The Home Upgrade Grant: The Closed Scheme for Off-Gas Homes

The Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) paid for insulation, heating controls and low-carbon heating in some of England's least efficient, off-gas-grid homes, and it has now closed. The scheme ended in March 2025, with some grant recipients given delivery extensions to finish work already agreed¹. Across its two phases it ran from early 2022 to 2025, upgrading 4,000 homes in Phase 1 and 11,900 homes in Phase 2². Government allocated a total of £1.1 billion to the scheme³.

If you are looking for help now, the successor is the Warm Homes: Local Grant, which started in 2025, runs until 31 March 2028, and explicitly includes the off-grid homes the Home Upgrade Grant used to support⁴. Unlike HUG, it is open to all fuel types, including homes on the gas grid⁵. This page sets out what HUG was, who it helped, how it worked, and what has replaced it.

The Home Upgrade Grant explained: purpose and recipients

The Home Upgrade Grant was a government scheme to support low-income households by upgrading the worst-performing off-gas-grid homes in England⁸. When it was announced in March 2021, the government estimated that around 100,000 homes might benefit⁹. In the event, the two phases together upgraded just under 16,000 homes: 4,000 under Phase 1, which ran from 2022 to 2023, and 11,900 under Phase 2, which ran from 2023 to 2025².

The scheme's purpose was narrow and deliberate. It targeted homes with no mains gas connection, because those households typically rely on electric heating, oil, coal or LPG, fuels that have often been expensive per unit of heat and that leave a household exposed to price swings in markets it has no control over. The official statistics describe the scheme as providing funding to upgrade low energy-efficiency homes off the gas grid, occupied by low income families¹⁰. Phase 1 alone carried £152 million of funding to support low-income households off the gas grid¹¹.

The wider context matters for understanding what the money was for. HUG sat alongside the Local Authority Delivery (LAD) scheme, which had the same aim of upgrading 50,000 homes of low-income households⁴, and both fed into the government's wider push on heat pumps and retrofit. The grant paid for the fabric of the building first, insulation above all, and then for low-carbon heating where the fabric work made that viable. For an off-grid household, the point of the scheme was to cut the amount of energy the home needed before anyone worried about where that energy came from.

Who qualified: EPC rating, income limits and off-gas-grid rule

Three tests ran together throughout the scheme's life, and a household had to meet all of them.

• Off the gas grid. The property had no mains gas connection. This was the defining feature of the scheme and the reason it existed⁶.
• Low energy efficiency. The home had an EPC rating in band D or below. Phase 2's published rules put the range as EPC D to G¹², and the official statistics describe the target as low-energy efficiency, EPC of D or lower¹³.
• Low income. The official statistics record the income test as household income below £30,000¹³. Phase 2's rules described eligible households as low income, off the gas grid, and with an EPC between D and G, in England¹².

The scheme was England-only. There was no equivalent HUG in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland; those nations ran their own schemes, and you can read about them in our guides to home energy grants in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Phase 1 evaluation, carried out by the research organisation Verian, confirmed that the scheme targeted off-gas grid properties, and found that delivery worked through local authorities using different delivery models¹⁴. The evaluation was based on findings from 10 case studies of local authority led projects under the scheme¹⁴.

The role of councils in running the grant

HUG never took applications directly from households in the way a voucher scheme does. Phase 1 was delivered by local authorities, who bid into a competition for grant funding¹⁵. Phase 2 kept the same model: local authorities applied to the government for funding, and then found and assessed the eligible households in their area. Eligible homeowners, tenants and private landlords were able to check whether their local authority had funding and contact them for next steps¹².

The application process for local authorities had three stages: an outline application stage, a delivery assurance check, and a batch application stage. Local authorities had to apply for the funding by 27 January 2023¹². All upgrades had to be within the relevant cost caps to be eligible¹².

HUG was itself a successor. It took over from Phase 2 of the Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery scheme, which concluded in December 2021, with £150 million already committed to the Home Upgrade Grant to commence delivery in early 2022¹⁵. Low-income households who owned their home could get upgrades fully funded within the relevant cost caps and did not have to contribute¹¹.

This delivery model is worth understanding because it shapes everything about how a household experienced the scheme. You did not apply to a national body; you waited for, or approached, your council, and the council's capacity determined what happened next. It also shaped the risks: the quality of assessment and installation depended on the installers the council used, and the scheme rules required installers to be Trustmark registered and certified under the latest version of PAS 2030 or by MCS¹⁰. The same local authority model carries over into the successor scheme, so the habits it created, checking your council first, are still the right ones.

Warm Homes: Local Grant: what replaced it

The Warm Homes: Local Grant is a government grant scheme to provide energy performance upgrades and low carbon heating via local authorities, and it includes off-grid homes previously supported by the Home Upgrade Grant¹. It started in 2025⁴ and is being delivered from April 2025 to March 2028⁵. The funding became available on 1 April 2025 and runs until 31 March 2028¹⁶. It has been allocated £500 million over three years as part of the Autumn Budget 2024 settlement⁴.

The big change from HUG is the fuel test. The successor scheme's upgrades are open to all fuel types, including on-gas-grid households heated by mains gas, and off-gas-grid households heated by electricity, oil, coal or LPG⁵. So an off-grid home that missed HUG has not lost its route to help; it has gained company, because homes on the gas grid are now eligible too.

The scheme policy guidance was updated on 2 July 2026 to reflect the publication of the Warm Homes Plan, to increase the scheme cost caps, and to provide new and revised guidance on household and measure eligibility, plus clarifications on Trustmark and MCS requirements¹⁷. The list of successful local authorities has been updated to reflect additional funding given to some local authorities in the first year of delivery¹⁸.

Eligibility for households, in outline:

• The home must be in England⁷.
• The home must be privately owned, either by the householder or by a landlord⁷.
• The home must have an EPC of D to G, or the equivalent for a park home⁷.
• Household income must usually be £36,000 a year or less⁷.
• Household savings must be less than £25,000⁷.

Households earning more than £36,000 may still be eligible if they live in a certain postcode area, or if someone in the household receives certain benefits⁷. There is also an after housing costs route: the household's gross annual income must be below £36,000, or it must meet the after housing costs threshold, which is adjusted for household size¹⁹. Those thresholds, from the scheme's policy guidance, are set out below¹⁰.

Supported home types include houses, flats, park homes, and houses in multiple occupation with separate kitchens; some other property types may also apply⁷. Our page on Warm Homes: Local Grant eligibility and income limits covers the detail.

What the successor scheme covers and its spending limits

The Warm Homes: Local Grant funds a defined list of improvements, offered in the order recommended by the Retrofit Assessment for each property²⁰. The aim is to increase the property's EPC rating, with band C as the target²⁰.

Energy performance improvements include:

• Cavity wall, external wall, internal wall, loft, room-in-roof, flat roof, under-floor and park home insulation
• Draughtproofing and hot water cylinder insulation
• Low energy lighting and heating controls
• Solar PV and battery storage
• Double or triple glazing, and energy efficient doors, though these are only recommended in rare cases²⁰

Gas and oil boilers are not eligible improvements under the scheme²⁰. For low-carbon heating, a household off the gas grid heated by oil or LPG can instead use the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, where the grant is £5,000 for a heat pump, or £9,000 for owners with properties heated by oil and liquid petroleum gas²¹.

The cost caps, as increased by the 2 July 2026 guidance update, work like this:

These caps are stated in the scheme rules and in the Commons Library briefing on the scheme²⁰. Up to £30,000 of measures is available per property²². For a household, the practical meaning is that a full retrofit, insulation plus a heat pump, can be funded entirely by the grant in an owner-occupied home, provided the work fits within the caps and the Retrofit Assessment supports it.

Costs for homeowners, renters and landlords

For owner-occupiers, the position is simple: the upgrade should be fully funded, and the household must not be required to contribute to the costs of upgrades¹⁰. No match funding is required for owner-occupied homes²³.

For tenants, the scheme rules are equally direct. Tenants should not pay for upgrade costs⁷. Landlords must confirm they understand that rent should not be increased as a result of upgrades funded by government through the scheme¹⁰.

For private landlords, the rules are tiered. The Warm Homes: Local Grant will fully fund upgrades for one property per landlord¹⁰. A landlord can receive full funding for one property, but for any additional properties must contribute a minimum of 50 per cent of the upgrade costs, with no limit on the number of properties that can be upgraded²⁴. There is no eligibility restriction against landlords based on the number of properties that they own¹⁰. Social housing landlords are treated differently again: they must contribute at least 50 per cent of the total cost of upgrades, and that obligation sits with the separate Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund¹⁰.

A household previously treated under HUG or LAD is not shut out of the successor scheme, but the conditions are specific. Re-treatment is eligible only if, as a result of the re-treatment, the property either reaches EPC C or low carbon heating is installed¹⁰. The same individual measure cannot be funded twice in all cases, unless it is a top-up²⁴.

Applying for the grant: the process explained

The application route is a national online form on GOV.UK to check eligibility. The form may ask about benefits received, household income in one year, tax and deduction costs in one year, council tax costs in one year, and mortgage or rent costs in one year⁷. In some areas, residents of homes within the selected areas will be contacted directly by officers working for the participating organisations²⁰.

What happens after you apply depends on demand where you live. In Years Two and Three of the scheme, applications are managed on a first come, first served basis within each local authority, rather than across a whole region⁷. Once a local authority's queue is full, any further applications from that area are placed on a waiting list, and if space becomes available, applications are invited from the waiting list in the order they were received⁷. Each local authority can accept applications up to 250 per cent of the funding allocated to it, to allow for applications that do not go ahead or are found to be ineligible⁷. Being in the queue does not guarantee funding; applications must still meet the scheme eligibility⁷.

In London, for example, the scheme is being delivered on behalf of 31 local authorities working together as a consortium, with total funding shared between local authorities based on the number of homes in fuel poverty in each area⁷. In Greater Manchester, each authority has its own contact route, and residents apply through their own council²⁰.

If your home does not meet this scheme's conditions, the other main routes are ECO4, the supplier-funded obligation, and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme for low-carbon heating. Our full guide to home energy grants sets out all the current options.

Spotting fraudsters and verifying a real officer

The Warm Homes: Local Grant is free to eligible applicants, and no application fee or other costs are charged at any stage⁷. That rule is the clearest test against the scam approaches that follow schemes like this: individuals operating in London have been asking residents for a fee of £300 to £1,500, claiming to ensure application success or organise solar panel installation, and neither the GLA nor its delivery partner will ever ask for such a fee⁷.

Reported scam approaches have seen individuals approaching residents and asking for a fee of £300 to £1,500, claiming to ensure application success or to organise solar panel installation. Neither the scheme's administrators nor their delivery partners will ever ask for such a fee⁷.

If someone contacts you about the grant, check who they say they are against your local authority's own published contact details before going further. Our page on energy grant scams and fake government schemes covers the patterns to watch for. The scheme's own consumer protection arrangements are also being reformed: a government consultation in June 2026 set out that compliance with a reformed consumer protection system will be mandatory for the Warm Homes: Local Grant, the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, additional funding for low-income households, the Warm Homes Loan Scheme and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme²⁵.

Implications of the closure for homes off the gas grid

For a household off the gas grid, the end of the Home Upgrade Grant removed a scheme built specifically for your situation, and its replacement is broader but less targeted. HUG's off-gas-grid test meant the money followed the homes with the fewest alternatives: no mains gas, often oil or direct electric heating, and an EPC in the bottom bands. The Warm Homes: Local Grant covers those same homes, but it also covers homes on the gas grid, so off-grid households now compete for the same £500 million pot as everyone else⁵.

The numbers show the scale of what was done and what remains. HUG upgraded 15,900 homes in total across both phases², against an original estimate of around 100,000 homes that might benefit⁹. The successor scheme's statistics, published monthly, are provisional and subject to future revisions, with data provided one month in arrears²⁶. The statistical releases cover measures installed and homes upgraded²⁶.

For energy independence, the direction of both schemes is the same and worth stating plainly. Insulation cuts the amount of energy a home needs, which is the one upgrade that reduces dependence on every supplier at once. Solar PV and battery storage, both eligible under the successor scheme²⁰, shift a household towards generating and storing its own power. Low-carbon heating, funded through this scheme or the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, cuts the tie to delivered fossil fuels, oil, coal and LPG, whose prices a household cannot control. What no grant removes is the dependence that remains: on the electricity grid for the power a heat pump draws, on accredited installers and assessors for the work, and on a local authority's queue for the funding itself. A grant-funded retrofit makes a home cheaper to run and less exposed, not self-sufficient.

Householders still searching for HUG should also know that several schemes of that era have closed in similar circumstances, and our page on closed home energy grants householders still search for collects them, so you can check quickly whether a scheme you have heard of still exists before acting on any offer made in its name.