Government reveals £1.29bn allocation to Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund

The new funding will consist of £374m in 2025-26, £459m in 2026-27 and £459m in 2027-28.

Matthew Scott, policy and practice officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), told Social Housing: “It is welcome to see the grant profile has been backloaded into the final two scheme years, which will enable the installation of clean heating and vital energy saving measures to grow as we move towards the end of the decade.”

Warm Homes Plan

The announcement of WH:SHF funding allocation forms part of the government’s latest update on its Warm Homes Plan. The government said up to 300,000 households will benefit from home upgrades in the next year.

It said this is partly through social housing residents, lower-income householders and renters being set to receive funded energy efficiency upgrades, including insulation and low-carbon heating, through the WH:SHF and Warm Homes: Local Grant respectively.

Government said the milestone will also be reached by allowing households to install an air source heat pump without needing to submit a planning application in England and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme giving homeowners in England and Wales a £7,500 heat pump grant.

Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “With England’s homes producing more carbon each year than all the country’s cars, housing associations are committed to playing their part in tackling the climate emergency and supporting the government to meet its net zero targets, through decarbonising their homes.

“We welcome the confirmation of the boost in funding, which is essential to this work, kickstarting the government’s Warm Homes Plan and helping tackle fuel poverty. The policy measures announced today will be essential to this shared mission, scaling the supply chain and driving down the costs of the clean, efficient home heating systems of the future.

“We look forward to working with the government ahead of next year’s Spending Review on the design of the full Warm Homes Plan, and in bringing forward their manifesto commitment of a significant increase in funding for retrofitting homes.”

The CIH’s Mr Scott added that the announcement on the Warm Homes Plan is “another big step in the right direction”.

“It will significantly support the sector’s plans to tackle fuel poverty, while simultaneously cutting carbon emissions from our homes and boosting local supply chains,” he said.

“With Ofgem’s energy price cap set to stay high for the foreseeable future, we hope the government will use the spring Spending Review to deliver an even larger volume of funding for energy efficiency and warmer homes.”

Minister for energy consumers Miatta Fahnbulleh said: “The idea at the heart of our Warm Homes Plan is a simple one – all families deserve the security of a home they can afford to heat.  

“But for too long, that has been out of reach for far too many people who have been left with draughty homes and sky-high bills. That is why we are taking immediate action today to make cleaner heating available to more households.  

“This follows our plan to lift over one million households out of fuel poverty by consulting on boosting minimum energy efficiency standards for all renters by 2030, delivering warmer homes and cheaper bills.”