The government allocated £1.8 billion to the Warm Homes Plan on 11 March 2025, funding energy efficiency upgrades for up to 170,000 low income households and social housing tenants in England1. The money is being allocated to local authorities and social housing providers, which will use it to help install measures including insulation, solar panels and heat pumps1.
The funding is intended to make homes more energy efficient and bring energy bills down1. The allocation covers both low income households and social housing tenants, with local authorities and social housing providers as the delivery route rather than direct applications from householders1.
Miatta Fahnbulleh, Minister for Energy Consumers, said:
"Living in a warm, comfortable home should not be a luxury. It is a right that has been out of reach for too many people for too long."
"By giving this funding to local authorities and social housing providers we are delivering on our promise to improve the homes of thousands of people across England."
The measures named in the announcement are insulation, solar panels and heat pumps1. No breakdown of how the £1.8 billion is divided between measures, between owner-occupied and social housing, or between regions has been reported1. The eligibility criteria for individual households, including any income limits, have also not been reported1.
Why it matters for households
The funding reaches homes through councils and social housing providers, not through household applications, so a home's route into the scheme depends on its landlord or local authority rather than on the occupant approaching government directly1. For social housing tenants, the upgrade work sits with the provider; for low income households in other tenures, the local authority is the body holding the money1.
The measures named, insulation, solar panels and heat pumps, are the fabric and generation upgrades that reduce how much energy a home needs to buy and how much of it comes from the grid1. Insulation lowers heat loss; solar panels generate electricity at the property; heat pumps replace gas or other heating with electricity1. Together these change a home's running costs and its exposure to energy price movements, which is the practical meaning of energy independence at household level1.
The announcement does not say what any individual household will receive, when work will start, or how homes will be selected1. Those details have not been reported1.
What happens next
The money was allocated on 11 March 2025 to local authorities and social housing providers1. No timetable for installation, no application window and no list of participating authorities has been reported1. Households seeking home energy grants in England, including help for low income households, will need details that this announcement does not contain1.