Free Insulation Grants

Which insulation grant do you need?

Every measure has its own eligibility rules, its own funding limits and its own installer requirements, so the fastest route to a straight answer is the page for the measure you actually need. This hub covers the schemes; the pages below cover the work.

Which insulation grants are open now (2026)?

Three routes are open today: ECO4 (benefits-based, runs to 31 December 2026), LA Flex (council-run flexible eligibility — no benefits needed in many areas), and the Warm Homes: Local Grant (council-delivered in England, April 2025 to March 2028). The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) closed to new applications on 31 March 2026.

Can You Get Free Insulation in 2026?

Yes. Current UK support can still fund insulation through ECO4, LA Flex, Warm Homes and some supplier-led routes. The GOV.UK GBIS referral service closed on 31 March 2026, so new applicants should use the checker to find live routes and confirm eligibility with the relevant supplier, installer or local authority.

The catch? Funding remains limited. ECO4, LA Flex, Warm Homes and supplier-led routes all have eligibility rules and local capacity. Check the current route before arranging work.

How insulation grants are funded now (September 2026)

The funding picture changed twice during 2026, so it is worth being precise about what is open, what has closed and who pays for what.

ECO4 — open now, ends 31 December 2026

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) is the supplier-funded scheme administered by Ofgem and delivered by the large energy suppliers through their contracted installers. It has been extended once, to 31 December 2026, so suppliers can finish existing targets and put right faulty installations. There are no new targets, no carry-over into a later phase and no ECO5. Eligible households are still being signed up today, but surveys and installation slots get harder to book the closer the deadline comes. If you qualify on benefits, it is worth starting the ECO4 application now rather than in the autumn.

The Great British Insulation Scheme closed on 31 March 2026

GBIS was the scheme that did not need benefits, qualifying homes on council tax band instead. It closed to new applications on 31 March 2026, and the GOV.UK referral service closed with it. Any page that still describes GBIS as open is out of date. Our Great British Insulation Scheme guide explains what happened to applications already in the system and where those households go next.

Warm Homes: Local Grant — the England replacement

The Warm Homes: Local Grant is a £500m government scheme running from April 2025 to March 2028, delivered by councils and their appointed installers rather than on the open market. It covers privately owned and privately rented homes rated EPC D to G where the council is taking part. Owner-occupiers can have insulation, heating and solar fully funded. Tenants pay nothing; a landlord gets one home fully funded, then contributes 50% from the second. Because it is council-delivered, availability is postcode-by-postcode: not every local authority joined. The section below sets out the three qualifying routes and how to get a referral.

LA Flex — still live while ECO4 runs

Local authority flexible eligibility (ECO4 Flex) lets your council issue a declaration that qualifies your household for ECO4 without benefits, usually on grounds of low income, fuel poverty or a health condition made worse by a cold home. It runs alongside ECO4 and therefore ends with it. See the LA Flex scheme guide for how councils set their criteria.

Scotland and Wales

The Warm Homes: Local Grant is England only. In Scotland, insulation is funded through Warmer Homes Scotland, accessed via Home Energy Scotland — see our Scotland energy grants guide. In Wales, the equivalent is the Welsh Government's Nest scheme. ECO4 is a GB-wide obligation, so households in Scotland and Wales can still apply for it on the same benefits criteria until 31 December 2026.

Compare insulation grants by measure

This page covers the schemes. The detail on each piece of work — whether your home is suitable, what the survey checks, what the grant pays for and how long it takes — is on the dedicated page for that measure. Start with the one that matches your home:

*Energy Saving Trust estimates for a typical gas-heated semi-detached house (solid wall range covers internal and external systems). Your saving depends on the size, age and heating of your home. No grant is guaranteed: every route needs you and the property to qualify, and a survey can rule a measure out.

Not sure which you need? Your EPC records your wall type, loft insulation depth and floor type, and the eligibility checker will match your home to the scheme routes above. Converting the loft rather than insulating it is a different project — see loft conversion grants.

Cavity wall insulation grants

If your home was built between roughly the 1920s and the 1990s it almost certainly has cavity walls: two leaves of brick or block with a gap between them. Filling that gap with mineral wool or bonded bead is done from outside, needs no internal work and, on the Energy Saving Trust estimate in the table above, saves around £395 a year on a gas-heated semi-detached house.

Cavity wall insulation is often free for eligible households: ECO4 can fully fund it for households on a qualifying means-tested benefit in an EPC D to G home until 31 December 2026 (some installers ask for a top-up, so agree any cost in writing), and in England the Warm Homes: Local Grant can fund it through participating councils for households that meet one of its three routes. The survey checks for exposure, existing fill and damp before anything is pumped in, so a wall that has already been filled, or one that is too exposed for fill, is turned down at survey rather than after installation. Full eligibility, materials and the survey process are on our cavity wall insulation grant page.

External and solid wall insulation grants

Homes built before about 1920 usually have solid walls, with no cavity to fill, and they lose heat faster than any other wall type. The two options are internal wall insulation, which is boarded onto the inside face and costs you a little room size, and external wall insulation, which is fixed to the outside and rendered over.

Both can be funded, but they are expensive measures and funders treat them accordingly. Under ECO4 (to 31 December 2026) solid wall insulation is normally delivered as part of a whole-house package rather than on its own, and under the Warm Homes: Local Grant in England it sits inside the £16,600 energy-performance cap, which is averaged across a council's whole project rather than applied rigidly to each house. External work changes the appearance of your property, so check whether you need planning permission first, especially in a conservation area or on a listed building. Our solid wall insulation grant page compares internal and external systems in detail.

Underfloor insulation grants

Suspended timber floors, common in homes built before about 1950, sit over a ventilated void. Cold air moves through that void and up between the floorboards, which is why a room can feel draughty even with the heating on. Insulating between the joists, from below where there is a cellar or crawl space or by lifting boards where there is not, stops that, and the table above puts the saving at up to around £100 a year.

Underfloor insulation is rarely funded on its own. Because the saving per pound spent is lower than loft or cavity work, ECO4 and the Warm Homes: Local Grant both tend to fund it as part of a package alongside a higher-scoring measure. Solid concrete floors are a different job again and are usually only insulated during a wider renovation. What qualifies, what the survey looks for and how to get it included in a package are set out on our underfloor insulation grant page.

Room-in-roof insulation grants

A room in the roof is a loft that has been converted into living space: a bedroom, an office or a dormer extension. Ordinary loft insulation does not apply, because there is no open joisted floor to lay it on. Instead the installer insulates the sloping ceilings, the stud walls at the sides of the room, the flat ceiling above it and the small storage voids behind the stud walls, so the whole envelope is treated.

It is a bigger job than a loft top-up and it scores well for funders, which is why room-in-roof insulation is an established ECO4 measure for eligible households (to 31 December 2026) and can also be funded under the Warm Homes: Local Grant in England. Ventilation matters here: the survey checks that the roof can still breathe once it is insulated. Our room-in-roof insulation grant page covers what the survey looks for and who qualifies.

Government grants for insulation: which scheme applies to you

Most people searching for government grants for insulation are really asking one question: which scheme will pay for my home? The answer comes down to three things — where you live, what your household income or benefits look like, and what your EPC says.

If you are in England and receive Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance, you have two live options: ECO4 until 31 December 2026, and the Warm Homes: Local Grant until March 2028. If you receive none of those but your gross household income is £36,000 or less, or your postcode falls in the most income-deprived fifth of the country, the Warm Homes: Local Grant is your route. If neither applies, your council may still issue an LA Flex declaration while ECO4 runs.

If you are in Scotland or Wales, ECO4 still applies on the benefits criteria, and Warmer Homes Scotland or Nest covers the national route. Whichever nation you are in, the home has to be rated EPC D to G for the main schemes, so a property already rated EPC C or above falls outside them. The quickest way to see which of these applies to your address is the eligibility checker, which covers all of the routes above in one pass.

Who Qualifies for Free Insulation?

Route 1: ECO4 Scheme (Benefits-Based)

You may qualify if someone in your household receives one of these benefits and the home is rated EPC D to G:

• Universal Credit
• Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit)
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Income Support
• Housing Benefit
• Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit — no longer valid (tax credits ended on 5 April 2025; most households moved to Universal Credit, which does qualify)
• Warm Home Discount (Core Group)

Your home also needs an EPC rating of D or below. Don't know your EPC? Our checker can help you find out.

Route 2: Warm Homes: Local Grant (No Benefits Needed)

The Great British Insulation Scheme used to be the no-benefits route, qualifying homes on council tax band A-D in England or A-E in Scotland and Wales. GBIS closed to new applications on 31 March 2026. In England its replacement is the Warm Homes: Local Grant, which does not use council tax bands at all: you qualify on gross household income of £36,000 or less, on one of six listed benefits, or on a postcode in the most income-deprived fifth of England (IMD deciles 1-2). The home must be rated EPC D to G, and your council delivers the work through its own appointed installers.

Route 3: Local Authority Flex (LA Flex)

If you don't meet the standard criteria, your local council can refer you under "LA Flex eligibility" provisions. This covers households in fuel poverty, people with health conditions worsened by cold homes, and low-income households on the borderline of qualifying benefits. See our full LA Flex scheme guide for how councils decide and how to apply without benefits.

How to Apply

1. Check eligibility — Use our free eligibility checker (takes 60 seconds)
2. Get matched — We connect you with a TrustMark-registered installer in your area
3. Home survey — An assessor visits to confirm what measures your home needs
4. Installation — Work is carried out by certified installers, usually at no cost to you
5. EPC update — Your Energy Performance Certificate is updated to reflect the improvement

⚠️ ECO4 Deadline: December 2026

The GOV.UK GBIS referral service closed on 31 March 2026. ECO4 runs to December 2026, and LA Flex or Warm Homes routes may still help households that need insulation support.

Check current routes. Use the Great British Energy eligibility checker to compare ECO4, LA Flex, Warm Homes and supplier-led options before arranging work.