HEEPS Area Based Schemes in Scotland

Area Based Schemes are the Scottish Government's longest-running programme of street-by-street home energy improvements. Each year the Scottish Government gives councils a shared budget, held at £64 million in 2025/26, to design and deliver insulation, heating and microgeneration work in the parts of their patch where fuel poverty is highest¹. The grants that reach households are not means tested: what matters is where the home sits, not what the household earns².

The programme has benefitted more than 100,000 households living in or at risk of fuel poverty across Scotland³, and the Scottish Government has committed to continuing its investment and extending the schemes' reach³. For a household in a chosen area, the practical effect can be substantial: local schemes meet most or all of the cost of improvements for owner occupiers and eight out of ten private landlords⁴.

Area Based Schemes explained and the bodies responsible

Area Based Schemes, usually shortened to ABS, are the Scottish Government's mechanism for delivering energy efficiency programmes in areas with high levels of fuel poverty. The core of the work has historically been solid wall insulation, but the programme has widened considerably and now funds whole-house retrofits that can include clean heating and microgeneration such as solar photovoltaic panels¹.

The delivery model is deliberately local. The schemes are designed and delivered by councils with local delivery partners, funded by the Scottish Government⁵. Official policy describes them as "delivered by local authorities targeting fuel poor areas and communities"⁹. The Scottish Government sets the framework and the budget; each council decides which neighbourhoods to target, which measures to install and how to run the scheme on the ground. Glasgow's scheme, for example, is supported by Scottish Government funding in partnership with advice providers and energy companies, and is supported by the council itself¹⁰.

This council-led design is what gives the programme its name. Rather than waiting for individual households to apply for help, a council draws a line around an area, secures funding for that year, and then offers improvements to the eligible homes within it. Households in the most fuel-poor areas identified through the Scottish Government's application process receive a formal letter of offer once funding is secured each year⁶.

The journey from HEEPS to the current Area-Based Scheme

The scheme's changing names trip up many households searching for help, so it is worth setting out the history. The Home Energy Efficiency Programme for Scotland: Area Based Schemes was introduced in April 2013⁷. It ran under the HEEPS banner for years, which is why households and installers still call it HEEPS:ABS.

Glasgow's committee papers record the programme as a successor to the Universal Home Insulation Scheme, the earlier street-by-street insulation drive⁷. Later, the scheme was folded into the Energy Efficient Scotland banner: Glasgow describes its 2020 programme as "Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Schemes 2020", a successor to the Home Energy Efficiency Programme (HEEPs) Programme¹⁰. West Lothian Council now brands its scheme "Heat and Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme"⁶.

The names have changed; the mechanism has not. Each version has kept the same essentials: Scottish Government funding, council delivery, and targeting of areas with high levels of fuel poverty. Under the Energy Efficient Scotland banner, the stated objectives were to upgrade Scotland's housing stock, tackle fuel poverty, reduce carbon emissions, lever in Energy Company Obligation funding, support the local economy, and give owners and landlords access to grant funding that meets the Scottish Government's future minimum energy efficiency standards¹⁰. When you see HEEPS:ABS, Energy Efficient Scotland: ABS or simply Area Based Schemes used interchangeably, they refer to the same continuing programme.

Eligibility: homes in fuel poverty or close to it

The programme exists for private homeowners and landlords in Scotland, to help with the cost of certain energy efficiency measures⁶. Official reporting states that local schemes meet most or all of the cost of improvements for owner occupiers and eight out of ten private landlords⁴. Tenants in privately rented homes are covered through their landlord's participation.

The targeting principle is fuel poverty. The schemes are designed to reach households living in or at risk of fuel poverty, and the Scottish Government has said it will seek to ensure that eligibility criteria for Area Based Schemes are aligned with the updated fuel poverty definition, so that support reaches those who need it most¹¹. If you want the background on how fuel poverty is defined and measured in Scotland, see fuel poverty in Scotland.

Councils add their own conditions on top. Argyll and Bute's scheme, for example, requires that to qualify you must be a homeowner or a privately rented landlord or tenant and be in Council Tax Band A, B or C². Properties must be occupied and lived in on a full-time basis and be your main place of residence, and second home and holiday let properties are not eligible². These local variations mean the exact conditions depend on your council, which is one reason to check with them directly before assuming anything.

Targeting by area rather than testing income

The defining feature of the scheme is how eligibility works: it is based on where you live, not what you earn. Councils offer non means tested grants for insulation measures². There is no income assessment and no benefits test of the kind used by some other home energy schemes.

Instead, councils select the areas first. Areas in need of energy efficiency upgrades are identified through data analysis and engagement with local communities, drawing on EPC ratings, fuel poverty statistics, community feedback and the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation⁶. The council then prioritises areas where improvements can have the greatest impact on reducing fuel poverty and carbon emissions⁶. Only homes inside a chosen project area are offered measures that year.

This approach has clear strengths and clear limits. On the strength side, it removes the paperwork barrier that stops many low-income households applying for help, and it lets councils treat whole streets of hard-to-treat homes at once, which brings unit costs down. On the limit side, a household in genuine hardship just outside the boundary gets nothing from that year's scheme. Official review work on retrofit in Scotland also notes that archetype-based solutions, which group homes by type for area-wide planning, produce recommendations that are generic and do not account for the unique features of individual homes and how occupants use them¹². Area-based targeting gets many homes treated; it does not guarantee that every home in the area gets the right measure for it.

Funding priorities: insulation before broader whole-house improvements

The programme's primary focus is insulation measures for hard-to-treat properties, but it includes investment in clean heating and microgeneration measures as part of a whole-house approach¹³. The Scottish Government has stated that this has allowed the scope of ABS projects to increase, to provide more whole-house retrofits that include zero or low carbon heating and microgeneration, such as solar photovoltaics, where technically feasible and where it will help reduce fuel poverty⁹.

In practice, the measures break down into three tiers:

• Insulation, the core of the programme. West Lothian's scheme is primarily an insulation programme, delivering solid wall and hard-to-treat cavity wall insulation, with a focus on homes that are hard to treat due to non-standard construction⁶.
• Clean heating. Zero and low carbon heating systems can be included in whole-house retrofits where feasible⁹.
• Microgeneration. Solar photovoltaic panels and similar measures can be bundled into a retrofit package⁹.

The evidence from delivered schemes points to real gains for the homes treated. In West Lothian, temperature and humidity monitoring revealed that properties maintained more stable and comfortable indoor environments after insulation upgrades, and households participating in the scheme experienced an average fuel bill reduction of 15%⁶. Successful improvements have been made in areas including Quentin Rise and Palmer Rise in Livingston; Deans, Dedridge, Knightsridge, Howden, Ladywell and Eliburn in Livingston; Mid Calder; Pumpherston; Longridge; and Armadale⁶.

Installation work is done to defined standards. Scheme documentation requires that insulation to tanks, cylinders or pipework is carried out in accordance with the provisions of PAS 2030/2035, and sets standards for smoke alarms (BS EN14604:2005) and heat alarms (BS 5446-2:2003) where relevant work is done¹⁴. Work on gas supplies is controlled in Scotland by SGN¹⁴. Many installers operate under competent person schemes, which are a way for tradespeople to prove their ability to carry out certain work to required standards, instead of the householder applying for building regulations approval¹⁵.

Loan support for a household's share of costs

Although the grants meet most or all of the cost for most owner occupiers, some households are asked to contribute towards the cost of the measures. Where that happens, an interest-free loan route exists. When contacting Home Energy Scotland about a contribution, applicants should inform the advisor that they are applying for the HEEPS:ABS loan, to ensure they receive the correct guidance⁶.

The wider Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme is open to all domestic owner-occupiers in Scotland⁴, and households weighing up a contribution towards ABS work may also want to read about the Home Energy Scotland grant and loan. Note that the separate loan and cashback scheme that many households remember has closed; see the closed Home Energy Scotland Loan and Cashback scheme for what replaced it.

The contribution position differs by household type. Official reporting says local schemes meet most or all of the cost for owner occupiers and eight out of ten private landlords⁴, which means landlords are somewhat more likely to be asked for a contribution than owner occupiers. The exact contribution, if any, is set out in the formal letter of offer a household receives once funding for the year is secured⁶.

The role of local authorities in scheme delivery

Each scheme follows an annual cycle. The council identifies candidate areas in line with guidance issued by the Scottish Government¹⁰, assembles an application, and secures funding for the year. Once funding is secured, eligible homeowners in the most fuel-poor areas receive a formal letter of offer⁶. Delivery then runs through the council's appointed contractors and local delivery partners.

Councils decide how to run their schemes¹⁶. That local discretion is deliberate: it lets a rural authority such as Argyll and Bute design a scheme around scattered, hard-to-treat stone homes, and a city authority such as Glasgow design one around tenements and terraced streets. It also means the householder's first port of call is always their own council, not a national body, because the rules, areas and measures differ from one authority to the next.

The Scottish Government's role sits above this: it publishes the scheme rules each year, sets the budget, and requires that project areas are identified in line with its guidance¹⁰. Funding for 2025/26 remains at the same level as in 2024/25¹. The government has also said it will continue its investment in Area Based Schemes, extending their reach³.

Working alongside ECO and other funding streams

Area Based Schemes do not work alone. One of the stated objectives of the area-based approach is to lever in Energy Company Obligation funding, drawing on money obligated energy companies must spend on efficiency measures¹⁰. This blending of Scottish Government grant with ECO funding is what allows local schemes to meet most or all of the cost for so many households.

The rules on blending are strict, and they matter for households offered a package of measures. Ofgem's delivery guidance for ECO4 states plainly: "Funding for measures delivered under ECO4 cannot be blended with other government schemes or grants."¹⁷ The same guidance extends to specific pairings: funding from ECO4 and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund cannot be blended for the same measure or be included within an ECO4 project; funding from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and ECO cannot be blended for the same measure or be included within an ECO4 project; and Home Upgrade Grant funding cannot be blended within the ECO4 package of measures¹⁷. Earlier guidance states the same rules¹⁸.

What this means in practice is that a given measure in your home is funded through one route, not several stacked together. A wall insulated under an Area Based Scheme with ECO money cannot also draw Boiler Upgrade Scheme or Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund cash for that same measure. Households should not read the blending restrictions as a barrier: the ABS and ECO combination is itself the intended blend, and it is what makes full-cost coverage possible.

How big the schemes are and what they have achieved

The programme's scale is substantial for a devolved scheme. The Scottish Government has maintained its annual investment in local ABS projects at £64 million in 2025/26¹, the same level as in 2024/25¹. Cumulatively, ABS projects have benefitted over 100,000 households living in or at risk of fuel poverty across Scotland³.

The earlier years of the programme give a sense of the pace. The Scottish Government reported that its 2016/17 and 2017/18 programmes should help almost another 50,000 households improve their homes¹⁹, on top of the work already delivered since the scheme's introduction in April 2013⁷.

Reported outcomes from delivered schemes back up the investment. West Lothian reports an average fuel bill reduction of 15% among participating households, alongside more stable and comfortable indoor environments after insulation upgrades⁶. The programme's reach extends across mainland and island communities, since each council, including island authorities, designs its own scheme within the national framework. For the wider picture of how Scottish homes are heated and how much work remains, see home heating in Scotland and Scotland's housing stock and EPC ratings.

Area Based Schemes set against Warmer Homes Scotland

Scotland has two main national programmes of energy efficiency help for private homes, and households often confuse them. Area Based Schemes are local and area-based: eligibility depends on your home falling within a council's chosen project area, and the grants are not means tested². Warmer Homes Scotland is the national fuel poverty programme, designed to help those living in or at risk of fuel poverty through the installation of measures such as insulation and clean heating systems¹³.

Warmer Homes Scotland is available to households, owner-occupiers and some private rented sector tenants, who are living in or at risk of fuel poverty and who meet the qualifying eligibility criteria⁵. It is targeted at those living in owner occupied properties who are in or at risk of fuel poverty, with a limited offer for the private rented sector where measures are not covered by landlords' obligations²⁰. The scheme operates throughout Scotland, including the islands, and improvements are recommended as bespoke packages²⁰.

The practical difference for a householder is simple. If your street is in a council ABS area, that route is likely to reach you first and without an income test. If it is not, Warmer Homes Scotland may still be open to you if you meet its criteria, wherever in Scotland you live. The two schemes are complements, not rivals: one catches households by geography, the other by circumstance.

How to get in touch

The first step is to find out whether your home falls within your council's current scheme area. Contact your council's housing or energy efficiency team and ask which neighbourhoods are included in this year's Area Based Scheme. Councils decide how to run their schemes¹⁶, so the answer is always local.

The second route is Home Energy Scotland, the Scottish Government-funded advice service. Home Energy Scotland provides free, independent and impartial energy advice to householders, community groups and businesses throughout Scotland¹⁰, and official reporting describes it as a free independent advice and referral scheme⁸. It acts as the referral partner for ABS eligibility enquiries, providing free and impartial advice to help you stay warm². There is no charge for this advice.

If you are enquiring about a contribution and the HEEPS:ABS loan, tell the advisor that is what you are applying for, so the guidance you receive is correct⁶. If your area is not covered this year, the same advisers can point you to other routes, including Warmer Homes Scotland and the Home Energy Scotland grant and loan. For the broader map of what differs between the nations, see home energy across the UK nations.

The impact on self-reliance at home

Area Based Schemes are one of the most direct routes to energy independence available to Scottish households, because they attack the biggest source of dependence a cold home has: a leaky building. Solid wall and cavity insulation, clean heating and solar panels funded through the scheme reduce the amount of energy a home needs in the first place, which cuts both bills and exposure to price rises. The reported 15% average fuel bill reduction in one council's scheme⁶ is a measure of dependence removed, year after year.

The independence gained is real but partial. A home with funded insulation and solar panels still depends on the grid for electricity, on a supplier for any imported energy, and on the manufacturers of the installed equipment. A household that receives a heat pump depends on electricity prices rather than gas or oil prices, a different exposure rather than none. And the scheme itself is a dependence of a kind: it runs on annual Scottish Government budgets and council decisions about where to draw the boundaries, so a household's access depends on where a line falls on a map.

For households inside a scheme area, the balance is strongly favourable: most or all of the cost of substantial work is met⁴, with no means test². For those outside, the programme is a reminder that area-based help is rationed by geography, and that the households who most need it are not always inside the boundary. Checking your council's current areas, and asking Home Energy Scotland what else is available, is the way to find out which side of that line your home sits on this year.