Warm Homes Local Grant

What the grant covers

Your local council will arrange for someone to survey your home, provided you qualify and its money hasn't run out. From the survey you learn how your home could cut its energy use. GOV.UK sets out the kinds of work your council might suggest:

• insulation for walls, lofts and under floors
• an air source heat pump, which pulls heat from the air outside
• smart heating controls
• solar panels

Who covers the cost

The work your council has agreed with you gets arranged and paid for by the council. No payment from you is needed. Renters, though, may find their landlord has to cover part of the improvements.

Written out, the official name is Warm Homes: Local Grant. The government's Warm Homes Plan includes this grant. That plan also supports draught proofing and upgrades to heating controls.

Who qualifies for the Warm Homes Local Grant

All three of these rules must be met by your home.

• The home is somewhere in England.
• The home has a private owner: either you or your landlord.
• Its EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating is D, E, F or G.

Checking your income

GOV.UK says household income must usually come to £36,000 or less each year. It's all the income of everyone living with you, added up.

You could still qualify with higher earnings, in two situations. Living in a certain postcode area is one. The second case is someone in your home receiving certain benefits.

The part your EPC rating plays

Your EPC score is a letter, where A is best and G is worst. The grant goes only to homes rated D, E, F or G, so anything rated C or above won't count.

Not sure of your rating? You can find out as part of applying. Or you can check the EPC register beforehand. The Warm Homes Plan presents the grant as support for low-income households whose rating falls below band C.

Applying for the grant

You apply online. To check your eligibility, the GOV.UK service starts by asking you questions.

1. On GOV.UK, begin with the eligibility questions.
2. Usually, your local council gets in touch within 10 working days to collect more details from you.
3. A survey of your home is then arranged by the council.
4. Work gets agreed with you first, and the council then arranges and funds it.

What's different from 2027

Many people call it simply the warm homes grant. The government intends to combine the grant with the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund starting in 2027/28, says the Warm Homes Plan. Whole areas at a time will be the focus of the new single scheme.

Direct grants for low-income homes get £4.4 billion in the plan, up to 2030. Because a home must be privately owned, the local grant doesn't cover social housing. A separate fund exists for that.