The Welsh Government introduced a new crisis route within the Warm Homes Nest scheme to provide urgent support for households without heating or hot water who meet Nest eligibility criteria, according to the scheme's annual report for 2024 to 2025, published on 26 March 20261. The route allows one-off repairs to address the immediate crisis1.
The report covers the first year of the new Warm Homes Nest scheme, launched after the 2023 Warm Homes Policy Statement1. Between 1 April and 30 September 2024 the period was primarily one of mobilisation, alongside completion of 473 installations begun under the previous iteration of the scheme1. In the period 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025 the scheme delivered home energy efficiency improvements, including central heating systems, boilers, insulation, solar panels and air source heat pumps, to 348 households1. The report states these improvements produced an estimated £595 average annual reduction in household energy bills and lifetime carbon savings exceeding 107,000 tonnes1. The main points section gives separate figures: retrofit upgrades cut bills by about £570 a year and crisis referrals by about £578 a year, with projected lifetime carbon savings of over 92,000 tonnes and 21,000 tonnes respectively1.
The crisis route supported 222 of the 348 households receiving improvements1. Heating systems, meaning boiler replacements or LPG water heaters, accounted for around 31% of all measures, solar and other renewable measures 26%, and air source heat pumps with an associated hot water cylinder 2%1. Before improvement, 62% of the 348 homes had an energy efficiency rating of F or G; of the 232 homes with a rating recorded after installation, over 66% reached C or higher, and no homes remained at G1. The Welsh Government invested £6.7m in delivering the scheme between October 2024 and March 20251. Average spend per package was highest in the Vale of Glamorgan at £19.7k, followed by Ceredigion at £17.5k, and lowest in Gwynedd at £6.1k1.
On eligibility, the report sets out two routes. A household member had to be in receipt of a means-tested benefit, with the property privately owned or rented and an indicative energy rating of E, F or G; or a household member had to be living with a health condition in a D, E, F, G rated privately owned or rented property and in receipt of an income below defined thresholds1. Under the health route, a home must have an EPC rating of D or lower (SAP score 68 or lower) and someone in the household must have a qualifying health condition1. Between April 2024 and March 2025, 2,341 households were assessed under the health route, 1,030 met both the health and home criteria and were referred for an income assessment, and 656 passed that assessment and qualified for support1.
The scheme's advice service supported 8,434 households with tailored energy-saving advice between April 2024 and March 2025, and the report describes it as free and impartial and available to all households in Wales1. Rhondda Cynon Taf had the highest number helped, at 807, followed by Swansea at 6501. Of 1,028 third-party referrals, 503 were to the National Grid Priority Services Register and 451 for a benefit entitlement check1.
"Since mobilisation, I also introduced a new crisis route to provide urgent support for households without heating or hot water who meet Nest eligibility criteria."
Why it matters for households
For a household with a broken boiler or no hot water, the crisis route is a route to a one-off repair rather than a planned upgrade, and it sits inside the same eligibility rules as the wider scheme1. That means the benefit, health and property criteria above still apply, and the report does not say how quickly a crisis referral is dealt with or how a household applies, beyond the scheme's existing advice line and assessment process1. The report also does not state whether the crisis route is open to households that would not otherwise qualify for a full package.
The wider figures show what the scheme has delivered in practice. Heating systems were the single largest measure type at around 31% of installations, while heat pumps were 2%, so most homes receiving support got a replacement boiler or water heater rather than a low-carbon heating system1. For a home's energy independence, the report's own measure of success is the bill reduction and the jump in energy performance rating: over 66% of homes with a post-installation rating reached C or higher, against 62% starting at F or G1. The report notes that 8% of supported homes were off the gas grid, relying on electric, oil or solid fuel heating, which it describes as typically more expensive to run1.
The report also states that around 25% of households are estimated to be living in fuel poverty, and that households assessed as spending over 10% of their income on energy bills were classified as living in fuel poverty1.
What happens next
The report gives no dated timetable for the crisis route or for future delivery volumes. It states that the Welsh Government remains focused on scaling up delivery, driving quality and ensuring no one is left behind1. The report records that the delivery agent has a target of 98% of installations achieving a first-time pass on inspection, surpassed at 98.4%, and a target of no more than 3% of upheld complaints, against 1.4% recorded1.