What we got wrong, and why we are telling you
An earlier version of this page stated that the Affordable Warmth Scheme closed to new applications at the end of March 2026, and that no replacement was confirmed. Both halves of that were wrong, and we would rather correct it in public than quietly change the wording.
The error has a traceable origin. In September 2023 the Department for Communities announced changes to the scheme and said it had been extended for two further years, running until March 2026. That was accurate at the time. It has since been overtaken, and we read a 2023 end date as a 2026 closure without checking what had happened in between. It is the same failure that runs through a lot of grant coverage: a scheme deadline gets reported once and then repeated long after the deadline has moved.
What the Department for Communities actually says
The clearest signal is the title of the Department's own equality screening document, published on 19 May 2026: "Warm Healthy Homes Fund (Replacing Affordable Warmth Scheme ending in March 2028)". The document states that the new scheme will be introduced in Northern Ireland in April 2027, and refers to the current scheme having business case approval until March 2028.
That sits alongside three other things. The Warm Healthy Homes Strategy 2026 to 2036 was published on 5 February 2026, and the new fund is a central feature of it. A 12-week public consultation on the fund ran from 27 May to 19 August 2026, seeking views on income thresholds, the treatment of household savings, increased grant limits per household, support for private renters, and quality standards and redress. And GOV.UK's own Warm Homes Plan describes the Affordable Warmth Scheme in the present tense, saying the new scheme will replace it when it ends.
What we could not confirm
Whether the scheme is accepting applications today. The Housing Executive delivers it, and its scheme page returns a Forbidden response to every automated client we tried and to a browser outside its network, so we could not read it. That is an access restriction rather than a statement about the scheme: a withdrawn page returns Not Found, not Forbidden, and a closed scheme would still have a page saying so.
The last archived copy of that page, captured on 22 March 2026, still described the scheme in the present tense as providing funding towards insulation, central heating and new windows. That is nine days before the closure we previously reported, and it is the most recent snapshot that exists. It is suggestive rather than conclusive, which is exactly why the answer here is a phone number rather than a confident sentence.
So where does that leave you in practice? Our working assumption, and it is an assumption rather than a finding, is that there is no open application route you can use today. We have not been able to reach the scheme page or find a live application form, and no source dated after March 2026 says applications are being taken. Plan your window job on the basis that you are paying for it. But do not treat that as a closure notice, because we cannot show you one, and two minutes on the phone will tell you more than this page can.
What the scheme offered, and where windows sat
The terms are worth knowing either way, because the replacement fund is being designed against them. The scheme offered up to £7,500 of energy-efficient home improvements, or £10,000 where solid wall measures were involved, to households with a total gross annual household income of less than £23,000.
For anyone after new glazing, the catch was the order of priority. Window replacement sat in Priority 3, behind insulation, draught-proofing and heating. In practice the cheaper, higher-impact measures were funded first, and many households never reached the point where glazing was paid for. So even at its most generous this was never a windows grant in all but name, and that is worth holding on to when the replacement fund's measure list is published.
People put a job off for a year waiting on a scheme that was never going to cover their windows anyway. Make the call, take two minutes to find out where you stand, then price the work on the assumption you are paying for it. If funding turns up, it is money off a decision you had already made properly.
Double Glazing Cost Calculator Team
What is left for NI homeowners in the meantime
Northern Ireland has fewer routes than the rest of the UK. ECO4, which runs to 31 December 2026, covers England, Scotland and Wales but not Northern Ireland, so the main supplier-funded route open elsewhere does not apply here. The wider funding picture, including what changed across the rest of the UK this year, sits in our guide to double glazing grants and our running double glazing news and policy updates.
If you are paying for the work yourself, start with a realistic budget. Our uPVC window cost calculator gives an estimate from how many windows you need and the style you want, and the grant eligibility checker runs through the income, benefit and EPC rules so you know whether any application is worth starting.
Sources: Department for Communities, "Warm Healthy Homes Fund (Replacing Affordable Warmth Scheme ending in March 2028)" screening, 19 May 2026; DfC consultation on the Warm Healthy Homes Fund, 27 May to 19 August 2026; DfC, "Changes to the Affordable Warmth Scheme", 8 September 2023; GOV.UK, Warm Homes Plan.
Frequently asked questions
Assume not, but check before you rely on it. We have not been able to reach the Housing Executive's scheme page or find a live application route, and no source dated after March 2026 says applications are being taken. Against that, the Department for Communities refers to the scheme having business case approval until March 2028 and GOV.UK's Warm Homes Plan describes it in the present tense. We cannot resolve that from the outside, so the definitive answer has to come from them: ring the NI Energy Advice line on 0800 111 44 55.
The Warm Healthy Homes Fund. The Department for Communities says the new scheme will be introduced in Northern Ireland in April 2027 and will replace the current Affordable Warmth Scheme. It is a central feature of the Warm Healthy Homes Strategy 2026 to 2036, published on 5 February 2026.
Not confirmed. The consultation proposals cover eligibility thresholds, the treatment of household savings, increased grant limits per household, support for the private rented sector, and quality standards. The measure list has not been published, so nobody can yet tell you whether glazing is in and at what priority.
Grants of up to £7,500 of energy-efficient home improvements, or £10,000 for solid wall measures, for households with a total gross annual household income of less than £23,000. Window replacement sat lower down the list as a Priority 3 measure, behind insulation, draught-proofing and heating.
No. ECO4 runs to 31 December 2026 and covers England, Scotland and Wales only, so the main supplier-funded route open elsewhere does not apply in Northern Ireland.
For most households, no. Only around 15% of households across the UK qualify for grant funding of any kind, and windows were a low priority even within the scheme that exists. Price the job privately, and treat any grant you turn out to qualify for as a reduction rather than the plan.