debit.
Often, firms won't let you switch meters because of credit score or income difficulties. For full info on how to ditch a prepayment meter for a credit meter, see the full Prepaid gas & electricity guide.
Switch to a cheaper energy tariff
Have you got all the help you qualify for?
Try to cut your energy usage with our energy-saving tips
Pay for your energy by monthly Direct Debit
Take a meter reading each month
If you have prepayment meters, switch to a billed meter if possible
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