Insulation Grants UK 2026: What's Still Funded

Insulation Grants UK in 2026: What's Open in Each Nation

There are 5 live routes to funded insulation in the UK on October 30, 2026, and 1 big one that has gone. Here's the position by nation, from the official pages.

Two money changes sit behind this table. First, according to the Budget 2026 document, the last Budget took £150 of costs off household bills in April 2026 "by scrapping the Energy Company Obligation levy", and GOV.UK says ECO4 itself closes on 31 December 2026. Second, the same Budget 2026 document says the government will "save £1 billion capital grant from the Warm Homes Plan", while protecting the majority of Warm Homes Plan funding for low-income households and social housing delivered by mayors and councils. In plain terms: the council-run grants are the future, and they're means-tested.

Grantsights Analysis: 403,907 Insulation Measures Under ECO4 and GBIS

Grantsights analysis of the two June 2026 DESNZ releases adds up every insulation measure installed under ECO4 (April 2022 to April 2026, Table 1.6) and GBIS (April 2023 to March 2026, Table 3). Heating controls, boilers and solar are left out, so this is insulation only.

Source: DESNZ, Household Energy Efficiency Statistics headline release June 2026, Table 1.6 (includes ECO3 measures re-elected to ECO4 and ECO3 Interim); DESNZ, Great British Insulation Scheme release June 2026, Table 3. Provisional. Grantsights grouped internal and external wall insulation of both solid and cavity walls by method.

Three things stand out. Insulation was 75% of everything GBIS installed (104,222 of 139,136 measures), but only 29% of ECO4 measures, because ECO4 spent most of its effort on heating controls, boilers and heat pumps. GBIS did almost as much cavity wall insulation in 3 years as ECO4 did in 4. And underfloor insulation was rare: 7,253 measures across both schemes, under 2% of the total.

GBIS also went mostly to owners. Table 8 of the GBIS release shows 80.3% of the 100,940 households it upgraded were owner-occupied, 8.0% privately rented and 11.7% social housing.

The Long Decline of Free Cavity and Loft Insulation

Funded cavity wall insulation has fallen 98% since its peak: suppliers installed 316,444 cavity measures under ECO in 2014 and 5,699 in 2025. Grantsights analysis of DESNZ Table 3.1, which counts every ECO measure by quarter since January 2013, shows how the easy wins have shrunk.

Source: DESNZ, Household Energy Efficiency Statistics headline release June 2026, Table 3.1 (last updated May 28, 2026), all ECO phases. Excludes GBIS, which is counted separately. Selected years shown.

The statistics don't explain the fall, so treat any reason as a judgement. Two things are clear from the numbers, though. ECO cavity work dropped sharply from 2023, the same year GBIS began and took on 51,413 cavity measures of its own. And ECO's insulation in 2024 and 2025 shifted toward solid wall insulation, the most expensive and riskiest type, which matters for the quality problems below.

The practical point for a household in late 2026: if your cavity walls are empty, the scheme that funded most single cavity jobs recently (GBIS) has closed, and ECO recorded just 516 cavity measures across all of Great Britain in January to March 2026.

Where GBIS Insulation Went: Grantsights Analysis by Nation and Region

The North East received GBIS measures at more than 6 times London's rate per household. Grantsights analysis of GBIS Table 4 compares each nation and English region using the release's own household counts.

Source: DESNZ, Great British Insulation Scheme release June 2026, Table 4 (April 2023 to March 2026). Measures include heating controls (25% of the total); the rest is insulation.

Scotland's low GBIS rate is worth reading alongside Scotland's own grants: Scottish households can get insulation through Home Energy Scotland and Warmer Homes Scotland, which aren't counted here. For London and the South East, though, there's no separate regional scheme, and these were the areas the supplier schemes reached least.

ECO4 Insulation Rules: What Still Applies Until 31 December 2026

ECO4 has about 9 weeks left. GOV.UK's Energy Company Obligation page (opens in a new tab) says the scheme is "closing on 31 December 2026", and you apply through your council or an obligated supplier. Our ECO4 guide covers who qualifies; these are the insulation-specific rules.

• Insulation comes before heating. Article 25 of the ECO4 Order (opens in a new tab) says that when a heating measure goes into an E, F or G rated home (or a first-time heating system into a D rated home), the home's exterior cavity walls and its loft, roof or room-in-roof must be insulated first, unless an exemption applies. So a "free boiler" offer will usually involve insulation too.
• Insulation needs your EPC band to qualify. GOV.UK says owner-occupied homes must be rated D to G and privately rented homes E to G, with the owner's permission.
• Measures are chosen after a retrofit assessment. Ofgem's homeowners page says the specific measures are decided by a retrofit assessment, and that eligibility "doesn't necessarily mean" a supplier will fund anything.
• You may be asked to contribute. Ofgem says ECO "is not a grant scheme" and suppliers decide how much to fund.
• It can't be stacked on the same job. Ofgem says ECO4 funding can't be blended with other government grants, so other work must happen before the ECO4 project starts or after it finishes.

A realistic warning: solid wall jobs take time. If an installer can't promise in writing to finish before 31 December 2026, don't let them start.

England: Insulation Through the Warm Homes: Local Grant

For most people in England, the Warm Homes: Local Grant is now the main free insulation route. According to GOV.UK, it's only available in England, the home must be privately owned (by you or a landlord) and rated EPC D to G, and household income "must usually be £36,000 a year or less", with exceptions for certain postcodes and benefits.

What it can fit: GOV.UK lists wall, loft and underfloor insulation alongside air source heat pumps, smart controls and solar panels. If you qualify and your council has funding, the council organises and pays for the work, and "you will not need to pay for it". Landlords may need to pay for some improvements.

Timing: GOV.UK says your council will usually contact you within 10 working days to arrange a home survey. Apply through the GOV.UK page, or call the helpline on 0800 098 7950 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and Saturday, 9am to 12pm). For windows or doors under the same grant, see our window grants guide.

If your income is above the limit and you don't qualify any other way, there's no national insulation grant for you in England in late 2026. The 0% VAT rate (below) is the main help left.

Scotland: Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan and Warmer Homes Scotland

Scotland's main homeowner insulation grant isn't means-tested: Home Energy Scotland says you don't need to be on benefits to qualify. According to Home Energy Scotland's Grant and Loan page (opens in a new tab), grant funding covers up to 75% of the combined cost of energy efficiency measures, to a maximum grant of £7,500, with the rest available as an optional interest-free loan. Rural and island homes get a £1,500 uplift.

Source: Home Energy Scotland, Grant and Loan page, read October 30, 2026.

The catches: you must own and live in the home, you need a valid EPC that recommends the measure, funding is first come, first served and only reserved once a written offer is issued, offers are valid for 9 months, and "funding is not available for spray foam insulation". Start by calling Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282.

Warmer Homes Scotland is the free route for households in hardship. Home Energy Scotland's Warmer Homes page (opens in a new tab) says it offers support worth £10,000 or more, delivered by Warmworks, to homeowners and private tenants who've lived in the home for at least 6 months, in Council Tax bands A to G, with a floor area of 230m² or less. Someone in the home must be 75 or over with no working heating, have a DS1500 or BASRiS certificate, or get a passport benefit such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit Guarantee, Council Tax Reduction, Scottish Child Payment or Adult Disability Payment. Wall insulation, loft insulation and draught-proofing are on its list, and in most cases the Scottish Government meets all the costs.

Wales and Northern Ireland: Nest and the Affordable Warmth Scheme

Wales. The Welsh Government's Nest page (opens in a new tab) says Nest provides free advice and, for eligible households, free home improvements including insulation, heat pumps and solar panels. You can check eligibility online or call 0808 808 2244 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm). The page doesn't publish the income test, so ask Nest directly. Calls and emails are welcomed in Welsh.

Northern Ireland. ECO and GBIS never applied here. nidirect's energy grants page (opens in a new tab) confirms the Housing Executive runs the Affordable Warmth Scheme. The Housing Executive's own page refused automated access, so these details come from its Internet Archive copy of March 22, 2026; confirm them with the NI Energy Advice Service on 0800 111 44 55 before relying on them:

• Owner-occupiers and private tenants with total annual gross household income under £23,000; Housing Executive and housing association tenants can't apply.
• Insulation is Priority 1: loft insulation topped up to 300mm, cavity wall insulation, draught proofing, roof ventilation and removal and replacement of ineffective cavity wall insulation.
• Solid wall insulation is Priority 4, for detached homes only, and needs a 25-year guarantee from the installer.
• Grants go up to £7,500, or up to £10,000 where solid wall insulation is needed.
• Private landlords must be registered and pay 50% of the cost.
• Don't start work before written approval, and expect to finish within 3 months of it.

The Northern Ireland scheme explicitly lists removing and replacing ineffective cavity wall insulation, which is worth knowing if a previous fill has caused damp. nidirect also points to the separate Northern Ireland Sustainable Energy Programme, funded through electricity bills.

0% VAT on Insulation: The Saving That Ends on 31 March 2027

If you don't qualify for any grant, the VAT rule is the one thing everyone gets. According to HMRC's VAT Notice 708/6 (opens in a new tab), installing energy-saving materials is zero-rated from 1 May 2023 to 31 March 2027, and "from 1 April 2027 onwards, supplies of installations of energy-saving materials will revert to the reduced rate of VAT of 5%". The Budget 2026 overview of tax legislation, published October 28, 2026, confirmed the reversion "as planned".

• What counts: insulation for walls, floors, ceilings, roofs or lofts, and water tanks and pipes, plus draught stripping. Curtains and carpets don't count.
• What the relief covers: the installation, and materials supplied by the person who installs them. HMRC frames the relief around installation services, so check before assuming DIY materials bought separately qualify.
• Where: homes and, since February 2024, buildings used solely for a relevant charitable purpose.

On every £1,000 of installation work, 5% VAT would add £50. That's a reason to finish paid work before April 2027, but not a reason to sign with a cold caller who uses the deadline as pressure.

What Ofgem Doesn't Tell You About Insulation Grants

Ofgem's pages explain the supplier schemes well. They don't spell out what the end of those schemes means for a household weighing up an offer in late 2026, and the statistics fill some of that in.

The cheapest measures are the ones that disappeared first. Loft and cavity jobs were the backbone of free insulation for a decade, and the 2014 to 2025 fall in ECO cavity installs is 98%. The schemes that remain, especially in England, focus on whole homes, heat pumps and low incomes.

"Closed" doesn't stop the adverts. GOV.UK's GBIS page still says "some energy suppliers are however still accepting applications", next to the line that installations had to be complete by 31 March 2026. Ofgem's page, which says GBIS "is now closed to new installations" and "ended on 31 March 2026", is the clearer statement. Any new job sold under the GBIS name in late 2026 is a red flag.

Solid wall insulation has a documented quality problem. According to GOV.UK's poor-quality wall insulation guidance (opens in a new tab), there are quality issues with solid wall insulation fitted through GBIS and ECO4 since April 2022, including failures to meet building regulations that can lead to damp or mould. Every home with external wall insulation from those schemes will be offered a home check, and you shouldn't be asked to pay for repairs. Genuine contacts quote your Unique Measure Reference. Ofgem's line is 0808 169 4447.

A survey costs nothing, but your EPC matters. Several schemes depend on your EPC band, and Home Energy Scotland only funds measures your EPC recommends. Look up your certificate on the GOV.UK EPC register (opens in a new tab) before anyone visits.

Spray Foam and Cold-Call Insulation Scams: How to Protect Yourself

Insulation is one of the most mis-sold home improvements in the UK, and spray foam is at the centre of it. A case in point: in December 2025, Suffolk County Council Trading Standards (opens in a new tab) reported that Riva Surveyors Ltd was ordered to pay £48,891 in fines and compensation after cold-calling older homeowners, offering "free loft inspections", inventing roof defects and selling spray foam at inflated prices. Of 20 affected consumers, 6 went ahead, and 2 later paid to remove the foam so they could remortgage or sell.

The warning signs the official bodies describe:

• Scare stories about your existing insulation. Leicester City Council's Trading Standards team (opens in a new tab) warned in October 2025, as part of the national #LoftLies campaign, that scammers use scare tactics about health risks and falsely claim to work with government or your council.
• "Free" that isn't. The same warning says falsely claiming a product is free, or that work is needed when it isn't, is banned.
• Pressure to waive your cancellation rights. You're entitled to a 14-day cooling-off period on most purchases made at home, and you shouldn't be asked to sign it away except in a genuine emergency.
• Spray foam sold as a quick fix. The RICS spray foam consumer guide (opens in a new tab) says spray foam "should be viewed as a serious modification", can stop a surveyor seeing the roof timbers, can hide leaks, and isn't easily reversible. It advises: don't accept cold calls, get independent advice from someone without a commercial interest, and check with your mortgage lender first. RICS also notes that topping up loft insulation to current standards can outperform the typical 100mm of spray foam between rafters.
• Removal cold calls. RICS notes that Trading Standards have highlighted cold calls and unsolicited offers to remove spray foam as well as to sell it. Get an independent survey before paying anyone.

To check an ECO offer, contact your council or the energy supplier the caller says they represent, as GOV.UK advises, using contact details you've found yourself. Report an unwanted caller to the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133. If you've lost money, contact Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040 in England and Wales, or Police Scotland.

Which Insulation Grant Fits Your Situation

Start with the row that matches you. Every route below is free to ask about.

If your heating is the bigger problem, our boiler grants guide covers which schemes replace boilers in each nation, and our Warm Home Discount guide explains the £150 bill rebate that's paid separately from any insulation grant. Where someone in the home is disabled and needs adaptations as well as warmth, a council Disabled Facilities Grant is the route for those changes.

Sources Checked

All sources were read or downloaded on October 30, 2026, unless stated:

• Ofgem, Great British Insulation Scheme (opens in a new tab) and ECO homeowners and tenants (opens in a new tab)
• GOV.UK, The Great British Insulation Scheme (opens in a new tab), Help from your energy supplier: the Energy Company Obligation (opens in a new tab), Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant (opens in a new tab) and What to do if you have poor quality wall insulation (opens in a new tab)
• legislation.gov.uk, The Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2022, article 25 (opens in a new tab)
• HMRC, Energy-saving materials and heating equipment (VAT Notice 708/6) (opens in a new tab)
• HM Treasury, Budget 2026 document (opens in a new tab) and Budget 2026: overview of tax legislation and rates (opens in a new tab) (October 28, 2026)
• DESNZ, Household Energy Efficiency Statistics, headline release June 2026 (opens in a new tab), Tables 1.6 and 3.1, and Great British Insulation Scheme release: June 2026 (opens in a new tab), Tables 3, 4 and 8
• Home Energy Scotland, Grant and Loan (opens in a new tab) and Warmer Homes Scotland (opens in a new tab); Welsh Government, Nest (opens in a new tab); nidirect, Energy saving grants in your area (opens in a new tab)
• Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Affordable Warmth Scheme page, read from the Internet Archive copy of March 22, 2026 (opens in a new tab) because the live site refused automated access
• RICS, Spray foam insulation consumer guide (opens in a new tab); Suffolk County Council, Loft insulation scammers ordered to pay £48,891 (opens in a new tab) (December 9, 2025); Leicester City Council, Warning over scam loft insulation schemes (opens in a new tab) (October 2025)
• GOV.UK, Avoid and report internet scams and phishing (opens in a new tab)