Warm Homes: Local Grant 2026 (Windows and Glazing)

If you are looking for help with new windows in England in 2026, the Warm Homes: Local Grant is the scheme to understand first. It launched in April 2025, it is delivered by your local council rather than a national agency, and it runs to 2028. It is also the route the government is now steering households towards as ECO4 winds down. The headline figures look generous, but the detail matters a great deal for glazing in particular, so this page sets out exactly what it covers, who qualifies and how to apply, without the sales spin. If it turns out you do not qualify, our grants hub covers the other UK schemes and our cost guidance shows what you would pay yourself.

What the Warm Homes: Local Grant is

The Warm Homes: Local Grant is the headline England energy-efficiency grant for lower-income households. Rather than being run by a single national body, it is allocated to participating local authorities, who deliver it on the ground and assess each home. It sits under the government's January 2026 Warm Homes Plan, a programme backed by just under £15bn of capital investment and described as the biggest energy-efficiency push in British history. As that plan ramps up, the Local Grant is the long-term home for funding that used to flow through the supplier-obligation model.

Who qualifies

Three conditions sit at the heart of eligibility, and you generally need to meet all of them:

• Property type and location. You need a privately-owned home, whether you are an owner-occupier or a private tenant, in a local authority that is taking part. Delivery is council by council, so the grant is only open where your area has signed up.
• Income or benefits. Your household needs a gross annual income under £36,000 and/or to be on income-related benefits. This is the means test that keeps the scheme targeted at fuel poverty.
• EPC band. Your home needs to be rated EPC band D to G, the colder, less efficient properties where upgrades make the most difference.

Even with all three met, an award is not automatic, because budgets are finite and councils prioritise the homes that need work most. The honest national picture is that only around 15% of households qualify for grant funding of any kind, so it is worth running your own numbers before you plan around it. Our grant eligibility checker walks you through the main conditions in a couple of minutes.

What it covers for glazing

Here is the part that trips people up. The grant has two separate pots. One is up to £15,000 towards fabric measures, which includes double or triple glazing and draught-proofing. The other is up to £15,000 towards a low-carbon heating system, such as an air source heat pump. Together that is up to £30,000 per household, which is the figure you will see quoted everywhere.

For windows, the number that actually applies is the £15,000 fabric pot. Glazing and draught-proofing are paid from that allowance, not from the full £30,000, because the heating pot can only be spent on heating. So if a salesperson implies you have £30,000 to throw at new windows, that is not how it works. Whether glazing is funded at all also depends on the council assessor, who decides which measures your home needs most from the available budget. New windows can be approved, but insulation often comes first where a home is losing more heat through walls or lofts. If you want to understand where glazing sits among the options, read whether double glazing is worth it for your home and our comparison of double versus triple glazing.

Treat the £30,000 headline with care. For windows you are really talking about the £15,000 fabric pot, and the council assessor, not you, decides what gets funded. I have watched homeowners assume new windows are guaranteed, then find the assessor has put loft and wall insulation first because that is where the heat was actually escaping. Sort the grant through the official channel before you commit to anything.

Tom Bradley, FENSA-registered installer

How to apply

Applying is straightforward and free, and you should only ever use the official route. The process runs as follows:

1. Check the basics. Confirm your home, income or benefits and EPC band against the conditions above.
2. Use the GOV.UK eligibility checker. Complete the checker at gov.uk/apply-warm-homes-local-grant, which runs through the income, benefit and property conditions.
3. Your application is passed on. If you appear eligible, the application is handed to your local authority, who can flex the criteria at their discretion.
4. Have your home assessed. The council arranges an assessment to decide which measures your home needs, including whether glazing is funded from the fabric pot.

Never pay a third party to apply on your behalf, and never sign for windows on the strength of a grant that nobody has confirmed. Following how to avoid being overcharged keeps you on safe ground whether or not the grant comes through.

How it relates to ECO4

The Warm Homes: Local Grant is best understood as the successor to the old supplier-obligation approach. ECO4 has been extended and now closes on 31 December 2026, with no replacement supplier obligation after it. As ECO4 ends, the Local Grant is the route the government is steering households towards, which is why it matters so much for anyone planning glazing work over the next couple of years. If you are eligible for ECO4 through income-related benefits, it can still be worth applying through an installer while it lasts, then turning to the Local Grant for the longer term. Outside England the picture is different again: in Scotland the route for windows is the Home Energy Scotland interest-free loan rather than a grant, so check the scheme for your nation before you plan.