Warm Home Discount 2026/27: the £150 off your electricity bill

What the Warm Home Discount is

The Warm Home Discount is a one-off £150 knocked off your electricity bill over winter. It's not a cash payment — your supplier credits it to your energy account (it can go on your gas account instead if the same supplier provides both). GOV.UK says the scheme has closed for now and 'will reopen in October 2026'. The discount is then applied to bills over the winter. Under the scheme's rules, suppliers must credit it by 31 March 2027 if the government has sent them your details by 1 March 2027, or within 30 days if it sends them later.

It runs alongside the Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payments — they're separate schemes, so you can receive more than one.

It covers England, Wales and Scotland. GOV.UK says the Warm Home Discount is not available in Northern Ireland and points households there to the Housing Executive's Affordable Warmth Scheme, which is different: it's grant aid for energy-efficiency improvements for low-income homeowners and private renters, not money off the bill.

Who qualifies in 2026/27

In England and Wales the rules were widened in 2025 and stay widened for 2026/27: the old test that your home had to be expensive to heat has been removed, so far more low-income households now qualify. The government expects around six million households in Great Britain to get it in winter 2026/27.

For winter 2026/27, GOV.UK says what counts is your situation on 23 August 2026. All of these must have applied on that date: your energy supplier is part of the scheme, you (or your partner) get a qualifying means-tested benefit, and your name (or your partner's) is on the electricity bill.

GOV.UK lists the qualifying means-tested benefits in England and Wales as Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Pension Credit. In England and Wales you'll usually get it automatically: suppliers and the DWP match the data, and the government writes to eligible households each year. If you get a letter asking you to confirm your details by a date, don't ignore it.

Scotland works differently

In Scotland the discount has a 'core group' who get it automatically (anyone on Pension Credit, and people on Universal Credit, income-related ESA or a Support for Mortgage Interest loan who meet extra conditions, such as a disability amount or premium, or a child under 5 at home; GOV.UK lists them in full) and a 'broader group' who are on a low income and meet their supplier's own criteria. The broader group must apply to their energy supplier, which may have extra eligibility criteria. The scheme's rules only require each supplier to give a set number of these discounts, so not everyone who qualifies is guaranteed one. If that's you, apply as soon as the scheme opens rather than leaving it.