Summary
For years UK domestic retrofit funding was a confusing patchwork: ECO4 for low-income households, the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) for EPC-band/council-tax-band eligibility, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) for heat pump grants, and various local authority schemes that came and went. The Warm Homes Plan is the government's attempt to consolidate this into a single coherent strategy, with new national schemes — notably the Warm Homes: Local Grant (replacing the previous Home Upgrade Grant and ECO+ style local schemes for off-gas-grid and low-income households) and the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (upgrading social housing stock) — sitting alongside the schemes that already existed.
For tradespeople doing insulation, heating and retrofit work, the practical significance is twofold. First, funded work under any Warm Homes Plan scheme still requires PAS 2035 retrofit coordination and PAS 2030 installer certification — the funding route changes, but the compliance requirements that make funded work biddable and insurable don't. Second, because the schemes and their exact eligibility criteria have changed multiple times since the plan's launch, quoting "the grant will cover it" without checking the live scheme rules on the day of quoting is a fast way to promise a client a discount that doesn't materialise.
Key Facts
- Umbrella strategy — the Warm Homes Plan sits above individual delivery schemes rather than being a single grant itself
- Warm Homes: Local Grant — targets low-income households and those off the gas grid, delivered via local authorities, covering insulation and low-carbon heating measures
- Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund — funds energy efficiency upgrades to social housing stock, administered via competitive bidding by social landlords
- Existing schemes folded in / continuing alongside — Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), ECO4, Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) — see eco4 and gbis grant schemes guide for the detail on those two
- Retrofit standard requirement — PAS 2035:2023 whole-house retrofit coordination is required for funded multi-measure work; see pas 2035 retrofit coordinator guide
- Installer certification — PAS 2030 certification required for installers carrying out funded insulation and low-carbon heating measures
- TrustMark registration — installers must generally be TrustMark-registered to carry out publicly-funded retrofit work
- Funding scale — a multi-billion-pound commitment over the current Parliament was announced alongside the plan's launch
- Delivery model — mixed: some schemes delivered directly by government-appointed administrators, others delivered via local authorities, and some via energy supplier obligation (as with ECO4)
- Devolved administrations — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run separate retrofit funding schemes (e.g. Scotland's Home Energy Scotland, Wales's Nest/Arbed successors); the Warm Homes Plan as described applies to England
- Assessment route — funded work typically starts with a retrofit assessment against the PAS 2035 process, which determines the measures package rather than the household simply choosing a single measure
- Application route — applications for local-authority-delivered elements typically go through the relevant council's website; national schemes like BUS are applied for via the scheme's own online portal by the installer on the household's behalf
Quick Reference Table
Need to quote compliant work? squote includes relevant regulations in your quotes.
Try squote free →| Scheme | Target group | Measures | Delivery route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warm Homes: Local Grant | Low-income / off-gas-grid households | Insulation + low-carbon heating | Local authority |
| Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund | Social housing stock | Fabric + heating upgrades | Competitive bid by social landlords |
| Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) | Any eligible property (fossil fuel heating being replaced) | Heat pump / biomass grant | Installer-applied via BUS portal |
| ECO4 | Low-income / vulnerable households | Insulation, heating, ventilation | Energy supplier obligation |
| GBIS | EPC D-G / council tax band-eligible households | Insulation only | Energy supplier obligation |
Detailed Guidance
Why the scheme names matter for your quote
Because the Warm Homes Plan is an evolving programme rather than a single fixed grant, always verify the current scheme name, eligibility criteria and funding level directly on GOV.UK (or via your TrustMark/retrofit coordinator) on the day you're preparing a quote, not from memory of an earlier announcement. Quoting a grant contribution that has since been reduced, closed to new applications, or replaced by a successor scheme is a common source of client disputes on retrofit jobs.
PAS 2035 still applies regardless of which scheme funds the work
Whichever Warm Homes Plan scheme a job is funded under, if it involves more than a single insulation measure, expect a PAS 2035-compliant retrofit assessment, a named retrofit coordinator, and a Medium Term Improvement Plan (MTIP) to be required before work starts. Installers without current PAS 2030 certification cannot lawfully carry out the funded work, regardless of trade competence.
Combining funding with self-funded top-up work
It's common for a funded measures package to cover part of a job (e.g. loft and cavity insulation) while the household pays for additional work (e.g. a bathroom refit happening at the same time) privately. Keep the funded and unfunded scopes clearly separated in your paperwork — mixing them can create issues at the funder's post-installation audit and delay payment of the grant element.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Warm Homes Plan the same thing as ECO4?
No — ECO4 is one specific scheme (an energy supplier obligation) that continues to operate; the Warm Homes Plan is the broader government strategy that ECO4 sits alongside, along with newer schemes like the Warm Homes: Local Grant.
Can any installer carry out Warm Homes Plan funded work?
No — installers generally need TrustMark registration and PAS 2030 certification for the specific measure being installed, and funded multi-measure jobs need PAS 2035 retrofit coordination oversight.
Does the Warm Homes Plan apply in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?
The schemes described here are England-specific. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each run their own separate retrofit and heating grant programmes with different names, eligibility rules and delivery bodies.
How do I check if a specific household qualifies?
Eligibility is scheme-specific and based on factors like income, benefits received, EPC band, council tax band, or whether the property is off the gas grid — always check current criteria via GOV.UK or the local authority's own scheme page rather than relying on a general rule of thumb, since criteria have changed between scheme iterations.
Regulations & Standards
PAS 2035:2023 — retrofit coordination standard for funded multi-measure domestic retrofit
PAS 2030:2019 — installer certification standard for specific retrofit measures
TrustMark — the government-endorsed quality scheme required for most publicly-funded retrofit work
Energy Company Obligation (ECO) legislation — underpins ECO4 as a supplier obligation scheme
Boiler Upgrade Scheme Regulations — statutory basis for BUS grant payments
GOV.UK — Warm Homes Plan — official programme overview and scheme links
GOV.UK — Boiler Upgrade Scheme — BUS eligibility and application
TrustMark — Retrofit standards — PAS 2030/2035 and installer registration
Ofgem — Energy Company Obligation (ECO) — ECO4 scheme detail
eco4 and gbis grant schemes guide — detail on the two supplier-obligation schemes sitting under the Warm Homes Plan umbrella
pas 2035 retrofit coordinator guide — the retrofit coordination standard required for funded multi-measure work
home improvement financing — broader financing and grant landscape for home improvement work