The Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant, announced £98.75 million for the next round of the Optimised Retrofit Programme (ORP) on 23 January 2026, bringing total investment in the programme since 2020 to more than £466 million1. The funding is for energy efficiency improvements to social homes across Wales this year1.
The programme funds insulation, efficient heating systems and renewable energy installations in social housing1. To date it has funded more than 31,000 energy efficiency upgrades to social homes across Wales, including insulation, solar panels and heat pumps1.
The announcement was made during a visit to Tŷ Gwyrddfai Decarbonisation Hub in North Wales, where the Cabinet Secretary met apprentices training for careers in housing decarbonisation1. She also toured nearby Trem yr Wyddfa, where 51 properties are receiving external wall insulation, new windows and doors, and environmental monitoring systems1. That project has received £579,000 in ORP funding, with the housing association Adra contributing a further £1.5 million1.
Bryant said:
"This latest investment will enable social landlords to continue making vital improvements to homes across Wales, cutting household bills whilst reducing greenhouse gas emissions."
Iwan Trefor Jones, Chief Executive of Adra, said tenants want homes that are comfortable, secure and affordable to heat, and that investment of this kind reduces fuel poverty and cuts energy bills1.
Why it matters for households
The money is directed at social housing, so it reaches tenants through their landlord rather than through an application a householder makes. The measures named in the announcement, insulation, efficient heating and renewable installations such as solar panels and heat pumps, are the same categories that determine how much energy a home needs to buy in and how exposed it is to price movements. A home with external wall insulation and modern glazing loses less heat, which reduces the running cost of whatever heating system it has.
The programme's stated aims include cutting household bills and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and Adra's chief executive links the work to reducing fuel poverty1. For a household, the practical effect of a retrofit is a change to the fabric and services of the property, not to the tariff or the supplier, so the gain shows up as lower consumption rather than as a different energy arrangement. The wider grants-schemes landscape in the UK is split by nation and by tenure, and this round sits within the devolved arrangements covered in the nations pages.
What happens next
The announcement covers funding for this year1. No closing date, application route or allocation timetable for the next round has been reported, and no breakdown of the £98.75 million by landlord, region or measure has been published1. The Welsh Government has not said how many homes the next round is expected to reach; the 31,000 figure covers upgrades funded since the programme began1.