Loading scheme
Loading scheme
Nest does two jobs that most schemes separate: it is the advice line for every household in Wales, and the funding route for those on low incomes in hard-to-heat homes. The advice half is open to anyone, whatever you earn.
Headline award
Fully funded
Wales's whole-house scheme: free advice for anyone, free measures if you qualify.
Illustrative figures.
Typical package value
£9,500
Heating and insulation combined
Households helped this year
4,100
Across Wales
Advice calls
31,600
Open to any Welsh household
Median survey to install
13 weeks
Longer in mid and west Wales
Illustrative. Placeholder figures to show what this page will hold. Real ranges arrive with the quote and performance data behind them.
What it pays
No cash changes hands. A surveyor decides the package from the property's construction and heating, and Nest arranges and pays for the work. Households outside the funding criteria still get the advice, an energy audit and a benefits check.
| Measure | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Air source heat pumpThe standard answer for off-grid homes and those with electric room heaters. | Fully funded | The standard answer for off-grid homes and those with electric room heaters. |
| Gas boiler and controlsWhere the property is on the gas grid and the fabric supports it. | Fully funded | Where the property is on the gas grid and the fabric supports it. |
| External wall insulationWales has an unusually large solid-wall stock, so this is a bigger share of packages here. | Fully funded | Wales has an unusually large solid-wall stock, so this is a bigger share of packages here. |
| Loft and cavity insulationFitted alongside heating work rather than on its own. | Fully funded | Fitted alongside heating work rather than on its own. |
| Solar panelsAdded to eligible packages where the roof suits it and the fabric work is already done. | Fully funded | Added to eligible packages where the roof suits it and the fabric work is already done. |
Open, contract runs to 2028
There is no published end date, which is not the same as a guarantee. Funding is set annually and can be withdrawn at a fiscal event.
Last checked against these sources on 14 August 2026.
Illustrative. Placeholder figures to show what this page will hold. Real ranges arrive with the quote and performance data behind them.
Who qualifies
Written as the published rules work rather than as the marketing describes them. If one line on the left fails, nothing else matters.
How to apply
Each step carries roughly how long it takes, because the total is what decides whether the work happens this winter or next.
One number covers advice, the benefits check and the eligibility test. There is no online-only route, which suits the households the scheme is aimed at.
Nest checks entitlement to benefits you may not be claiming as part of the same call. A successful claim can be worth more annually than the retrofit.
A surveyor assesses construction, heating and insulation and produces the package. Solid-walled homes take longer to assess than cavity ones.
Scheduled by area. External wall insulation brings scaffolding and two to four weeks of disruption; heating alone is usually two or three days.
A follow-up call covers how to run the new system. Heat pumps in particular cost far more to run if they are used like a boiler.
Combining
No scheme will fund the same measure twice. Getting the order right — insulation under one scheme, heating under another — is where the money is.
Welsh households are normally routed through Nest for a whole-house assessment instead of a single measure.
ECO4 funding is sometimes blended into a Nest package, but you apply to one of them, not both.
What changed
Amounts, qualifying benefits and end dates all move. Anything you read about this scheme that predates the most recent entry here should be treated as out of date.
1 April 2024
A low-income route was added for households who miss the benefits test but still cannot afford to heat the home.
1 October 2025
Panels became available on packages where the fabric work is complete, which is unusual for a fuel poverty scheme.
1 April 2026
Homes on oil, LPG and solid fuel moved up the queue, reflecting how much more they pay per unit of heat.
Questions
Not necessarily. There is a low-income route alongside the benefits test. And the advice, energy audit and benefits check are open to every household in Wales regardless of income.
Nest is run by the Welsh Government and assesses the whole property through one organisation. ECO4 is funded by energy suppliers across Great Britain. In practice, Welsh households should start with Nest.
No. The survey decides the package based on the building. You can decline measures, but declining the fabric work sometimes removes the heating measure too.
Yes, with your landlord's written permission. The income test applies to you, not the landlord.
Around three months from survey to installation in most of Wales, longer in rural mid and west Wales where contractor coverage is thinner.
Keep reading
Supplier-funded whole-house retrofits for low-income households in the worst homes.
Whole-house, fully fundedHow it worksSingle insulation measures for lower council tax bands, with no benefits test.
One measure, mostly fundedHow it worksNot a grant — a tax relief that quietly takes a fifth off most upgrade quotes.
20% off labour and materialsHow it worksStart with your postcode. We work from what is already recorded about the property, not from a form you have to fill in.