Home Upgrade Grant: what it was and where to go instead
This scheme is closed — it ended on 31 March 2025. You cannot apply.
England only.
The Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) funded insulation and low-carbon heating for low-income, off-gas-grid homes in England, paid through local authorities. It is closed to applications. If you are looking for this kind of help now, the Warm Homes: Local Grant has taken its place, and that is the scheme to check instead of this one.
“The Home Upgrade Grant is now closed. You may be able to apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant instead.”
What the Home Upgrade Grant funded
“provides energy efficiency upgrades and low carbon heating via local authority funding, to households in England”
Local authorities, not individual households, applied for the funding, and then used it to install measures at eligible homes in their area — insulation, and an air source heat pump where suitable, tailored to what each property needed. Homeowners on a low income did not contribute to the cost. Where the property was rented, landlords did: private landlords had to contribute at least a third of the total cost, and social landlords at least half.
The second phase of the scheme ran from April 2023 to March 2025, with up to a total funding figure allocated across successful local authorities for that period.
| HUG Phase 2 total funding allocation | £630,000,000 |
|---|
Why the scheme is now closed
“The Home Upgrade Grant is now closed. You may be able to apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant instead.”
“Phase 2 of the Home Upgrade Grant is now closed to applications. Local authorities had to apply for the funding by 27 January 2023.”
The scheme was time-limited by design: local authorities had to apply for Phase 2 funding by a fixed deadline of 27 January 2023, and the funding they won ran only from April 2023 to March 2025. Individual households never applied to the Home Upgrade Grant directly — local authorities did, as above — so once that funding window closed there was no household-facing application for it to reopen.
What to check instead
GOV.UK’s own closure notice for the Home Upgrade Grant points to the Warm Homes: Local Grant as the successor. It covers similar ground — insulation and air source heat pumps for eligible homes in England — but it is a distinct scheme with its own eligibility rules and its own application route through your local council, rather than an automatic continuation of a Home Upgrade Grant application.
If you are on a qualifying low-income benefit rather than applying through a local scheme, ECO4 is also worth checking. It is an ongoing obligation on energy suppliers to fund insulation and heating measures, which runs independently of any local authority funding round.
If you already had Home Upgrade Grant work done
The scheme was delivered by local authorities using their own contractors and delivery partners, so if you already had measures installed and have a problem with them, your local authority is the right place to start rather than a national helpline, since it managed the delivery contract for the work done in its area.
If you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland
“The Warm Homes: Local Grant is only available in England. You might be able to get funding from a different scheme if you live in Scotland, live in Wales or live in Northern Ireland.”
Common questions
Can I still apply for the Home Upgrade Grant?
No. GOV.UK confirms the Home Upgrade Grant is now closed. It points people to the Warm Homes: Local Grant instead, which is a separate scheme with its own application process through your local council.
What did the Home Upgrade Grant pay for?
Insulation and low carbon heating, including air source heat pumps where suitable, for low-income households in England living off the mains gas grid with an Energy Performance Certificate between D and G.
Did I have to pay anything towards Home Upgrade Grant work?
Homeowners on a low income did not contribute to the cost. Where the property was rented, landlords had to: private landlords contributed at least a third of the total cost and social landlords at least half.
What should I apply for now instead of the Home Upgrade Grant?
The Warm Homes: Local Grant, delivered by local councils in England, is the current scheme covering similar ground. If you receive a qualifying low-income benefit, ECO4 is also worth checking, as it works through energy suppliers rather than local authorities.
I already had Home Upgrade Grant work done — who do I contact with a problem?
Contact the local authority that delivered the scheme in your area, since it managed the contractors and delivery partners for the work carried out.
Does the Warm Homes: Local Grant cover Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?
No, it is England only, the same as the Home Upgrade Grant it replaced. If you live elsewhere in the UK, check your own devolved government’s current home energy support instead.
Related guides
- Warm Homes: Local Grant: council-funded insulation and heat pumps
- ECO4: the Energy Company Obligation explained
- Great British Insulation Scheme: what it was and where to look now
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme: grants for heat pumps and biomass boilers
- Warm Home Discount Scheme: the electricity bill rebate explained
Information on this page was checked against the official guidance on 25 August 2026. The source page was last updated on 18 November 2024.
This is general information, not financial or legal advice. Money Decisions UK is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and does not arrange, recommend or introduce any credit, debt or mortgage product.