What has actually changed
Domestic electricity has carried 5% VAT for years. From 1 October 2026 it carries none. Government announced the change on 21 July 2026 and puts the effect at an average of around £45 a year off a household electricity bill, describing it as taking around £45 off the October price cap. It is costed at around £850 million for 2026-27.
Mechanically it is about as simple as tax changes get. Suppliers add up the electricity used in a period, add the daily standing charge, and apply 5% VAT to that part of the bill. From 1 October they stop. In government's own words, you do not need to do anything to claim the savings. That includes prepayment meters, where VAT is currently charged on the money loaded onto the key or card and will not be, and it includes households already locked into a fixed tariff. Small businesses that qualify for domestic energy VAT relief, charities and residential care homes already on the reduced rate get the 0% rate too.
Electricity only, and why that is the whole story here
The limit on this measure is the reason it appears on a glazing site at all. Gas is not included.
| Fuel | VAT before | VAT from 1 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic electricity | 5% | 0% |
| Domestic gas | 5% | 5%, unchanged |
Announced by government on 21 July 2026, effective 1 October 2026 and funded for the 2026-27 financial year. Northern Ireland is excluded and receives comparable funding instead.
A window does one job: it slows the rate at which heat leaves the building. In most UK homes that heat is bought as gas, so the fuel a glazing upgrade acts on is precisely the one this change leaves alone. The effect on the payback maths for new windows is therefore close to nothing, and we would rather say that plainly than dress a tax cut up as a reason to buy glazing.
The same quarter makes the point from the other direction. In the October price cap, Ofgem reports gas bills rising 8% while households without gas see under 1%, and states that the cap figure would have been around £45 higher without this VAT change. So the two announcements land together and pull in opposite directions on different fuels: the one that heats your house got more expensive, and the one that mostly does not got cheaper.
Expect this to appear in sales patter within a fortnight, phrased as energy costs coming down. Read the fuel. Electricity is where the tax came off and gas is where the heat comes from, so for anyone weighing up windows this is a nice £45 and nothing more. The number that decides whether glazing is worth doing has not moved.
Double Glazing Cost Calculator Team
This is not the VAT relief on installing windows
Two different VAT measures are going to be confused constantly over the next few months, so it is worth separating them properly. This one is about the electricity you buy. The other, which has been running for a while, is a temporary zero rate on the installation of certain energy-saving materials, and it also runs to 31 March 2027, which is precisely the coincidence that will cause the confusion.
| Energy-saving materials relief | This change | |
|---|---|---|
| What is taxed | the installation work | the electricity you use |
| Does it cover new windows? | not established, do not assume | not applicable |
| Ends | 31 March 2027 | 31 March 2027 |
The energy-saving materials relief names heat pumps and ancillary measures; whether window installation qualifies is not settled by that passage. Get the VAT treatment stated in writing on any quote.
Our position on the installation side has not changed and this announcement does not change it: the technologies named in the government passage are heat pumps and ancillary measures, so nobody should assume window installation is zero-rated, and the place to settle it is the quote itself. That is set out in full in our coverage of the Warm Homes Plan. If an installer tells you your windows are VAT free because of a government announcement, ask which announcement, and ask for it in writing.
More prosaically, VAT is one of the standard places a written quote goes wrong. A price that looks cheap and turns out to exclude VAT is not cheap, which is why our guide to cost per window tells you to confirm in writing whether a figure is supply-only or fully fitted and whether VAT is in or out, and why the quote quality auditor flags a suspiciously low total for exactly that reason.
Northern Ireland does not get it
The relief cannot be applied in Northern Ireland under the VAT rules that continue to apply there after Brexit. Government's answer is that the Northern Ireland Executive receives comparable funding to enable it to support NI households, which is a devolved spending decision rather than a line on a bill. What that support looks like, and when, has not been set out.
Northern Ireland readers are used to this pattern by now, and it is the same shape as the uncertainty around the Affordable Warmth Scheme and what replaces it. It is also worth remembering that the Energy Saving Trust puts the annual saving from replacing single glazing higher in Northern Ireland, at around £140 against £85 in Great Britain, because the fuel mix and housing stock differ. On glazing economics, NI is a separate calculation rather than a footnote.
What it means if you are planning window work
Take the £45, because it arrives without you doing anything, and then set it aside. It does not change the specification you should be buying, it does not change what a fair price looks like, and it does not shorten the payback on new windows, because the fuel it discounts is not the fuel your windows are losing.
What does move that calculation is the gas side of the bill, which went up this quarter, and whether you qualify for help with the capital cost in the first place. Our energy savings calculator estimates the annual saving for your own house, our guide to whether double glazing is worth it sets that against the install cost honestly, and the grants and funding routes are where the numbers genuinely change. The rest of our double glazing news and policy coverage tracks all three.
Sources: GOV.UK, "New PM cuts tax on household electricity bills to give breathing space on cost of living", published 21 July 2026, for the rate change, the start date, the average £45 saving, the £850 million cost, the inclusion of small businesses, charities and residential care homes, and the Northern Ireland position; GOV.UK, "Breathing space on your energy bill", for how the relief reaches bills, the prepayment and fixed tariff treatment and the statement that no claim is needed; Ofgem press release, "Energy price cap will rise by 4% from October 2026", 26 August 2026, for the statement that the cap figure would have been around £45 higher without the VAT change and for the 8% rise in gas bills; Energy Saving Trust for the £85 Great Britain and £140 Northern Ireland annual saving, last verified 29 July 2026.
Frequently asked questions
No. The change applies to domestic electricity only. VAT on electricity goes from 5% to 0% from 1 October 2026. Gas is not included and stays at 5%, which matters because most UK homes heat with gas.
Government puts it at an average of around £45 a year, and describes it as taking around £45 off the October Ofgem price cap. Ofgem's own announcement of that cap says the figure would have been around £45 higher without the change. It is an average across typical electricity use, so a low-usage household saves less and a high-usage one more.
It starts on 1 October 2026 and is funded for this financial year, so as things stand it ends on 31 March 2027. Treat it as a temporary measure unless it is extended.
No. Government is explicit that you do not need to do anything to claim the savings. Suppliers stop applying VAT to the electricity and standing charge part of the bill. Prepayment meters are covered too: VAT is currently charged on top-ups and will not be from 1 October. Households already on a fixed tariff benefit as well.
No. The relief cannot be applied in Northern Ireland under the VAT rules that continue to apply there after Brexit. Government states instead that the Northern Ireland Executive will receive comparable funding to enable it to support NI households. How that support is delivered has not been set out.
No, and the two should not be confused. This measure is about VAT on the electricity you buy. VAT on the installation of energy-saving materials is a separate relief, and the technologies named in the government passage are heat pumps and ancillary measures, so you cannot assume window installation is covered by it. Ask any installer to state the VAT treatment in writing on the quote.
Barely, and not in a way worth building a decision on. A window reduces how much heat escapes, and in most homes that heat is bought as gas, which this change does not touch. The saving figure stays where it is: around £85 a year in Great Britain and £140 in Northern Ireland for replacing single glazing with A-rated double glazing on a typical semi.