Warm Homes Loan Scheme — Overview, Aims and Eligibility

Information checked: September 2026

What is the Warm Homes Loan Scheme?

The Warm Homes Loan Scheme (WHLS) is a government-supported finance programme designed to make it more affordable for homeowners and private landlords to invest in low-carbon home improvements.

Unlike grant programmes such as the Warm Homes: Local Grant, the WHLS is lender-led. Participating banks, building societies and other finance providers develop loan products that meet the scheme's requirements, with government funding used to reduce the interest rate paid by eligible borrowers.

The scheme forms part of the wider Warm Homes Plan and is intended to address one of the main barriers to home energy improvements: the upfront cost of technologies such as heat pumps, solar panels and battery storage.

The government has described the wider Warm Homes Loan Scheme commitment as providing £2 billion of low-interest lending, while £300 million of grant capital is being used to support participating lenders and reduce financing costs.

When will the Warm Homes Loan Scheme start?

The first lender application process opened in June 2026, with the initial consumer launch phase beginning from September 2026.

Further lenders are expected to join over time. Another lender application window is planned for late 2026, with successful organisations expected to be onboarded in early 2027.

As a result, the availability, interest rates and detailed terms of WHLS finance products may vary between participating lenders and are likely to develop as the scheme expands.

What are the aims of the Warm Homes Loan Scheme?

The scheme is intended to encourage greater investment in low-carbon home improvements by making finance more affordable.

Rather than paying for the improvements directly through a government grant, the scheme uses government funding to reduce the interest cost of eligible loans provided by participating lenders.

This is intended to help households that are able to fund improvements but for whom the upfront cost, or cost of conventional borrowing, might otherwise discourage investment.

The scheme does not impose an income threshold. Individual lenders remain responsible for assessing affordability and creditworthiness when deciding whether to offer finance.

Who can use the Warm Homes Loan Scheme?

The scheme is primarily intended for:

• owner-occupiers of existing domestic properties
• private rented sector landlords

Eligible domestic properties can be located anywhere in the United Kingdom.

There is no scheme-wide minimum household income, maximum household income or minimum EPC rating. However, individual lenders may apply their own lending and product criteria in addition to the government's scheme requirements.

Applicants will therefore still need to satisfy the participating lender's normal affordability and creditworthiness checks.

Owners of multiple properties can potentially obtain separate eligible finance for each property.

What home improvements can be financed?

The Warm Homes Loan Scheme supports a defined range of low-carbon technologies.

Eligible measures currently include:

• air-to-water heat pumps
• ground and water-source heat pumps
• eligible biomass boilers
• heat-network connections
• solar photovoltaic (PV) systems
• electrical battery storage
• domestic wind turbines
• micro-hydroelectric systems

Air-to-air heat pumps are included within the scheme framework but are not currently available for WHLS applications pending the relevant MCS standards and associated requirements.

Some associated work can also be included where it is necessary for installation of the eligible technology. For example, qualifying heat-pump costs can include appropriate changes to radiators, pipework and hot-water cylinders.

Solar installations can include necessary items such as scaffolding, safety equipment and grid connection.

An EV chargepoint can also qualify as an ancillary cost when installed as part of an eligible solar PV or battery installation, but an EV chargepoint is not currently eligible as a standalone WHLS measure.

Does the Warm Homes Loan Scheme fund insulation?

Not under the current scheme rules.

Although the wider Warm Homes Plan supports insulation through other programmes, the Warm Homes Loan Scheme itself is currently focused on specified low-carbon heating, electricity generation and storage technologies.

For example, insulation cannot simply be added to a WHLS-funded heat-pump installation.

Participating lenders may separately offer conventional finance for other improvements such as insulation, windows, doors or roofing work, but that additional borrowing would sit outside the government-supported WHLS finance.

Can WHLS be combined with the Boiler Upgrade Scheme?

Yes, in appropriate circumstances.

The Warm Homes Loan Scheme has specifically been designed to complement existing government grants such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS).

For example, an eligible homeowner in England or Wales installing a heat pump could receive a BUS grant towards the installation and use a WHLS-supported loan to finance some or all of the remaining eligible cost.

This potentially makes WHLS particularly relevant to heat-pump installers because the customer's funding for a single installation could involve both grant and loan finance.

Are there limits on how much can be financed?

The government has established maximum supported loan amounts for each eligible technology.

The scheme framework also specifies a £10,000 cap for air-to-air heat pumps, although these are not currently available for WHLS applications pending the relevant standards.

These are scheme funding limits rather than guaranteed loan amounts. The amount a customer can actually borrow will depend upon the participating lender's product, credit assessment and other requirements.

What are the installer requirements?

Installation quality forms an important part of the scheme.

For most eligible technologies, work financed through WHLS must be carried out by an installer holding the appropriate Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certification for the measure being installed.

Participating lenders are expected to verify installer certification during the customer journey, including checks around quotation and post-installation verification.

Special provisions apply to some technologies. For example, heat-network connections are exempt from the general MCS installer requirement, while EV chargepoints installed as an eligible ancillary measure must meet the relevant Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) requirements.

How will customers obtain a Warm Homes Loan?

The scheme is designed around a lender-led customer journey.

Although the precise process can vary between lenders and finance products, the expected journey broadly includes:

Customer interest → Loan application → Credit and affordability assessment → Installation → Installation verification → Payment → Loan repayment

Finance may be offered through different routes, including conventional personal loans, secured lending and potentially point-of-sale or embedded finance arranged in conjunction with installers or other intermediaries.

Government information will identify participating lenders, but the lender remains responsible for the finance agreement, credit decision and ongoing servicing of the loan.

What could the Warm Homes Loan Scheme mean for installers?

The WHLS could create an important new route for customers to finance technologies such as heat pumps, solar PV and battery storage.

It may also bring additional operational requirements.

Depending upon the lender and finance product, installers may need to manage information connected with quotations, customer applications, MCS verification, installation evidence, completion and payment.

Point-of-sale finance could make the relationship between the installer, customer and lender particularly important.

For installation businesses handling significant volumes of WHLS-funded work, keeping the finance-related stages connected to the underlying installation workflow may therefore become important.

How Instalr can help with Warm Homes Loan Scheme delivery

WHLS is installer led - which means you need to keep track of prospects, the journey from prospect to customer, and then subsequent delivery.

Instalr has a comprehensive lead management section and allows tracking of lead conversions, lead source/generator performance, and provides various channels for obtaining leads from sources like Facebook or your own web site enquiry forms, giving full control and oversight of the incoming pipeline.

Additionally Instalr's operational workflow is built around multi measure projects, keeping all related information in one place, including customer and property information, surveys, appointments, installation progress, evidence and documentation.

You can also specify multiple finance sources for each project as well as grant contribution amounts - combined with costings, this allows visibility of what's going out, and what's coming in, and from where.

For businesses handling significant volumes of heat-pump or other eligible installations, keeping scheme-related activity connected to the underlying job can help reduce administrative fragmentation.

• Record finance contributions
• Upload finance documents
• Group work by finance provider
• Manage lead acquisition
• Pull in leads from Facebook, Web Forms, anywhere!
• Track lead source performance
• Monitor profit margins