Loading scheme
Loading scheme
Where the Home Energy Scotland grant helps households who can fund the rest, Warmer Homes Scotland is for those who cannot. It pays for the whole package, and the household pays nothing — but you have to pass a benefits test and have lived in the property for a year.
Headline award
Fully funded
Scotland's fuel poverty programme — a funded package, not a contribution.
Illustrative figures.
Typical package value
£9,800
Heating and insulation combined
Households helped this year
5,400
Across Scotland
Household contribution
£0
No contribution for eligible households
Median survey to install
14 weeks
Longer in island communities
Illustrative. Placeholder figures to show what this page will hold. Real ranges arrive with the quote and performance data behind them.
What it pays
There is no cash award and no choice of measures beyond what the survey supports. Warmworks surveys the property and installs what the assessment calls for, in the order the fabric requires.
| Measure | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Air source heat pumpNow the default replacement where the property is off the gas grid. | Fully funded | Now the default replacement where the property is off the gas grid. |
| Gas boiler replacementStill offered where the property is on the gas grid and a heat pump is not viable. | Fully funded | Still offered where the property is on the gas grid and a heat pump is not viable. |
| Wall insulationCavity, internal or external, decided by construction type rather than preference. | Fully funded | Cavity, internal or external, decided by construction type rather than preference. |
| Loft and floor insulationIncluded in most packages as the cheapest band improvement available. | Fully funded | Included in most packages as the cheapest band improvement available. |
| Draught-proofing and controlsFitted alongside heating work, and often the measure households notice first. | Fully funded | Fitted alongside heating work, and often the measure households notice first. |
Open, contract runs to 2029
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 Funding is set annually and can be withdrawn at a fiscal event.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 22 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.
Every referral goes through the advice line. They run the eligibility check and refer you to Warmworks; you cannot apply to Warmworks directly.
A surveyor looks at construction, heating and the fabric. What they find decides the package, and you get a written schedule of it.
You can decline individual measures. Declining the fabric work sometimes takes the heating measure off the table too, so ask how they interact before you decide.
Scheduled by area rather than by application date, which is why island and remote mainland households wait longer.
Work carries a guarantee and a follow-up visit. Heating controls get a demonstration, which matters more than it sounds for heat pump running costs.
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.
Nothing, in practice. This scheme funds a full package, so there is nothing left for a second scheme to pay towards.
Households are routed to whichever scheme fits their circumstances; you cannot claim both for the same measure.
ECO4 funding is sometimes blended into a Warmworks package behind the scenes, but you do not apply to 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 September 2023
Oil and LPG boiler replacements were largely withdrawn for properties where a heat pump is viable.
1 April 2025
The residency test was retained after review, which continues to exclude households who have just moved into a cold home.
1 April 2026
Additional funding was allocated to island and remote mainland delivery to cut the gap in waiting times.
Questions
The grant helps you pay for work you commission yourself; Warmer Homes Scotland commissions and pays for the work on your behalf. The grant has no income test, this does.
No. Warmworks manages a single supply chain across Scotland. You can decline the offer, but not substitute your own trade and keep the funding.
You will not be eligible until the twelve months are up. In the meantime the Home Energy Scotland advice line can check you against ECO4 and the loan scheme, which have no residency rule.
No. The survey decides. On-gas properties often still get a boiler, and some solid-walled homes get fabric work first with heating deferred to a later visit.
Yes, with the landlord's consent, provided the tenant meets the benefits or income test and the residency rule.
Keep reading
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