At the end of January, the UK Government launched the full Warm Homes Plan, a £15 billion investment designed to transform five million homes by 2030. It’s aimed at tripling solar capacity and making clean heat the new standard for British living.
Whether you are a social housing provider, a private landlord, or a homeowner, the landscape of home energy has just changed significantly.
DESNZ has tonight announced the following:
New £15 billion Warm Homes Plan ”to help millions of families benefit from solar panels, batteries, heat pumps and insulation that can cut energy bills”.
Plan announced for all “types of households”; with targeted interventions for those on low incomes; upgrades for social housing; new protections for renters; and a universal offer for all households to upgrade homes if and when they want to.
Free of charge packages of upgrades could “mean upgrades to entire streets” in social housing at the same time
Plan will “help lift up to one million families out of poverty”
A New Warm Homes Agency, which the government said will ”bring together existing functions” from access government bodies to remove duplication
A pledge to “put mayors in the driving seat” for home upgrades
So, What does all this actually mean?
Universal support for upgrading homes:
By providing universal grant support for the switch to clean heat through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS).
All eligible households in England and Wales can benefit and funding will expand each year out to 2029/30
The BUS will continue to provide grants of £7,500 towards the upfront cost of installing hydronic heat pumps to eligible applicants in England and Wales. It will also provide new £2,500 grants towards the cost of installing air-to-air heat pumps and heat batteries for central heating.
The BUS provides £5,000 grants for biomass boilers for whole house heating and hot water, where strict rules require verified installation in a rural area and certification showing emissions are minimised. The scheme is also helping to encourage multi-technology systems that combine heat pumps with solar and batteries.
The process is made easier for households to make the switch by removing the need for a new Energy Performance Certificate under the BUS.
Alongside rising funding for the BUS, a further £5 billion is allocated for a new Warm Homes Fund (WHF) to make investments in and loans to the home upgrade sector to target low-income households.
A facility to new low- and zero-interest consumer loans, to help more households meet the upfront costs of improving their homes. However, this funding would be made available to lenders who apply to participate in the scheme, not direct to home owners.
The scheme could be used to fund the installation of a single technology or package of measures. This includes solar panels and batteries, facilitating immediate electricity bill savings, and heat pump installations, combined with the BUS grant.
Households in the Private Rented Sector
For Private renters the setting of new energy efficiency standards across both the PRS to ensure that tenants benefit from cheaper bills and more comfortable homes.
The government has confirmed that all tenancies must meet EPC Band C by October 2030. Landlords will be required to invest up to a £10,000 cost cap per property to meet a “dual-metric” standard. This starts with fabric performance (insulation) followed by smart technology or heating upgrades. Importantly, the 2028 interim deadline for new tenancies has been scrapped in favour of a single 2030 deadline for all properties.
Summary
The Warm Homes Plan seems to be building on what has been there before, making access to finance easier and more widespread, by expanding grants for low-income households and introducing affordable finance for others.
And making the process much easier. Measures that are quicker to install and easier to fit, including solar panels and battery storage, are being treated as good starting points for more households. These won’t replace insulation or heating upgrades, but they can be done with less disruption and often, with a shorter payback period.
What this helps show is that whole-house retrofit works, but it is expensive, disruptive, and often unrealistic to do all at once. Progress is more likely when people can start somewhere manageable and build over time. That might mean insulation room by room. It might mean solar first. It might mean planning now and acting later.