West Northamptonshire Council announced on 14 October 2026 that its Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme is closed for 2026/27, because the annual allocation for the year has been reached1. The council said the closure followed significant demand, and that no further grants can be offered this financial year1.
The Warm Homes: Local Grant is a three-year government programme that gives each local authority an annual allocation for eligible residents to make their homes more energy efficient1. West Northamptonshire Council has now allocated all of its Year 2 funding1. A budget is in place for Year 3, which is the final year of the programme and is due to commence on 1 April 20271.
"Due to significant demand, the West Northamptonshire Warm Homes Local Grant Scheme is now closed for 2026/27 as the annual allocation has been reached."
Applications received during the 2026/27 window will continue to be processed, and eligible applications will be added to a waiting list in order of receipt, with residents contacted after 1 April 2027 once the new funding is in place1. Eligibility is a household income of £36,000 a year or less, or someone in the household receiving certain benefits1. Applications can be made directly by owner occupiers or by landlords for eligible tenants1. Improvement works that successful applicants could receive include wall, loft and underfloor insulation, air source heat pumps, smart controls and solar panels1.
The same pattern has appeared elsewhere. Act on Energy, which delivers the scheme with Warwick District Council, Broad Oak and Energy Efficiency Consultants, states that the Warwick Warm Homes: Local Grant is currently closed due to high demand, with an expression of interest form adding applicants to a waiting list2. Its published eligibility criteria are a gross household income of £36,000 or less per year, or an eligible postcode area, or means tested benefits, plus an EPC rating of D, E, F or G, for homes in Warwick District2. Measures listed there include solar photovoltaic panels and battery storage, air source heat pumps, loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, smart heating controls and external wall insulation2. Act on Energy states that if funding runs out for the year, an application will be put forward to the next year2. It also notes that all applications are subject to a technical survey and that acceptance does not guarantee work will go ahead2.
Why it matters for households
For a household in West Northamptonshire, the practical effect is delay rather than refusal. Work funded by the scheme cannot proceed until the Year 3 allocation is in place on 1 April 2027, and applications already made keep their place in the queue by order of receipt1. Insulation, heat pumps, solar panels and battery storage are the measures that reduce how much energy a home needs to buy and how much of it comes from the grid, so a pause in funding pushes back the point at which those savings begin. The council's own figures put the income threshold at £36,000 a year, which indicates the scale of demand it is managing against a fixed annual pot1. The Warwick position shows the same constraint is not unique to one authority2. Whether other councils have closed their 2026/27 allocations has not been reported in these sources.
What happens next
Year 3 of the programme is due to commence on 1 April 2027, and West Northamptonshire Council says funding is in place for that final year1. Applications received in the 2026/27 window will be processed and held on a waiting list, with residents contacted after that date1. The council's cabinet member for environment, recycling and waste, Cllr Nigel Stansfield, said funding is in place for Year 3 and that eligible residents interested in the scheme should apply early1.
Sources2 sources
- West Northamptonshire Warm Homes Grants now closed for 2026/27 | West Northamptonshire Council, westnorthants.gov.uk
- Warwick Warm Homes: Local Grant | Act On Energy, actonenergy.org.uk