The Warm Homes: Local Grant delivery window opened on 1 April 2025, according to Department for Energy Security and Net Zero policy guidance for local authorities1. The scheme provides energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating to low income households in England, delivered by local authorities rather than directly by government2. The delivery window closes on 31 March 20281.
Funding allocations to local authorities were announced on 11 March 2025, with councils informed under embargo in February, and the expression of interest window closed on 1 December 20241. The guidance records 74 projects involving 271 local authorities, described as over 97 per cent of eligible local authorities in England1. The Energy Saving Trust gives 73 projects across 270 local authorities and a total allocation of £500 million over three years3. The £500 million figure is also given by the Retrofit Academy, which states the scheme runs from April 2025 to March 20284.
Eligibility is set out across three pathways: households in Indices of Multiple Deprivation income deciles 1 to 2, households receiving specified means-tested benefits or eligible via route 2 of ECO Flex, or households with an annual gross income below £36,000 or the after housing costs threshold1. Properties must have an EPC rating in bands D to G; bands A to C are ineligible in all circumstances1. Owner occupiers and private rented sector households are eligible, while social housing is ineligible except for in-fill purposes capped at 10 per cent of a project's homes treated1.
Cost caps are given as £16,600 per home for energy performance upgrades and £16,600 per home for low carbon heating, averaged across a project and met by project closure1. The Energy Saving Trust states £15,000 for each of the two categories3. Owner occupiers are not required or expected to make any contribution; private landlords receive one home fully funded per landlord, with a 50 per cent contribution required for additional homes1.
"The Warm Homes: Local Grant provides energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating to low income households in England."
Why it matters for households
The grant is one of several Help to Heat routes, alongside the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, the Energy Company Obligation and the Great British Insulation Scheme2. It is not delivered directly by government but through installers, local authorities, energy companies and other bodies2. For a household, access therefore depends on whether the local authority in that area applied for and received an allocation. The Centre for Sustainable Energy reports that some local authorities did not apply because ECO was already operating in their area, and that allocations in some areas are as low as £1.5 million over three years5. It also reports that schemes it delivers in Somerset are at capacity, with new applicants added to a waiting list and improvements not expected until April 2027 at the earliest5.
The measures available cover energy performance upgrades and low carbon heating, with the aspiration of reaching EPC band C where possible1. For a home, that means the grant addresses the fabric of the property and its heating source rather than bills directly, and the resulting savings depend on the measures installed and the starting EPC rating. The guidance notes that low carbon heating is available to homes of all fuel types but that clear advice must be provided on bill impacts1.
What happens next
The delivery window runs to 31 March 20281. The guidance records that an update to the Indices of Multiple Deprivation was published on 30 October 2025, producing a new set of eligible IMD:ID 1-2 postcodes, and that cost caps have been amended upwards to account for inflation, applied retrospectively across the lifetime of the scheme1. It also states that installers must be MCS certified in all cases for relevant measures, replacing an earlier provision for schemes deemed equivalent1. The Centre for Sustainable Energy reports that ECO has been cancelled, officially ending in December 20265.
Sources5 cited
- Warm Homes: Local Grant policy guidance for local authorities, assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
- Find energy grants for your home (Help to Heat) - GOV.UK, gov.uk
- Warm Homes: Local Grant for local authorities - Energy Saving Trust, energysavingtrust.org.uk
- Maximising the Warm Homes Grant: A Strategic Guide for Local Authorities and Social Housing Providers - Retrofit Academy, retrofitacademy.org
- Warm Homes Plan: the gap between promise and reality - Centre for Sustainable Energy, cse.org.uk