Warm Homes: Local Grant (council-delivered): Warm homes plan funding

The Warm Homes: Local Grant, council-delivered funding under the Warm Homes Plan

The Warm Homes: Local Grant is the council-delivered heart of the new Warm Homes Plan funding model, and it is the route that points to where home energy grants are heading after the supplier-obligation schemes close. Unlike ECO4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme, which are delivered by energy suppliers, the Warm Homes: Local Grant is delivered by local authorities. It is aimed at lower-income owner-occupiers and private renters in England with homes in EPC band D to G, and it funds an insulation plus low-carbon heating package, for example insulation together with a heat pump or solar, at no cost to the household. The typical test is a gross household income under 36,000 pounds, with postcode or qualifying-benefit routes able to override that, and household savings commonly under 16,000 pounds.

It matters because it is one of the routes that continues after the legacy schemes wind down. The Warm Homes: Local Grant sits inside the Warm Homes Plan, runs across delivery years 2025 to 2028, and represents the successor model, public money channelled through councils rather than through the supplier-obligation system that ends in 2027. Because it is council-delivered, roll-out and exact criteria vary by local authority, which is precisely why current, route-aware guidance is so useful, the answer genuinely depends on where you live.

What a typical Local Grant package looks like and how eligibility is assessed

The Warm Homes: Local Grant funds a package rather than a single product, so the assessment matches a household to a council scheme rather than sizing a system in kilowatts. The eligibility tests are income and property based, England, EPC band D to G, gross household income typically under 36,000 pounds, and savings commonly under 16,000 pounds, with postcode or qualifying-benefit routes able to open the door even where the income test alone would not. Once eligible, the funded package combines insulation with low-carbon heating, such as a heat pump, and sometimes solar, all delivered as one job at no cost to the household. Because criteria vary by council, the same household can find that one authority's scheme is open while a neighbouring one is still rolling out.

This route is the natural home for a household that is on a lower income but not on a qualifying means-tested benefit, the group that can fall between ECO4 on one side and the Great British Insulation Scheme General Group on the other. We help you read your council's specific criteria rather than assume the national defaults apply unchanged.

The postcode and benefit override routes deserve attention, because they are where households who would fail the headline income test on paper can still qualify. Some councils use a postcode-based flexible eligibility route, recognising that local deprivation data can identify need that a single income figure misses, and a qualifying benefit can also open the door regardless of the income line. That is why the income test is described as typical rather than absolute, the gross household income under 36,000 pounds and savings under 16,000 pounds figures are the common defaults, but a council can apply its own flexibility within the scheme. Private renters are eligible as well as owner-occupiers, with the landlord's permission for the work, which matters because the worst-rated rented homes are exactly the ones Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards are designed to improve.

Costs, what you pay, and tax relief

For eligible households the Warm Homes: Local Grant is free, so there is no payback calculation, the value is the funded insulation and low-carbon heating package and a warmer, cheaper-to-run home. The cost to the household is 0 pounds, with the council scheme funding the insulation plus low-carbon heating package. There is no repayment because it is a grant, not a loan. For households who fall just outside the income or savings tests, the Warm Homes Plan's new low or zero-interest finance route is designed to help cover measures that grants do not, so a near-miss on the income test does not necessarily mean no help at all. The Annual Investment Allowance and Smart Export Guarantee are commercial mechanisms that apply to business installs rather than this domestic council route. Our cost guide sets out where the free package ends and finance begins.

Because the package combines insulation with low-carbon heating, the value to an eligible household can be substantial even though no figure is set, since the same combination would cost thousands if paid for privately. The fabric work and the heating are funded together as one job, which means the heat pump or solar element goes into a home that has already been insulated, so it runs efficiently from the start. That bundling is the same fabric-first principle that runs through the whole Warm Homes Plan, and it is the reason a council-delivered package is more than the sum of a single grant. We make clear which measures your council's scheme will fund and confirm there is no cost to you before any work is agreed.

Funding routes in detail

The Warm Homes: Local Grant is one of several routes under the same umbrella, and the right one depends on your circumstances. If you are on a qualifying means-tested benefit, ECO4 may fund a whole-house package while it is still open to applications until 31 March 2026. If you simply need a single insulation measure, the Great British Insulation Scheme may fit, including its General Group route by Council Tax band. If you are replacing a fossil-fuel boiler regardless of income, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme contributes a fixed grant towards a heat pump. The Warm Homes: Local Grant is the income-led, council-delivered package route, and you apply through the gov.uk apply page or your local authority, not your energy supplier. You can read the official detail on the gov.uk Warm Homes: Local Grant page.

This route also signals the future of home energy funding, which is useful context when choosing between schemes. As the supplier-obligation model ends in 2027 and ECO4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme close, council-delivered funding like the Warm Homes: Local Grant, alongside the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and a new low or zero-interest finance route, is how the around 15 billion pounds committed to upgrade up to five million homes by 2030 reaches households. So while ECO4 is often the more generous option for those who qualify right now, the Warm Homes: Local Grant is the route most likely to still be there in two or three years. For a household weighing whether to act now or wait, that distinction is worth understanding, and we set it out plainly rather than pushing a single answer.

Compliance and sector considerations

The Warm Homes: Local Grant is England only, and the standout compliance point is that eligibility and roll-out vary by council, so you should always check the gov.uk apply page and your local authority before assuming the national criteria apply. Delivery runs 2025 to 2028, and the scheme sits within the Warm Homes Plan. The work itself follows the same standards as the other government-funded routes, PAS 2035 and PAS 2030 whole-house retrofit, with a retrofit assessor and coordinator and TrustMark lodgement, and any heat pump must be MCS-certified by an installer in an approved consumer code. Most measures are Permitted Development, but external solid wall insulation can need planning in conservation areas, heat pumps have siting and noise conditions under MCS 020, and listed buildings need Listed Building Consent.

How we approach this kind of project

Because this is a council-delivered scheme, our approach starts with your local authority rather than a national assumption. We help you check your council's live criteria and the gov.uk apply page, since the income, savings and postcode rules genuinely vary by area, and we identify whether a benefit or postcode route could open the door even if the headline income test looks borderline. We work only through TrustMark-registered installers under PAS 2035, we flag which measure the package will fund, and we make sure the heat pump element is MCS-certified. We never cold-call or ask for upfront payment, and we point you to the official routes so you can verify your council's scheme yourself.

We also help you avoid a common and costly mistake, applying to the wrong scheme or to one that has already closed. Because the Warm Homes: Local Grant sits alongside the closing ECO4 and Great British Insulation Scheme routes, a household can easily waste time on a supplier-led scheme when the council route is the better fit, or the other way round. We map all four routes, ECO4, the Great British Insulation Scheme, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and the Warm Homes: Local Grant, and tell you which one your circumstances point to, rather than steering you to a single answer. The work itself follows the same PAS 2035 whole-house process as the other routes, with a retrofit assessor, a coordinator and TrustMark lodgement, so the package is documented and guaranteed. If a measure needs planning consent, for example external solid wall insulation in a conservation area, the retrofit assessor flags it before work starts rather than after.

An illustrative example

As an illustrative composite based on a typical Warm Homes: Local Grant route, consider a lower-income owner-occupier in England in an EPC band E home, not on a qualifying means-tested benefit, with a gross household income under the typical 36,000 pound threshold and savings under the common 16,000 pound limit. Through their local authority's Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme, that household could receive a funded package of insulation plus a low-carbon heating measure such as a heat pump, delivered under PAS 2035 with TrustMark lodgement at no cost. In an illustrative case the application goes through the council rather than an energy supplier, with the exact measures shaped by the council's local criteria. The figures and outcome are illustrative and depend on your council's scheme, your eligibility and the live rules.

Lower income but not on benefits? Your council route may be the answer. Read the grants and funding guide, see what is funded on the cost page, then tell us about your home and we will help you check your council scheme. You can also read the funding FAQs, or compare this route with ECO4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme.