The Warm Homes Plan is not short on ambition. Running to well over a hundred pages, it is a complex patchwork of policy ideas and promises which set out the government’s intention to deliver the largest programme of home energy upgrades the UK has ever seen.
The headline commitments are bold: up to £15bn of public investment, a major expansion of skilled jobs, and millions of households expected to benefit from warmer, cheaper-to-run homes by the end of the decade.
Local authority-led delivery is at the heart of the scheme. In particular, we expect to see combined authorities taking a leading role.
But anyone with experience in social housing knows that ambition on paper does not automatically translate into results on the ground.
The real test of the Warm Homes Plan will not be the size of the budget, but whether it can be converted into programmes that work.
The Warm Homes Plan includes:
• A big push on heat pumps (with help for more UK-manufactured heat pumps), including simpler processes to enable rapid installations and funding for upskilling more heating engineers to fit them.
• Continued support for rooftop solar too, with new low-interest loans and direct grants to meet upfront costs.
• Encouragement to consider energy storage and batteries, with new safety standards, such as PAS 63100, to ensure robust fire protection for domestic installations.
• A boost to the successful Boiler Upgrade Scheme, with more funding and more innovative technologies on offer such as air-to-air heat pumps and heat batteries.
• Support for insulation and fabric measures only when they deliver “strong value for money”, help with the efficient operation of clean heating systems and meet revised compliance and consumer protection standards.
• A new £5bn Warm Homes Fund, including £600m specifically targeted at supporting low-income households and £2.7bn to unlock innovative finance for large-scale retrofit projects by local authorities and housing associations.
• Regulation for heat networks, a new approach to heat network zoning and over £1bn in investment.
• A new Warm Homes Agency – a dedicated executive agency to provide advice, a single, coordinated model for overseeing millions of home upgrades, and support for local authorities to deliver area-based energy solutions.
• Proposals for minimum energy efficiency standards for social rented homes (EPC band C by 2030), aligned to the updated Decent Homes Standards, and with new methodologies to create EPCs….
… And there is still more to come, including:
• A call for evidence to identify further market impacts and new activities for the Warm Homes Fund.
• In March: More details of that Fund, including what we might see in a new scheme for low-income households from 2027/28 which will replace the existing funding schemes (the Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund).
• Throughout 2026: More details on eligibility rules and application processes for Warm Homes Plan schemes, including access to finance, and on the set-up of the Warm Homes Agency (most likely operational from mid-2027).
A shift in the way retrofit is delivered
The Warm Homes Plan recognises energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies not as optional enhancements, but essential infrastructure.
It signals to the social housing sector that:
• Meaningful change is most achievable where councils and housing providers act at scale, across whole portfolios.
• Favoured retrofit programmes are probably now somewhat less about insulation, and more about technology (although both are needed).
• Targeted and innovative public/private sector finance vehicles, supporting coordinated programmes and combining fabric improvement and low-carbon heating, are key.
In practice, the Plan encourages a shift away from somewhat fragmented or reactive retrofit projects, towards planned, long-term investment and strategic, area-based delivery that can be measured, reviewed and adapted over time.
Instead of treating retrofit as a house-by-house task, the Plan empowers organisations to lead neighbourhood-scale upgrades that tackle entire streets simultaneously, integrating insulation with solar PV, batteries and clean heating.
That shift is significant. Managing large-scale, multi-year retrofit programmes is a fundamentally different challenge to installing individual measures. Social landlords need clear, well informed technical oversight and disciplined decision-making throughout.
The government is also keen to test approaches to bulk purchasing and demand aggregation to drive down unit costs for social housing landlords, leveraging the scale of the public sector estate.
The Warm Homes Plan is national in scope, but delivery will always be shaped by local context – and local leadership is essential. Local authorities are identified as "critical actors" due to their deep understanding of local housing stock and supply chains.
They are also expected to plan retrofits that align with Local Area Energy Plans and Regional Energy Strategy Plans to ensure upgrades do not overwhelm the local electricity grid.
So as social landlords develop their Warm Homes strategies, access to objective technical advice, place-based assessment and independent review will be critical in shaping programmes that are deliverable, proportionate and resilient over time.
How N9 can help
Workstream 1 (Consultancy) of LHC’s Retrofit and Decarbonisation (N9) framework can help with delivery of the Warm Homes Plan and current retrofit programmes.
It gives access to pre-approved local retrofit assessors, consultants and supply chains, combining energy policy and strategy development with grant funding support, providing comprehensive assistance to local authorities and housing associations in planning and implementing energy efficient strategies.
Consultants within the N9 framework play a pivotal role in helping contracting authorities secure new funding opportunities, offering assistance from the early planning stages through to potential future retention funding.
They also provide end to end support from design to sign-off and any works required post-handover, ensuring full compliance with PAS 2030 (and PAS 2038 for non-domestic buildings too). Social value is baked in from the start.
Contact us for more information on LHC’s N9 framework consultancy workstream.