Check what energy efficiency grants are available for you

Most grants have eligibility criteria around income or benefits, as well as your home’s Energy Performance Certificate rating or Council Tax Band, so check the list below to see whether you will qualify.

Grant funding for energy efficiency home improvements

It can be confusing trying to work out what grants are available to you for home energy efficiency. Click on the titles below to see what each grant requires for you to qualify.

Great British Insulation Scheme

You may be able to get free or cheaper insulation to reduce your home’s energy bills. You might get support if your home:

  1. has an energy performance certificate (EPC) of D to G – check your EPC
  2. AND is in Council Tax bands A-D in England or A-E in Scotland or Wales – check your Council Tax band on your Council Tax bill

You can be a homeowner, landlord or tenant (either renting privately or from a housing association). If you’re a tenant, speak to your landlord before you apply. You’ll need their permission before any insulation can be installed.

Apply for the GBIS here

Boiler Upgrade Scheme

Through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, you could get a grant of £7,500 to cover part of the cost of replacing fossil fuel heating systems with a heat pump. Fossil fuel heating systems include oil, gas, old electric heating systems or LPG (liquefied petroleum gas).

You’re eligible for a grant if all the following are true. You must:

  1. own the property you’re applying for (including if it’s a business, a second home, or a property you rent out to tenants)
  2. have installed your new heating system on or after 1 April 2022
  3. be replacing fossil fuel heating systems – such as oil, gas, electric or LPG (liquefied petroleum gas)

You’re still eligible if you’ve already had funding to make your property more energy efficient, for example by insulating it.

The clearest information on this, and the eligibility checker, is on the Government’s website via the link below.

Apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme here

ECO4 and ECO4 Flex

The ECO4 scheme can help you get a warmer home that costs less to run by paying for you to get energy efficiency home improvement measures ranging from loft and wall insulation to air source heat pumps.

To qualify for an ECO4 grant, you’ll need to be a householder (owner or renter) claiming one of the benefits listed below.

You can either own your own home or, if you are renting, you must have permission from your landlord, including if the property is owned by a social housing provider or management company.

Your home will also need to have an EPC rating of D or lower, although if you don’t know your EPC rating, the assessment process will help you find out what it is.

Eligible benefits are:

  • Pension Guarantee Credit
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
  • Income Support
  • Tax Credits (Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits)
  • Universal Credit
  • Housing Benefit
  • Pension Credit Saving Credit

Choose any Energy Supplier for your ECO4 grant

You can choose which energy supplier to apply to for an ECO4 grant from the list on the Ofgem website

Or here are three options which we think have relatively simple application processes:

Apply with British Gas

Apply with Octopus Energy

Apply with OVO Energy

ECO4 Flex

Under the ECO4 Flex scheme, your Local Authority can identify low-income and/or vulnerable households who are NOT in receipt of the means-tested benefits listed above, but who MAY benefit from energy efficiency improvements. Contact your Local Authority via their website to see if you qualify under the ECO4 Flex rules instead.

Home Upgrade Grant (HUG2)

The Home Upgrade Grant Phase 2 (HUG2) is open to homeowners and private tenants living in:

  1. Homes not heated by mains gas which includes oil, coal, LPG or only electric heating
  2. AND who live in households with a combined annual income of less than £36,000 gross OR receiving certain income-related means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit OR you live in an area of Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). You can check your postcode below here to see if you are in an IMD area: HUG2: Do I Qualify?
  3. AND who live in ‘hard to heat’ homes, which are those with a home Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of Band D-G. You will be helped with this part of the assessment and receive a free EPC assessment if you do not have one already.

To apply for a HUG2 grant, contact your Local Authority directly and they will check your eligibility and help you apply.