The British Gas Energy Trust published its response to the consultation on expanding the Warm Home Discount for 2025/26 on 31 March 2025. The Trust said it endorses the expansion of the scheme and the removal of the high-cost-to-heat threshold, under which eligibility would rest on income rather than the cost of heating a home.
The Trust estimates the change would raise coverage of fuel-poor households from around 30% to around 45%, but states that this will still mean that 55% of households in fuel poverty will not receive the rebate. It also says the share of recipients who are themselves fuel poor is expected to fall from around 40% to 30%, meaning the vast majority of spend, 70%, will go to households not in fuel poverty. The cost of the scheme to an average dual fuel billpayer is put at £37, an increase of £15 on the current scheme.
The Trust raises particular concerns about households that fall outside means-tested benefits. It says that of those who claim a means-tested benefit, around 30% will not go on to receive the Warm Home Discount due to other factors, and that pensioners, disabled people and low-income workers in expensive-to-heat homes may lose support. It adds that rural and off-gas-grid households, which typically face higher energy costs, may be disadvantaged if they do not receive means-tested benefits. The expansion of the Park Homes scheme is welcomed as assisting those without direct energy supplier contracts.
On Scotland, the Trust agrees with increasing spending proportionately to England and Wales by raising suppliers' non-core spending obligations, and with maintaining the broader group in Scotland for now.
"While overall the policy change is expected to support a larger number of fuel-poor households and would increase the overall coverage of fuel poor households from around 30% of total households in fuel poverty to around 45%, this will still mean that 55% of households in fuel poverty will not receive the rebate."
The response draws on an Oxford Economics Social Return on Investment analysis published in May 2024 and on the Trust's November 2024 report, Towards an end to fuel poverty in Britain. It also points to the Scottish Government's Social Tariff Working Group proposal as an approach that should be considered.
Why it matters for households
The Warm Home Discount is a £150 rebate applied to electricity bills, and the consultation concerns who qualifies for it. Under the proposed change, eligibility would follow receipt of means-tested benefits rather than the cost of heating a property, which the Trust says widens the number of low-income households receiving the rebate but reduces how precisely it lands on those in fuel poverty. For a household, the practical effect turns on which route to eligibility applies: who qualifies would shift towards benefit receipt, and homes that are expensive to heat but not on benefits could lose the rebate. The Trust's figures indicate that most spending would reach households not in fuel poverty, and that the scheme's cost sits on every dual fuel bill. The response also notes that the expansion has not been structured to increase the support offered to households already in fuel poverty, and that gaps exist for those just above benefit eligibility. The Trust states that additional measures, such as discretionary funds, should be considered. The wider landscape of grants and schemes is separate from the discount and is not changed by this consultation.
What happens next
The response was published on 31 March 2025. No decision date, final eligibility rules or confirmed rebate level for 2025/26 has been reported.
Sources1 cited
- The Trust's response to expanding the Warm Home Discount Scheme, 2025-2026 consultation - British Gas Energy Trust, britishgasenergytrust.org.uk