The Green Homes Grant closed in March 2022, ending the voucher scheme that had covered up to two-thirds of the cost of works to improve the energy efficiency of homes1. The scheme had been launched to support the upfront cost of improving the existing housing stock, and was extended by a year before it finished2. Applications for vouchers ran until the end of March 20223.
The scheme offered a maximum grant value of either £5,000 or £10,0003. It covered "primary" measures such as home insulation, heat pumps and biomass boilers, and "secondary" measures including double-glazed windows, energy-efficient doors and heating controls such as smart thermostats and smart TRVs3. Spray foam insulation was one of the measures covered1. One account put the grant at up to £5,000, or up to £10,000 for fuel poor households, for improving energy efficiency or decarbonising the heating system within homes4. Eligibility was limited to homeowners in England, including owner-occupiers, social and private landlords and park homeowners, with new-build property owners excluded3. All works completed under government energy efficiency schemes have to be undertaken by a TrustMark-registered installer1.
The closure came alongside other changes to home heating support. The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive, which pays owners of renewable heating systems such as heat pumps incremental sums over seven years, remained open for new applications until March 2022, at which point it was to be replaced by a Clean Heat Grant offering an upfront grant of up to £4,0004. The Green Homes Grant had received over 100,000 applications in its first few months, with around 17% for low carbon heating measures4.
Spray foam insulation, one of the measures the scheme covered, later became the subject of lending difficulties. In November 2024, the BBC reported that a quarter of the UK's biggest mortgage providers and all of the equity release lenders it surveyed would not lend against homes with spray foam insulation in the roof1. In a letter to the government in May 2025, the Property Care Association and the Home Owners Alliance said that 35% of properties had one or more defect as a result of spray foam insulation, based on inspections at over 500 properties1. The government confirmed in March 2025 that there is no government financial assistance for homeowners to have spray foam insulation removed1, and said in June 2025 that it is engaging with lenders to seek a resolution1.
"where spray foam insulation has been installed in line with the relevant standards, it should not require removal or prevent homeowners obtaining a mortgage"
Why it matters for households
The grant met part of the upfront cost of measures that reduce a home's demand for bought energy, from insulation to heating controls. Its closure means that route to part-funding is no longer open, and households looking at closed home energy grants have to work out what, if anything, has replaced it. For homes that had spray foam installed under the scheme, the practical consequences have outlasted it: lenders' reluctance can affect remortgaging or selling, removal is costly, and no government money is available for it1. The estimated cost of removing spray foam from the roof of a three-bedroom detached house is around £3,200, or £40 per square metre, according to the website Checkatrade1.
What happens next
The sources give no dated next steps for the closed scheme itself. On spray foam, the government said in June 2025 that it is engaging with lenders to seek a resolution1, and has acknowledged that the wider consumer protection system for government energy efficiency schemes needs reform, committing to improve it through the Warm Homes Plan1. No timetable for that reform is given in the sources.
Sources4 cited
- Spray foam insulation and mortgages - House of Commons Library, commonslibrary.parliament.uk
- New Gas Boiler Installations to be Phased out by Mid 2030s?, altoenergy.co.uk
- Green homes grant: can you get smart heating controls? | Wiser, wiser.draytoncontrols.co.uk
- Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit | Decarbonising heat: the basics, eciu.net