Warm Homes: Local Grant and solar panels

Who Warm Homes: Local Grant is for

GOV.UK sets out three things a household needs, in summary. The home must be in England and privately owned, which includes owner-occupied homes and homes rented from a private landlord; social housing is funded separately. The home's energy performance certificate must show a rating of D, E, F or G. And the household must be on a lower income: usually £36,000 a year or less, or living in an eligible postcode, or receiving an eligible means-tested benefit.

The income line is a household figure, not one person's earnings, and councils check it. The postcode route exists because some areas are deprived enough that households there are treated as eligible without an individual income test. The benefit route is the simplest to evidence. Each council publishes how it checks, and many use a delivery partner to run assessments.

If you don't know your EPC rating, the GOV.UK EPC register lets you look it up by postcode. A home with no certificate, or one that has had work since the last assessment, may need a new one as part of the council's process.

What the grant can pay for

The scheme funds energy performance upgrades and low-carbon heating. The measures listed on GOV.UK include insulation, air source heat pumps, smart heating controls and solar panels. A battery can be funded only alongside solar panels, whether they are new or already on the roof. The council decides which measures a home gets, based on an assessment of what will improve it most, so a household cannot ask for solar alone and expect it to be approved.

In practice, homes with poor insulation often get fabric measures first, because they are what moves a low EPC rating furthest. Solar tends to be recommended where the roof suits it and the home's heating and fabric are already in reasonable shape, or as part of a wider package. That is the council's call, made against its own guidance from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Where a home is privately rented, the landlord has to agree to the work, and councils set their own terms for rented homes.

How a council Local Grant application usually runs

1. Find your council's scheme. GOV.UK's "Apply for Warm Homes: Local Grant" page explains how to apply and how to reach the scheme for your area. Some councils run the scheme themselves; others work in groups, or through a combined authority.
2. Eligibility checks. Expect to provide evidence of income or benefits, and for the EPC rating to be confirmed.
3. A home assessment. An assessor appointed by the council visits to work out which measures suit the home.
4. An offer of measures. The council confirms what it will fund. This is the point to ask any questions about the work.
5. Installation by the council's contractors. The contractors are appointed and paid by the council or its partner.

Timings vary by council and by demand, and councils can close to new applications when their funding is committed. If your council's scheme is paused, ask whether it keeps a waiting list.

How to tell a real Local Grant contact from a sales call

Because Local Grant is council-led, the safest way in is always from the council's end: its website, or the GOV.UK page for the scheme. If someone contacts you first, perhaps with an offer of panels at no cost, ask which council they are working for, then check that with the council directly, using a number or address from the council's own website.

• A genuine contact can name the council and the scheme.
• It does not ask you for a fee, a deposit or bank details to "secure" a grant.
• It does not ask you to sign a finance agreement.
• It does not rush you: councils work through applications over weeks or months.

More on this in spotting fake grant offers and questions before agreeing funded work.