The short answer: the Warm Homes: Local Grant income limit is a gross household income of £36,000 a year or less. “Gross” means before tax and other deductions, and it counts the income of every adult in the home except those in full-time education. If your household is above that line, there is a second income test: councils may also accept you if your “After Housing Costs” (AHC) income — what is left after tax and after rent or mortgage — is below the threshold set for your household size. And the income test is only one of three routes into the scheme: a qualifying benefit or an eligible postcode will get you there without any income check at all.
Last verified: 11 September 2026 against GOV.UK — Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant and the DESNZ Warm Homes: Local Grant policy guidance for local authorities. Councils set local delivery detail and thresholds are kept under review — always confirm with your own council before relying on a figure.
Not sure whether you are over the line? The free eligibility checker asks for an income band rather than an exact figure, and compares the Warm Homes: Local Grant against ECO4 and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in about a minute.
What the £36,000 income limit actually is
The Warm Homes: Local Grant is aimed at households in, or at risk of, fuel poverty. Rather than run a single national means test, the government gave councils in England three alternative ways to confirm that a household is on a low income. In the DESNZ policy guidance these are called eligibility pathways, and a household only has to satisfy one of them:
- Pathway 1 — postcode. The home sits in a postcode in income-deprivation deciles 1–2 of the Indices of Multiple Deprivation. No income check at all. See our postcode check guide.
- Pathway 2 — income proxies. Somebody in the household receives one of six means-tested benefits, or the council signs the household off under ECO Flex Route 2. See our qualifying benefits guide.
- Pathway 3 — the income threshold. Gross annual household income of £36,000 or less, or an After Housing Costs income below the threshold for your household composition.
This page is about pathway 3. It matters most to people who are working, not claiming a means-tested benefit, and not in a targeted postcode — exactly the group that ECO4 never reached, and the group that has the most to lose when ECO4 closes on 31 December 2026.
Order of play matters. The guidance treats pathway 3 as the last resort: it applies to households that are not in an eligible postcode and not on a qualifying benefit. If either of the first two routes fits you, you will not be asked to evidence your income at all.
What “gross household income” means
Three details decide whether you are under or over the line, and they trip people up in that order.
1. Gross, not take-home
The threshold is measured on income before tax and other deductions, calculated as an annual figure wherever possible. A household taking home £2,400 a month may be a long way over £36,000 gross. Work from your P60, your annual self-assessment figure, or twelve months of gross pay — not your bank statements.
2. It is the household, not the applicant
The income of every adult member of the household counts towards the threshold, except adults in full-time education. That means a working adult son or daughter living at home is counted, while a student is not. Lodgers’ own income does not count — but if the household receives rent from a lodger, that rent does count as household income.
3. Some disability benefits are stripped out first
This is the single most useful detail on the page, and it is missed constantly. The policy guidance instructs councils to exclude the following non-means-tested benefits — those that pay for goods or services related to a disability — from the household income calculation:
- Attendance Allowance
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
So a household on, say, £33,000 of wages plus the enhanced rate of PIP is assessed on the £33,000. If a previous scheme counted your disability benefits as income and told you that you earned too much, it is worth being reassessed. Our guide to energy grants for people with a disability goes into the wider picture.
The After Housing Costs route if you are over £36,000
Being above £36,000 gross is not the end of pathway 3. The guidance allows councils to include households whose gross income is above the threshold where high housing costs mean their After Housing Costs income is below a separate, smaller threshold that varies with household size.
“After Housing Costs” income is defined in the guidance as the residual income a household is left with after tax (net income) and after deducting rent or mortgage payments. Critically, housing costs for this purpose do not include council tax, energy bills or ground rent — only the rent or the mortgage.
The published AHC thresholds are:
| Household — one adult | Maximum eligible After Housing Costs income |
|---|---|
| 1 adult | £20,000 |
| 1 adult + 1 dependant | £20,000 |
| 1 adult + 2 dependants | £20,000 |
| 1 adult + 3 dependants | £23,600 |
| 1 adult + 4 dependants | £27,600 |
| 1 adult + 5 dependants | £31,600 |
| Household — two adults | Maximum eligible After Housing Costs income |
|---|---|
| 2 adults | £20,000 |
| 2 adults + 1 dependant | £24,000 |
| 2 adults + 2 dependants | £28,000 |
| 2 adults + 3 dependants | £32,000 |
| 2 adults + 4 dependants | £36,000 |
| 2 adults + 5 dependants | £40,000 |
A worked example makes the mechanism clear. Two adults with two children, gross household income £41,000, net income after tax about £33,500, paying £950 a month in rent. Their housing costs are £11,400 a year, so their AHC income is roughly £22,100 — comfortably under the £28,000 threshold for two adults plus two dependants, even though their gross income is well over £36,000.
The AHC route is permissive, not automatic. The guidance says councils may include households on this basis. It is not a right, it needs more evidence than the simple gross test, and not every council will use it at the same pace. Ask your council directly whether it is assessing After Housing Costs income before you assume you are excluded.
What evidence councils ask for
Two rules shape the paperwork. First, self-declaration is not accepted under this scheme — the guidance requires councils to carry out robust checks. Second, evidence of property eligibility, proof of ownership, proof of residence and personal identification are required on all three pathways; income evidence is the extra layer that pathway 3 adds.
In practice, expect to be asked for a combination of:
- Photo ID for the applicant, and proof that you live at the property.
- Proof of ownership (title deeds or a mortgage statement) or, if you rent privately, your tenancy agreement plus a landlord declaration — see tenants and landlords.
- Your EPC, or enough information for the council to look it up. The home must be band D, E, F or G; bands A to C are ineligible in all circumstances. Look yours up free on GOV.UK, or read how EPC bands are used by grant schemes.
- Income evidence for every counted adult — typically recent payslips, a P60, self-assessment figures for the self-employed, pension statements, and often bank statements.
- Housing-cost evidence if you are going down the After Housing Costs route: a mortgage statement or a tenancy agreement showing the rent.
One further discretion is worth knowing about. The guidance is explicit that councils may decline to treat a property where the household has high savings or an unusually large asset value, even if income is under £36,000, because the money is meant for households genuinely in or at risk of fuel poverty. Being marginally under the threshold is therefore not a guarantee of funding.
Just over the line? Six things to try
- Recheck the postcode route. It requires no income test at all. How the IMD deciles 1–2 check works.
- Recheck the benefits route. Anyone in the household counts, not just the bill payer. The six qualifying benefits.
- Subtract the disability benefits listed above before you decide you are over.
- Ask about After Housing Costs if rent or a mortgage takes a large share of your net income.
- Ask about ECO Flex Route 2. Councils can sign off households that meet at least two local low-income or vulnerability proxies, provided the property is EPC E–G. See the LA Flex route.
- Ask about infill. Where a block of flats or a terrace is being upgraded together, the guidance lets councils include a household above £36,000 if the block average is below £36,000, or where at least 75% of households in it average no more than £36,000. The homes have to be physically connected, not merely nearby.
If none of those work, you are not out of options — you are out of this option. ECO4 is still open to households on qualifying benefits until 31 December 2026. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme runs to March 2030, is not means-tested at all, and pays £7,500 towards a heat pump (£9,000 for oil or LPG homes off the mains gas grid between 21 July 2026 and 31 March 2027). And our overview of what replaces ECO4 sets out where each household type should go next.
Next step
Start with the official service: the free GOV.UK Warm Homes: Local Grant checker passes your details to your council, which should contact you within 10 working days. Our step-by-step application guide walks through what happens after that. If you would rather see all your options first — including the routes the council scheme does not cover — run our own eligibility checker, which asks for an income band rather than a precise figure and never asks for bank details.
Common questions about the Warm Homes: Local Grant income limit
Is the £36,000 limit per person or per household?
Per household. The gross income of every adult living there counts, other than adults in full-time education. Lodgers’ income is excluded, but rent you receive from a lodger counts as household income.
Is it gross or take-home pay?
Gross — before tax and other deductions, calculated annually. The separate After Housing Costs test is the only part of the scheme that works from net income.
Does PIP or Attendance Allowance count towards the £36,000?
No. The guidance tells councils to exclude Attendance Allowance, DLA, PIP, Armed Forces Independence Payment, Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit from the income calculation.
What is the After Housing Costs threshold for my household?
It depends on how many adults and dependants live there — see the two tables above. AHC income is your income after tax, minus rent or mortgage only. Council tax, energy bills and ground rent are not deducted.
My income is just over £36,000. Am I automatically refused?
No. You may still qualify through an eligible postcode, a qualifying benefit, ECO Flex Route 2, the After Housing Costs route, or as part of an area-based infill scheme. Each is assessed separately by your council.
Can I just declare my income?
No. Self-declarations are not an acceptable method of verification under this scheme. Councils must carry out documented checks, so expect to supply payslips, a P60 or self-assessment figures for each counted adult.
Will the £36,000 threshold change?
Possibly. The guidance says the gross household income threshold is kept under review and may be updated during delivery, which runs to 31 March 2028. Check the current figure with your council before relying on it.
Does being under £36,000 guarantee I get the grant?
No. Your home still has to be EPC D–G and privately owned or privately rented, your council still has to be taking part and still have funding, and councils may decline households with substantial savings or assets. Nobody is guaranteed a grant.