If your home is cold, expensive to heat or has a poor energy rating, the Warm Homes: Local Grant is the Government scheme most likely to help you right now. It pays for insulation, low-carbon heating and other energy upgrades in eligible homes across England, and it is delivered by your local council, with funding allocated through to 2028.
The part most people want to know first: if your household qualifies as an owner-occupier, the council organises the work and pays for it. You should not be asked to contribute to the cost of the upgrades. It is genuinely funded, subject to eligibility and to your council having live funding, which is exactly why it is worth checking early.
There are three routes in, and you only need one of them.
First, the one rule every home must meet
Your home needs an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D, E, F or G. Homes rated A to C already meet the scheme’s efficiency bar and do not qualify.
Not sure of your rating? You can look it up on the GOV.UK EPC register in under a minute, and if your home has never been assessed, that is not a dead end: an assessment can be arranged as part of applying. Millions of English homes sit at EPC D or below, so do not assume yours is fine.
Route 1: your household income is £36,000 or less
If your gross household income is usually £36,000 a year or less, you can qualify on income alone. That figure is household income, not per person, and it is assessed before tax.
In London there is one extra check: household savings need to be under £25,000. Some councils elsewhere ask about savings too, so have a rough figure ready when you apply.
Route 2: someone in your home receives a means-tested benefit
Your household qualifies regardless of the income test if someone living there receives one of these benefits:
- Universal Credit
- Pension Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
If this is your route, the application is usually the most straightforward of the three, because the benefit award itself is the evidence.
Route 3: you live in an eligible postcode
This is the route people most often miss. The Government publishes a list of qualifying postcodes, based on the areas of England with the highest levels of income deprivation, and homes in those postcodes can qualify without the income or benefits tests. The postcode list was updated in October 2025, so even if you checked before and missed out, it is worth checking again.
You can check your postcode with us in seconds:
What can the grant actually pay for?
The scheme funds energy performance upgrades and low-carbon heating. Depending on what your home needs, that can include loft, cavity wall or solid wall insulation, draught proofing, ventilation improvements, solar panels and heat pumps. Every funded home gets a proper assessment first, and the council confirms which measures your home is approved for. That assessment-led approach matters: the right measures in the wrong order cause damp and mould problems, which is why the scheme requires TrustMark-registered installers working to the PAS 2030 and PAS 2035 retrofit standards.
Is it really free?
For eligible owner-occupiers, yes: the council arranges and pays for the agreed work, and occupants do not contribute to the cost of the upgrades. The honest caveats are that funding is subject to eligibility, councils have finite allocations, and demand is high, so applications can queue. None of that costs you anything to find out, and earlier applicants are better placed.
Renting out a property?
Rental properties can qualify through the same three routes, based on your tenants’ circumstances or the property’s postcode, and with rental energy standards tightening, a funded upgrade now can save a compliance headache later. Landlords may be asked to contribute towards some of the cost depending on portfolio size, and your council will confirm the terms. If you have EPC D to G rental stock, it costs nothing to check.
How to apply, and how we help
Applications go through your local council (GOV.UK’s apply page routes you to the right one). Councils then assess your home and appoint the work. Where Pyramid Eco comes in: we are TrustMark-registered, PAS 2030 and PAS 2035 certified retrofit specialists working across London and the South East, and grant-funded retrofit is our core work. We will check your postcode and eligibility route with you, help you understand what your home is likely to qualify for, and survey your home free of charge so you know exactly what it needs, whether that ends up grant-funded or not.
Quick answers
Who qualifies for the Warm Homes: Local Grant in 2026?
Households in England in a home rated EPC D to G, where the household earns £36,000 or less, someone receives a means-tested benefit, or the home sits in an eligible postcode.
Do I have to repay the Warm Homes: Local Grant?
No. It is a grant, not a loan. Eligible owner-occupiers do not contribute to the cost of the upgrades agreed with the council.
Is the Warm Homes: Local Grant still open?
Yes. It is live now, delivered by local councils in England, with funding allocated through to 2028. Individual councils’ allocations vary, so applying early is sensible.
