The Warm Homes Loan explained: who'll qualify and what it covers
Who qualifies for the Warm Homes Loan, what it will cover, where the launch stands and how it works with the Boiler Upgrade Scheme — confirmed vs still to come.
By Tom Calder · Updated 2 November 2026 · Sourced to gov.uk & the official scheme rules
Earlier changes
13 Oct Re-checked GOV.UK on 13 October: the September consumer launch phase in the scheme rules has not yet produced any named lender, product or rate, and the scheme page’s last published change is still 17 September.
29 Sept Corrected the Warm Homes Plan's publication date to 21 January 2026 (we had November 2025). Updated where the launch stands: as of 29 September the loans are not yet open to the public, and no lenders, products or rates have been named. The scheme rules, updated on 17 September, confirm the loan can be combined with a BUS or Home Energy Scotland grant and set caps for heat network connections and domestic wind or micro-hydro. Heat network connections are exempt from the MCS installer requirement, and air-to-air heat pumps are still not eligible under the September rules.
What the Warm Homes Loan actually is
The Warm Homes Loan Scheme is the borrowing arm of the government's Warm Homes Plan, published on 21 January 2026. It is not a grant paid to you. Instead, the government gives participating banks and finance companies a non-repayable grant of up to 20% of each eligible loan — paid in arrears, only after the installation is verified — and the scheme rules require that support to be passed on to borrowers as a lower interest rate, with clawback if the discount isn't fully passed through. The mechanism is sized to cut up to five percentage points off the lender's normal rate on terms of three to ten years, and rates can't go below zero. Lenders must be FCA-authorised, and grant support applies to loans with repayment terms of three years or longer — as ordinary unsecured personal loans, borrowing secured against the home, or point-of-sale finance arranged through an installer.
Where it stands: the loans are now available. On 27 October 2026 the government published a factsheet naming ten lenders initially offering loans, to households across the UK: HomeServe (partnering with E.ON), Hometree Finance, Propensio, Secure Trust Bank, Selina Finance, South Manchester Credit Union, Sunsave, Tandem Bank, The Money Co-op and This Bank. It says further lenders and products are expected to join as the scheme develops. The Warm Homes Plan allocates up to £1.7 billion of lending, backed by £300 million of government grant capital.
Who is expected to qualify
The scheme rules name two eligible groups: owner-occupiers of existing homes, and private rented sector landlords borrowing personally. It operates UK-wide, alongside the devolved nations' own schemes. Unusually for an energy scheme, there are no income thresholds, no minimum energy-efficiency requirements and no property-type restrictions at scheme level — if you own more than one property, you can apply for a loan for each.
The catch is that eligibility on paper is not approval in practice. Lenders run their normal creditworthiness and affordability checks, and may add their own criteria — the rules give 'a requirement to evidence an Energy Performance Certificate' as an example. The scheme is explicitly aimed at households who can afford to borrow but are put off by upfront costs. If you're on a low income, this is not your route: the Warm Homes Plan directs over £5 billion of investment — grants, not loans — at low-income and social housing through the Warm Homes Local Grant and the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund.
What the loans cover — and the big gap
The eligible list is clean-energy kit, each with a loan cap: rooftop solar PV (up to £15,000), battery storage (£15,000), air-to-water heat pumps (£20,000, before any grant is deducted), ground source heat pumps (£35,000), biomass boilers for rural homes with a grant (£20,000), heat network connections, and domestic wind or micro-hydro. An EV chargepoint can be financed only as part of a solar or battery installation, never on its own. Air-to-air heat pumps are listed with a £10,000 cap, but the government's October factsheet says only 'when MCS certification available' — they're waiting on new MCS product and installation standards, so check the position when you apply.
The big gap: insulation, draught-proofing, windows, doors and roof repairs are not covered — the rules even bar funding insulation as part of a heat pump installation, and roofing work needed before solar goes on. Lenders may offer a separate ordinary personal loan for those jobs, but it won't carry the scheme's subsidised rate. All funded work except heat network connections must use MCS-certified installers and products; the government only pays the lender its grant after MCS verification of the installation.
NewSee this for your own homeHome Alerts: your postcode's power cuts, warnings and floods, on one screen. Free for your own home. Sign up in a minute.Start free →How it stacks with the Boiler Upgrade Scheme
The loan is designed to sit on top of existing grants, not replace them. In England and Wales, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme currently pays £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump, £5,000 towards a biomass boiler and £2,500 towards an air-to-air heat pump — plus an extra £1,500 on air source or ground source installations until March 2027 for homes heated by oil or LPG with no mains gas connection. The scheme rules give the intended combination explicitly: claim the BUS grant, then use a Warm Homes Loan to finance the remaining cost, with the loan cap applied before the grant is deducted. The rules, as updated in September 2026, name the BUS and Scotland's Home Energy Scotland scheme as the only other public grants you can combine with the loan for the same work.
In Scotland, the loan is designed to work alongside the Scottish Government's Home Energy Scotland scheme instead. The Warm Home Discount is a different thing entirely — £150 off your electricity bill, usually applied automatically, for winter 2026–27. Receiving it has no bearing on loan eligibility, and vice versa.
Do the cheap jobs first
The decide-first order matters more than the financing. Insulation and draught-proofing cut the amount of heat your home needs at all; a heat pump for a leaky home has to be bigger, costs more to install and more to run. Since the loan won't fund that groundwork anyway, do it before you borrow: loft top-ups, draught-proofing strips, letterbox brushes and chimney draught excluders are tens of pounds, not thousands, and they improve the economics of everything on the eligible list.
Then get real numbers. Two or three quotes from MCS-certified installers tell you the actual gap between the BUS grant and the installed price — which is the figure you'd be borrowing, and the figure to weigh against your realistic bill savings.
Confirmed vs still to come — and what to do now
Confirmed in the scheme rules (last updated 17 September 2026): the eligible borrower groups, the measure list and loan caps (including £7,500 for a heat network connection and £20,000 for domestic wind or micro-hydro), the up-to-20% grant mechanism, the MCS requirement, combining the loan with a BUS or Home Energy Scotland grant, and a consumer launch phase 'from September 2026'. Confirmed since, in the government's factsheet of 27 October: the first ten lenders, and an up-to-5% cut in interest rates compared with a regular loan, with some loans interest-free. Still to come: air-to-air heat pump eligibility, and more lenders. Interest rates are the one that decides whether this scheme is good value — each lender sets its own, so compare the total repayable, the term and any fees.
Sensible moves before you apply: sort insulation and draught-proofing, check your BUS eligibility, and get MCS installer quotes so you know your number. Then compare the lenders' actual rates and the total repayable before signing anything; each lender runs its own affordability and credit checks.
Common questions
When does the Warm Homes Loan Scheme start?
It has started. On 27 October 2026 the government named ten lenders initially offering loans to households across the UK: HomeServe (with E.ON), Hometree Finance, Propensio, Secure Trust Bank, Selina Finance, South Manchester Credit Union, Sunsave, Tandem Bank, The Money Co-op and This Bank. You apply to a participating lender or installer, and the lender runs its own affordability, credit and eligibility checks. More lenders are expected to join.
Will Warm Homes Loans be interest-free?
Not necessarily, though 0% deals are possible in the design. The government pays lenders a non-repayable grant of up to 20% of each loan, which must be passed on by cutting the interest rate — sized to take up to five percentage points off the lender's normal rate on three-to-ten-year terms, with rates floored at zero. The government says some loans are interest-free; otherwise each lender sets its own rate, so compare the total repayable before assuming 0%.
Does the Warm Homes Loan cover insulation or double glazing?
No. The eligible list is limited to heat pumps, solar PV, batteries, biomass boilers, heat network connections and micro-renewables — the rules explicitly exclude insulation, windows, doors and roof repairs, even as part of a heat pump job. Lenders may offer a separate standard personal loan for that work, without the subsidised rate.
Can I combine a Warm Homes Loan with the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant?
That's the intended design: claim the £7,500 BUS grant for an air source or ground source heat pump, then borrow the remaining installation cost through the loan. The scheme rules, updated in September 2026, allow it: the BUS and Scotland's Home Energy Scotland scheme are the only other public grants you can combine with the loan for the same work.
Can landlords get a Warm Homes Loan?
Yes. Private rented sector landlords borrowing personally are one of the two eligible groups, alongside owner-occupiers, and owners of multiple properties can apply for a loan for each property. Lending to companies or SPVs isn't allowed, and social housing is funded separately through the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund.
Do I need a particular installer to qualify?
Yes — all work financed under the scheme, except heat network connections, must use MCS-certified installers and products, and the government only pays the lender its grant after MCS verification confirms the installation. Getting quotes from MCS-certified installers is the single most useful thing you can do before you apply.
Sources (5)
- Warm Homes Loan Scheme — scheme rules (DESNZ, updated 17 September 2026)
- Warm Homes Plan (DESNZ, published 21 January 2026, corrected 18 March 2026)
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme — what you can get (GOV.UK)
- Warm Home Discount Scheme (GOV.UK)
- Warm Homes Loan Scheme: Factsheet (GOV.UK, 27 October 2026: ten lenders, up-to-5% rate cut, measures and caps, how to apply), read 2 November 2026
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