What is the Warm Homes: Local Grant?
The Warm Homes: Local Grant is a government scheme, funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and delivered by local councils in England. It is designed to make lower income homes warmer and cheaper to run, and it is due to be delivered between April 2025 and March 2028.
About £0.5 billion has been allocated to 73 councils and partnerships, which between them cover more than 270 local authorities. The government describes the grant as an early step in its wider Warm Homes Plan, published in January 2026, which aims to upgrade up to 5 million homes by 2030.
Because each council runs its own version, the help available, the application process and how quickly you hear back all depend on where you live. You can find your council in the list further down.
What can the grant pay for?
The grant funds a range of energy upgrades for qualifying homes, and solar panels are on the government's list of measures. Some councils also list battery storage. Which upgrades a home actually gets is decided after a survey, so you do not choose from a menu.
The money is also capped per home, and the government raised the caps in July 2026, so ask your council what the current limit is.
For households that qualify, the upgrades are funded by the grant. It is not a loan and it does not have to be repaid.
Who can qualify?
The main rules, as set out by GOV.UK, are:
- The home is in England.
- It is privately owned, either by the person living there or by a private landlord.
- Its EPC rating is D, E, F or G. Homes rated A, B or C are not eligible in any circumstances.
- The household meets one of three income routes, explained below.
The three income routes
- Income. Household income is usually £36,000 a year or less. Councils may set out exactly how they count it.
- Benefits. Someone in the household receives certain means-tested benefits, such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit.
- Postcode. The home is in an area the government ranks as more deprived. The GOV.UK checker will tell you if your postcode counts.
New build homes that have never been lived in are not eligible, and homes rented from a council or housing association are usually covered by different schemes. Some councils add their own rules. The Greater London Authority, for example, applies a £25,000 savings limit across all routes.
If you rent, or you are a landlord
Tenants in privately rented homes can be covered, but the landlord has to agree. Tenants are not expected to contribute to the cost of the upgrades. Private landlords can have one home fully funded, and a 50% contribution is required for each further home.
How to apply
- Find your EPC rating. It is free to look up on the GOV.UK energy certificate register. Most homes already have one.
- Check your eligibility and apply. The official route is the GOV.UK application page. You can also use the check at the top of this page to see where you stand and talk through your options.
- Your council follows up. Some councils work with a delivery partner, and some use their own form. Demand is high in some areas, so there can be a wait or a waiting list.
- A survey of the home. This decides which upgrades suit the property.
- The work is carried out by installers appointed for the scheme. Qualifying households are not expected to pay.
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What to have ready
- Your home's EPC rating, if you know it.
- Proof of income or benefits, such as payslips, bank statements, a P60 or a benefits letter.
- Proof that you live at the address.
- Your landlord's permission, if you rent.
- Your postcode.
If you do not qualify, or your council has a waiting list
Funding, demand and rules vary by council. Some have paused applications because demand has been so high, and others have waiting lists. If the grant is not available for your home, or you are told to wait, solar panels and home batteries can still reduce your electricity bills, and payment options are available. The check at the top of this page lets us talk you through those as well.
Which councils are delivering the grant?
The government has named 73 lead authorities that received funding. Where councils work together, the lead authority receives the money and the others are listed as partners. Type your town or district to find your council. The government lists councils by district or unitary area rather than by county, and the search covers partner councils as well as lead authorities.
| Lead authority | Partner councils | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| Ashford | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| Barking and Dagenham | Acts alone | £2,644,879 |
| Barnsley | Acts alone | £1,538,552 |
| Basildon | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| Blackpool | Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Chorley, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Wyre | £35,324,700 |
| Bradford | Acts alone | £6,330,820 |
| Bristol, City of | Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset | £12,662,001 |
| Broadland | Breckland, North Norfolk, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, South Norfolk | £4,713,154 |
| Broxbourne | Acts alone | £1,070,786 |
| Buckinghamshire | Acts alone | £3,023,682 |
| Calderdale | Acts alone | £3,206,150 |
| Cambridge | East Cambridgeshire, South Cambridgeshire, Fenland, Huntingdonshire, Peterborough | £8,805,153 |
| Canterbury | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| Central Bedfordshire | Acts alone | £1,000,000 |
| Cheshire East | Cheshire West and Chester, Warrington | £8,392,725 |
| Cornwall | Isles of Scilly | £3,383,632 |
| County Durham | Acts alone | £2,055,853 |
| Dacorum | Acts alone | £2,337,982 |
| Darlington | Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland | £13,953,865 |
| Devon | East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, Teignbridge, Torbay, Torridge | £4,064,026 |
| Doncaster | Acts alone | £1,604,111 |
| Dorset | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | £4,441,457 |
| Dover | Dartford | £2,186,318 |
| East Hertfordshire | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| East Lindsey | Boston, South Holland | £6,069,746 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| Essex | Braintree, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon, Rochford, Tendring, Uttlesford, Southend-on-Sea, Thurrock | £6,000,000 |
| Gateshead | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| Gravesham | Acts alone | £1,117,648 |
| Great Yarmouth | Acts alone | £2,638,910 |
| Greater London Authority | Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, City of London, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Waltham Forest, Westminster | £53,470,024 |
| Hartlepool | Acts alone | £2,391,408 |
| Kingston upon Hull, City of | Acts alone | £3,402,806 |
| Leeds | Acts alone | £5,963,439 |
| Leicester | Acts alone | £4,507,699 |
| Lewes | Eastbourne, Hastings, Rother, Wealden, East Sussex | £4,781,852 |
| Liverpool City Region Combined Authority | Liverpool, Halton, Knowsley, Sefton, St. Helens, Wirral | £31,805,813 |
| Medway | Acts alone | £1,305,900 |
| Midlands Net Zero Hub | Amber Valley, Bassetlaw, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derby, Derbyshire Dales, Erewash, High Peak, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, Oadby and Wigston, Rushcliffe, South Derbyshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwick, Malvern Hills, Worcester, Wychavon, Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands, Tamworth, Ashfield, Broxtowe, Gedling, Blaby, Harborough, Hinckley and Bosworth, Melton, North West Leicestershire, Charnwood, North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Bromsgrove, Redditch, Lincoln, North Kesteven, West Lindsey, South Kesteven, Rugby | £69,859,402 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | Acts alone | See GOV.UK |
| North East Derbyshire | Acts alone | £5,160,618 |
| North Hertfordshire | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| North Northamptonshire | Acts alone | £2,003,912 |
| North Tyneside | Acts alone | £5,043,385 |
| North Yorkshire | Acts alone | £5,974,078 |
| Northumberland | Acts alone | £2,695,853 |
| Norwich | Acts alone | £5,504,964 |
| Oxfordshire | Cherwell, Oxford, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse, West Oxfordshire | £4,394,990 |
| Plymouth | Acts alone | £3,024,995 |
| Portsmouth | Adur, Arun, Basingstoke and Deane, Bedford, Bracknell Forest, Brighton and Hove, Chichester, Crawley, Croydon, East Hampshire, Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, Hart, Havant, Horsham, Isle of Wight, Luton, Mid Sussex, Milton Keynes, New Forest, Reading, Rushmoor, Rutland, Southampton, Test Valley, West Berkshire, Winchester, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, Worthing | £34,807,254 |
| Sevenoaks | Acts alone | £1,670,000 |
| Sheffield | Acts alone | £4,006,008 |
| Shropshire | Herefordshire, County of, Telford and Wrekin | £7,418,506 |
| Slough | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| Somerset | Acts alone | £7,035,064 |
| South Tyneside | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| St Albans | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| Stevenage | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| Stroud | South Gloucestershire, Cotswold, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Forest of Dean, Tewkesbury | £5,481,399 |
| Suffolk | Babergh, East Suffolk, Ipswich, Mid Suffolk, West Suffolk | £6,183,974 |
| Sunderland | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| Surrey | Epsom and Ewell, Guildford, Elmbridge, Woking, Tandridge, Mole Valley, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Waverley, Runnymede, Reigate and Banstead | £13,914,375 |
| Thanet | Acts alone | £1,548,220 |
| Tunbridge Wells | Acts alone | £1,382,964 |
| Wakefield | Acts alone | £1,499,667 |
| Watford | Three Rivers | £3,750,031 |
| Welwyn Hatfield | Acts alone | £1,500,000 |
| West Devon | South Hams | £3,315,320 |
| West Northamptonshire | Acts alone | £2,606,931 |
| Westmorland and Furness | Cumberland | £12,328,580 |
| Wiltshire | Acts alone | £3,035,320 |
| Wyre Forest | Acts alone | £1,600,000 |
| York | Acts alone | £2,037,677 |
Showing all 73 lead authorities.
Source: GOV.UK, Warm Homes: Local Grant successful local authorities, updated July 2026, published under the Open Government Licence. Funding is the amount awarded to the lead authority for its whole area. Whether a council is currently taking applications changes often, so check its own page.
Other help for solar panels and batteries
The Warm Homes: Local Grant is not the only help available. These apply to solar panels and batteries, and the rules and dates change, so check the official pages before relying on them.
| Scheme | What it offers | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Smart Export Guarantee | Energy suppliers pay you for the surplus solar electricity you export to the grid. You are paid for what you export, not for what you use yourself. | You need an export meter, usually a smart meter, and an MCS-certified installation. Each supplier sets its own rate, so compare tariffs. See Ofgem. |
| 0% VAT on solar panels and batteries | The installation of solar panels, and batteries fitted with them or added later, carries 0% VAT in Great Britain for homes, instead of the usual rate. | Due to run until 31 March 2027, after which the reduced 5% rate is expected to apply unless the government extends it. It covers the installed price, not DIY kits. Check HMRC's guidance on GOV.UK for the current rules. |
| Warm Homes Plan | The government's longer term plan to upgrade up to 5 million homes by 2030. The Local Grant is an early part of it. | Details are still being developed. |
Spotting grant scams
Energy grants attract scammers, so a few simple rules protect you:
- You never pay a fee to be assessed or to "release" a grant.
- Applications go through GOV.UK or your council. Be cautious of anyone who phones or turns up unannounced saying they represent the scheme.
- Ask your council whether an installer is appointed for the scheme, and check their accreditations, such as MCS and TrustMark.
- Never share bank details, card numbers or passwords to "secure" a grant.
If you think you have been targeted, report it to Action Fraud.
Common questions
Do I have to use the check to apply?
No. The check is a free way to see where you stand and to talk through your options. It is not an application for the grant.
Will it cost me anything?
The check is free and there is no obligation. For households that qualify, GOV.UK says the upgrades are funded by the grant.
Is the grant a loan?
No. It is a grant, so it does not have to be repaid.
Can I get solar panels through the grant?
Solar panels are on the government's list of measures. Whether a home gets them depends on the survey and the funding available, so it cannot be promised in advance.
Do I need an EPC before I apply?
You do not need to order one yourself. Most homes already have a certificate, and you can look yours up free on GOV.UK. If yours does not show, ask your council.
Can I apply if I rent privately?
Yes, with your landlord's agreement. Tenants are not expected to contribute to the cost of the upgrades.
How long does it take?
It varies by council. Some areas have a high volume of applications and a waiting list, so there is no single timescale.
What if my council has paused applications?
Ask to be put on its waiting list, and check its website for updates. In the meantime you can look at other schemes, and we can talk through solar and battery options.
What happens to my details?
They are passed to Energy Services Team Ltd, an MCS-certified installer, who may contact you about the grant and about solar and battery options. You can read how your data is handled in the privacy policy.
I live in Wales
The Warm Homes: Local Grant only covers England. Wales has its own scheme. If you would still like to talk about solar and battery options, you can use the check at the top of this page.
Sources
This guide was last reviewed on 10 October 2026 against these official sources:
- Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant, GOV.UK
- Warm Homes: Local Grant policy and guidance, GOV.UK
- Successful local authorities, GOV.UK
- Warm Homes: Local Grant statistics, GOV.UK
- Warm Homes: Local Grant in London, Greater London Authority
- Smart Export Guarantee, Ofgem
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