Low-income solar routes explained
The only routes where public money can pay for solar on a home are means-tested. They decide eligibility in different ways, and the details are what decide whether it's worth applying. Here is how each one draws its line.
The short answer
Two routes, two sets of rules. In England, Warm Homes: Local Grant uses household income (usually £36,000 or less), an eligible postcode or a means-tested benefit, plus an EPC rating of D to G. In Wales, Warm Homes Nest uses a means-tested benefit with EPC E to G, or a health route at EPC D or lower.
Facts checked at source on 2 and 3 November 2026 · Solar PV Panels Grants is an independent explainer from SEO-DONS LTD, not a scheme
Three ways into the Local Grant
Household income. The usual line is a household income of £36,000 a year or less. It is the whole household's income, not one earner's, and councils ask for evidence. Councils apply the scheme's national guidance in their own way, so check your council's own page for how it assesses income.
An eligible postcode. Homes in some of the most deprived areas can qualify without an individual income test, because the area itself meets the scheme's criteria. The council can tell you whether your postcode is one of them.
A means-tested benefit. Receiving an eligible means-tested benefit can be enough to show the household is on a lower income. Councils publish which benefits count.
Whichever route applies, the home also needs an EPC rating of D to G and must be privately owned or privately rented. Social housing is funded separately, through the landlord.
Two ways into Nest
The benefit route. A household where someone receives a means-tested benefit, living in a home rated E, F or G, can be eligible for a Nest package.
The health route. People living with certain health conditions can be eligible in a home rated D or lower, on conditions set by the scheme.
Nest is open to owners and private tenants, and is run as one national scheme rather than by councils. The Nest team assesses the home and decides the package, which can include rooftop solar, heat pumps and insulation. Work is carried out by its Wales-based installer network. A boiler is repaired or replaced only where there is no working heating or hot water.
The Welsh Government's annual report on the scheme sets out these routes; the Nest website is the place to check the current details.
The two means-tested routes compared
| Warm Homes: Local Grant | Warm Homes Nest | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | England | Wales |
| Run by | Councils, alone or in groups | The Welsh Government's scheme team |
| Income test | Usually £36,000 household income, or postcode, or benefit | Means-tested benefit, or health route |
| EPC rating | D to G | E to G (benefit route); D or lower (health route) |
| Tenure | Owners and private tenants | Owners and private tenants |
| Can include solar | Yes; a battery only with solar | Packages can include rooftop solar |
| Who does the work | The council's contractors | Nest's installer network |
| Until | 31 March 2028; merging from 2027/28 | Open |
Where there is no low-income solar route
In Scotland, Home Energy Scotland funds heat pumps and insulation, and its own schemes help lower-income households with energy efficiency, but solar PV hasn't been funded since June 2024. In Northern Ireland, nidirect names no support for home generation beyond the zero VAT rate.
In both, a lower-income household looking at solar is in the same position as anyone else: the VAT relief, the UK-wide loan scheme for owner-occupiers, and, in Scotland, export payments. Before borrowing, though, it is worth asking whether solar is the best first step; insulation or heating help may be available where solar isn't, and may do more for a cold home.
If you are just over the threshold
The income line is the one most people miss by a little. Before deciding you aren't eligible, check three things with your council: whether your postcode qualifies on its own; whether anyone in the household receives a benefit that counts; and whether the council applies any adjustment for your household's circumstances.
If none applies, the scheme isn't for you, and no one can make it so. Be cautious of any firm offering to "get you through" the checks. Eligibility is the council's decision against published rules, and false information on an application is a serious matter.
The routes for households above the line are on paying for solar without a grant.
Applying to a means-tested scheme
Both routes take time and evidence. Knowing that up front makes the process easier.
Evidence. Proof of income or benefits, proof of address, and the home's EPC or an assessment.
An assessment visit. Someone appointed by the council or Nest looks at the home and decides what to fund. Solar may or may not be part of it.
Waiting. Applications are handled in turn, and funding can be committed or paused. Ask how long the current wait is.
No fees. Neither scheme charges eligible households to apply. If anyone asks for money to process an application, stop.
Why the routes are means-tested
The Warm Homes Plan, published in January 2026, puts more than £5 billion towards low-income households by 2030, out of a total of just under £15 billion. The reasoning is that lower-income households are least able to pay for improvements and most likely to live in cold, expensive-to-heat homes, so grant money does most good there. Households that can pay are offered loans instead.
That is why every route that can put solar on a home at no cost asks about income first, and why the routes are run by councils and the Welsh Government rather than sold door to door. It also explains the shift from 2027/28, when the Local Grant and the Social Housing Fund are due to merge into one area-based scheme: the aim is to target areas, not just individual applications.
If money is tight and the schemes don't fit, Citizens Advice can help with energy bills and debts more widely. See also Warm Homes: Local Grant, funding by nation and renters and landlords.
Where these facts come from
- GOV.UK — Apply for Warm Homes: Local Grant (England) — checked 2 November 2026
- DESNZ — Warm Homes: Local Grant policy guidance, July 2026 (PDF) — checked 3 November 2026
- Welsh Government — Warm Homes Nest scheme annual report 2024 to 2025 — checked 2 November 2026
- GOV.UK — The Warm Homes Plan (January 2026) — checked 3 November 2026
- House of Commons Library — briefing CBP-9585 on home energy support (PDF) — checked 2 November 2026
- Home Energy Scotland — grants and loans — checked 2 November 2026
- Citizens Advice — scams — checked 3 November 2026
Not sure which route, if any, fits your home?
Tell us where you live and what you are looking into. Your message reaches SEO-DONS LTD, the publisher of this explainer, and we answer by email. We are not a scheme and cannot approve anything, but we can point you to the right door.
What happens next
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- We reply by email with the scheme or council page that fits, if there is one.
- Any application is between you and that scheme.