7 things we learned from the Warm Homes Plan

Social housing – a shift to ‘area-based’ retrofits

Social housing retrofits will be delivered initially through the existing Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF) and Local Grant (WH:LG), before they are consolidated and integrated into a single scheme for low-income households from 2027-28 onwards.

This single scheme will shift towards “area-based delivery”, learning lessons from previous schemes. This means co-ordinating with electricity network operators and local authorities via regional energy strategy plans and local area energy plans. The government will say more about the evolution of low-income schemes by spring 2026.

Last year the government committed £1.3bn to Wave 3 of the WH:SHF, which has been matched by social landlords. Wave 3 will continue to upgrade social homes with Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings of D to G, with “additional funding” in 2026-27. The National Wealth Fund has also guaranteed up to £1.65bn of lending for social housing upgrades.

The low-income schemes will support solar panels, batteries, “cost-effective insulation where necessary” and smart controls. As well as heat pumps for individual homes, support also extends to heat pumps with shared ground loops.

EPC C by 2030 for the social and private rented sectors

Officials have consulted on bringing minimum EPC C standards into the social rented sector. This is “especially important” to the government’s 2030 fuel poverty target and will reach up to 1.3 million social rented homes by December 2030.

Meanwhile, all private rented sector properties will have a deadline of October 2030 to meet EPC C. There is a £10,000 limit on how much a landlord needs to spend on improvements, with further exemptions for properties worth less than £100,000. Any spending on green upgrades since October 2025 will be included within the cap.

Funding for private landlords will be available, including continued access to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grants.

Heat pump and solar frenzy

The government wants to put solar panels on the roofs of up to three million homes by 2030. It also aims to expand the heat pump market to 450,000 installations a year by 2030. Of these installations, 200,000 will be delivered in new build, with the remainder from retrofit.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which offers up to £7,500 for qualifying heat pump installations, has been expanded to £2.7bn. That will subsidise a total of 360,000 heat pumps. Ministers hope to “radically simplify” heat pump installation, targeting install times of no more than three days from point of consumer signature.

Elsewhere, £90m will be made available to grow the British heat pump manufacturing supply chain, £30m for heat pump innovation and £7m a year to fund installer training.

A new Warm Homes Fund will support “strategic investment” across the retrofit sector. It will have a total of £5bn in financial transactions to deploy, and a call for evidence will be launched in early 2026 to identify where the fund can deliver the greatest impact.

The Warm Homes Fund will also provide government support for zero- and low-interest consumer finance to help homeowners upgrade their homes and install solar panels, batteries and heat pumps.

Future Homes Standard will be implemented in Q1 2026

For new build homes, the government will publish the full specification for the Future Homes and Buildings Standards and lay the associated regulations in the first quarter of 2026.

Under these standards, new homes will have low-carbon heating, high levels of energy efficiency and solar panels by default.

Heat networks

Heat networks are the other big winner of the Warm Homes Plan, with the government hoping to see them meeting a fifth of all heating demand by 2050.

The plan sets out a new, hard target: to more than double the amount of heat demand met through heat networks in England to 7% by 2035. This is roughly equivalent to 3.75 million flats.

The government will act on this target by supporting at least 10 of the biggest English towns and cities in establishing heat network zones soon after heat network zoning regulations go live, with further zones to follow. For more on how cities such as Leeds and Bristol are expanding their heat networks, check out Inside Housing’s Cities Encyclopaedia.

Ministers will provide further support through the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF) for the construction and expansion of low-carbon heat networks, with funding of £195m a year until 2029-30. The National Wealth Fund will also provide heat network investment.

To upgrade existing heat networks, the Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES) will be extended, with the government investing £15m a year until 2029-30.

A consultation on the government’s new Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme (HNTAS) was published alongside the Warm Homes Plan. Heat network operators will have to ensure a minimum level of performance and reliability for heat networks in the UK. This will help residents experiencing poorer outcomes in terms of price and service from older heat networks.

Warm Homes Agency and retrofit quality

A new Warm Homes Agency (WHA) will be launched to support the delivery of the Warm Homes Plan and guide consumers through the transition. It will consolidate the existing retrofit delivery landscape, and further details will be shared later this year.

The agency will have a critical role in place-based delivery, supporting consumers through their home decarbonisation journey and helping businesses and their workers play their part in delivering goals. The agency will also learn from successful international examples of building decarbonisation.

The government will consult on options to reduce the number of certification bodies operating in the energy efficiency and microgeneration space to simplify consumer protection.

It will also consult this year on options for bringing the oversight of energy efficiency and microgeneration installations for government schemes under closer government control, with particular consideration of the role of the WHA. This will ensure consumers feel confident in the system.

The government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) to strengthen oversight. It has also appointed an observer from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to the MCS Service Company Board.

Shading and cooling

The government will support active cooling through air-to-air heat pumps in the expansion of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). Air-to-air heat pumps can provide both heating and cooling, supporting low-carbon comfort in all seasons.

Passive cooling measures will be incorporated within the government’s capital-funded schemes, targeting low-income households and social housing. The government will also develop tailored consumer advice to support informed choices.

In all homes, priority should be given to installing “low-cost, low-regret” interventions such as internal blinds, external shutters, reflective window films and cooler building materials.

These measures reduce the internal temperature and help active cooling measures like fans and reversible air-to-air heat pumps or air conditioning to work more efficiently, mitigating energy bill increases across the sector, and particularly for vulnerable households and buildings most at risk.