The Warm Homes Plan is the biggest single change to UK home energy funding in over a decade. Launching in January 2026, it consolidates a confusing patchwork of older grants and loans into one large pot: up to £30,000 per household at 0% interest, repayable over up to 10 years, covering solar panels, battery storage, heat pumps, EV chargers and insulation under a single application.
For most North East homeowners, this is the cheapest borrowing route ever offered for green upgrades. Here’s what’s confirmed, what’s still being finalised, and how to use it.
What Is the Warm Homes Plan?
The Warm Homes Plan is a government-backed scheme administered through accredited installers. It works as a 0% interest loan — not a grant — but the absence of interest over a 10-year term makes the cash-cost identical to a grant covering the financing portion.
The headline numbers:
- Up to £30,000 borrowing per eligible property
- 0% interest, fixed for the life of the loan
- Up to 10-year repayment term
- Single application covering multiple measures (solar + battery + heat pump can all sit on one loan)
- Phased launch from January 2026, with full rollout through 2026
The plan replaces the older fragmented landscape — ECO4, the Great British Insulation Scheme, parts of the Home Upgrade Grant — with one larger, simpler product. The £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant for heat pumps continues to run alongside it and stacks with the loan.
Why This Matters for North East Homeowners
The North East has some of the oldest housing stock in England and some of the highest proportions of homes still on direct-electric or oil heating. That’s exactly the housing the Warm Homes Plan is designed for.
A typical North East semi-detached home looking at a full solar-and-storage upgrade plus a heat pump might be quoted £18,000–£24,000 across the three measures. Under the old finance landscape that meant either personal loans at 8–12% APR or paying upfront. Under the Warm Homes Plan, the same install costs the homeowner approximately £150–£200 a month at 0% interest — and the energy savings typically cover most or all of that monthly figure from day one.
What Counts as an Eligible Measure?
The plan is deliberately broad to let homeowners install several measures in one go. Confirmed eligible measures include:
- Solar panels (rooftop PV)
- Battery storage (paired with new or existing solar)
- Air source heat pumps
- Ground source heat pumps
- Hybrid heat pumps
- EV chargers
- Loft, cavity wall and solid wall insulation
- Double and triple glazing
- Smart heating controls
- Ventilation upgrades (where required by a heat pump install)
You don’t have to pick one. The single most useful feature of the plan is that you can bundle a solar-and-battery system with a heat pump on the same loan — exactly the combination we recommend to most North East customers because the two technologies dramatically amplify each other’s savings.
Who Qualifies?
Eligibility for the Warm Homes Plan is broader than the older grant schemes, which were typically restricted to low-income households or specific EPC bands.
Confirmed criteria:
- Owner-occupied properties in England (Scotland and Wales operate parallel schemes)
- Applicant must be the homeowner (or have written consent from the freeholder)
- Property used as a main residence (second homes and pure rentals excluded at launch)
- Standard affordability check on the loan amount
There is no income cap and no EPC band requirement. Homes already at EPC B or C are still eligible — the policy goal is decarbonising the housing stock, not just the worst-performing properties.
How the £30,000 Compares to What Came Before
| Scheme | Max value | Interest | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warm Homes Plan 2026 | £30,000 loan | 0% | Owner-occupiers, no income cap |
| Nationwide green further advance | £20,000 loan | 0% | Existing Nationwide mortgage only |
| Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) | £7,500 grant | n/a | Heat pumps only, owner-occupiers |
| ECO4 (closing) | Varies | n/a | Low-income / vulnerable households |
| Personal loan (typical) | £25,000 | 7–12% APR | Affordability dependent |
The Warm Homes Plan is the first product to combine broad eligibility, large headline amount and 0% interest in a single package. For most homeowners it will be cheaper than any commercial finance option, and unlike the older grant schemes it isn’t gated by income.
Stacking the Loan With BUS and 0% VAT
The Warm Homes Plan doesn’t replace the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme — it complements it. The intended stack for a heat pump install looks like this:
- 0% VAT on the install (saves ~20% of the gross price; confirmed until March 2027)
- £7,500 BUS grant applied as a price reduction by the installer
- Warm Homes Plan loan covers the remaining net cost at 0% interest
Worked example for a Vaillant aroTHERM Plus heat pump in Gateshead:
- Gross install price: £14,500
- 0% VAT (already built into the quote)
- BUS grant: -£7,500
- Net to homeowner: £7,000
- Warm Homes Plan loan over 7 years at 0%: £83/month
A direct-electric household replacing storage heaters typically saves more than £83/month on running costs alone in the North East, so the cash position improves from day one.
For solar-and-battery the stack is shorter (no grant equivalent exists), but the 0% loan is still transformative. A 4.5kWp system with a 5.2kWh battery at around £10,500 financed over 8 years comes out at roughly £109/month at 0% — and a well-sized North East system saves £700–£950/year on electricity, often offsetting the repayment in full.
How to Apply — Step by Step
The application process for the Warm Homes Plan goes through accredited installers rather than directly through a government portal. That keeps the paperwork simple for homeowners.
- Get a free survey and quote from an accredited installer (we offer free North East surveys — book via our solar page or heat pump page)
- Confirm the measures you want bundled into the loan
- Affordability check is run against the loan amount
- Loan agreement signed and combined with any applicable grants (e.g. BUS)
- Installation booked — typically 4–8 weeks from agreement to install for solar; 6–12 weeks for heat pumps
- First repayment starts the month after install completion
Amp Renewables is preparing to process Warm Homes Plan applications across the North East from launch, including the BUS grant paperwork for any heat pump element of the loan.
What’s Confirmed vs Still Being Finalised
The headline numbers — £30,000, 0%, 10 years, January 2026 launch — are confirmed. Some operational detail is still being finalised at the time of writing:
- Exact installer accreditation requirements (we already hold NICEIC and Heat Geek, which are expected to meet the bar)
- Treatment of properties on shared meters or in flats (likely a slightly different application route)
- Whether the loan transfers to a buyer on sale (current guidance says no — the loan sits with the original homeowner)
We’ll update this article as the operational guidance lands. The best way to be first in the queue when applications open is to get a quote in now so the system specification and pricing are ready to drop into the loan application.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
A few things are already worth flagging based on how the older schemes played out:
- Don’t sign a finance agreement before checking Warm Homes Plan eligibility — once you’re committed to a commercial finance product the 0% loan is usually no longer available for the same install
- Don’t accept a quote that doesn’t itemise the measures — the loan paperwork requires line-item pricing for each eligible measure
- Don’t rush to a non-accredited installer — only accredited firms can route the application, and using a non-accredited installer means losing access to the loan entirely
- Don’t assume the loan covers cosmetic works — only the listed energy measures qualify, so a kitchen refit bundled into a solar quote will be carved out
What We’re Recommending in the North East
For most of our North East customers, the optimal Warm Homes Plan use-case is a combined solar + battery + heat pump install on a single £18,000–£25,000 loan. That gives the homeowner:
- Zero upfront cost
- £150–£250/month at 0% interest
- £900–£1,800/year of typical energy savings
- A property that’s substantially decarbonised in one go
- One coordinated install (not three separate disruptions)
If you’re in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, South Shields, Durham or anywhere across our North East coverage area, we’ll work out the cheapest combined stack of the Warm Homes Plan loan, BUS grant, 0% VAT and (where applicable) Smart Export Guarantee tariffs.
Talk to Us About Warm Homes Plan 2026
The Warm Homes Plan goes live in January 2026 and we’re already taking surveys for January–March installs. The earlier in the year you book, the better chance of locking in your preferred install slot before demand peaks.
If you’d like an itemised quote that’s ready for the loan application — for solar, a heat pump, or both — get in touch. We’re NICEIC and Heat Geek accredited across the North East, we handle the BUS grant paperwork, and we’ll walk you through how the Warm Homes Plan stack works for your specific home.
You can also dig into our wider grants and funding guide for the full picture of what’s available in 2026.
Information correct as of January 2026 based on the published Warm Homes Plan launch guidance. Loan terms, eligibility and operational detail may evolve through the phased rollout — always confirm current terms with an accredited installer before signing. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.