This is the news many in the sector have been waiting for and we welcome the Government publishing its Warm Homes Plan, first announced in 2024.

The Warm Homes Plan commits £15bn over the next five years to upgrading homes across the UK, alongside introducing new rights and protections for renters. Its stated goals are to tackle fuel poverty, reduce bills, and accelerate the rollout of clean heating and energy efficiency measures.

A major new element is the offer of low and zero-interest loans for “able to pay” households to support the uptake of technologies such as heat pumps, solar panels and batteries.

Below is what we know so far and what remains unclear.

The funding: £15bn split into two main pots

£5bn for low-income households
£5bn is ringfenced for low-income households, who will be able to access direct support to make their homes warmer, healthier and cheaper to run.
Depending on the property and household, this could mean partially or fully funded whole-home retrofits. For some homes, this might include packages such as solar PV and a battery (often costing in the region of £9,000–£12,000), alongside other measures.

£10bn for infrastructure and “able to pay” households
The remaining £10bn will be split between:

• Investment in delivery infrastructure and skills, and
• Low- and zero-interest loans for “able to pay” households to install clean energy technologies.

The government has said this funding will also support the creation of thousands of well-paid, future-proofed jobs in energy efficiency and clean heating by 2030. This is a critical point: scaling up delivery capacity, skills and local supply chains is essential if the UK is to move from small, stop-start schemes to mass retrofit.

The “able to pay” market: a big opportunity, but big unanswered questions
The loan offer could help many households who have previously been “just outside” eligibility for grants, or for those who want to improve the energy efficiency of their homes but cannot afford the upfront cost.
However, key details are still missing:

• Who will provide the loans?
• How will households apply?
• What will the interest rates and repayment terms be?
• What consumer protections will apply?

There is also a real risk that if repayment periods are short or terms are unattractive, some households will still be unable to access support, while also not qualifying for grant funding, leaving them stuck in inefficient homes as energy prices continue to fluctuate.

Where is insulation in the headline offer?
One noticeable feature of the press coverage is the heavy emphasis on technologies (heat pumps, solar, batteries) and much less emphasis on fabric improvements.
There is no clear mention of grant support for “able to pay” households specifically for insulation in the main announcements, even though insulation and draught-proofing are listed in the eligible measures.

This matters because:
Heat pumps and low-carbon heating perform well in homes with low heat loss.
In a poorly insulated home, heat escapes through walls, roofs, floors and draughts. That means:

• The heating system runs more
• The home is harder to keep warm
• Running costs are higher than expected

In the worst case, you risk ending up with a fuel-poor household in a cold, draughty home – just with a heat pump or solar panels added.

New protections for renters
The government has also highlighted new and stronger protections for renters.
Currently, around 1.6 million children in the UK live in fuel-poor homes that are cold, damp or mouldy. The Plan commits to improving standards in both the private and social rented sectors and making sure landlords take responsibility for providing homes that are safe, warm and affordable to run.

However, we do not yet know:

• What the new minimum standards will be
• The timeline for compliance
• What support will be available to landlords
• What enforcement mechanisms will be used

The Warm Homes Agency: a major structural reform
One of the most important announcements is the creation of a Warm Homes Agency.
 The new Agency is intended to act as a single national delivery body responsible for:

• Advice and guidance
• Access routes
• Quality assurance
• The end-to-end customer journey
• Combining functions from multiple existing bodies
• Reducing duplication, admin burden, and stop-start funding cycles

Local delivery model
The Plan also signals a shift towards greater local and regional control, with mayors and local leaders playing a stronger role in delivery.
This suggests:

• More area-based programmes
• More strategic, long-term delivery contracts
• Less short-term competitive bidding and funding cycle

Confirmed list of eligible measures
The government has confirmed that schemes will cover:

• Solar panels (PV and solar thermal)
• Heat pumps (air source, ground source, including air-to-air)
• Home and heat batteries
• Smart controls
• Insulation (wall, floor and roof)
• Draught-proofing

Risks, unknowns, and what to watch
While the Warm Homes Plan sets a long-term direction and represents a major step forward in funding scale and ambition, many critical delivery details are not yet published.
The creation of the Warm Homes Agency strongly suggests the government intends to improve quality control and customer outcomes – but the technical rules, sequencing and standards have not yet been set out.

Conclusion: the direction is laid out, the detail is not (yet)
The Warm Homes Plan sets a strategic direction of travel: towards mass, long-term, whole-home retrofit delivered at scale.
However, many of the most important delivery rules, technical standards and access routes are still to come and will likely emerge later this year.