Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund — Overview, Aims and Eligibility
Information checked: September 2026
What is the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund?
The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF) provides funding for energy-efficiency improvements and low-carbon heating in social housing in England.
Previously known as the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, the current Wave 3 programme is being delivered between 2025 and 2028.
The government allocated £1.29 billion to Wave 3, with successful social housing providers and local authorities delivering projects across England.
What are the aims of WH:SHF?
The programme is intended to upgrade a significant proportion of social homes currently below EPC band C.
Its stated objectives include:
- delivering warmer and more energy-efficient homes
- reducing carbon emissions
- tackling fuel poverty
- improving the comfort, health and wellbeing of social-housing tenants
- supporting green jobs and development of the retrofit sector
Who is eligible?
Unlike a household grant, WH:SHF funding is awarded to eligible organisations delivering improvements across social-housing portfolios.
Wave 3 was open, subject to scheme rules and exceptions, to local authorities, combined authorities, registered providers of social housing, registered housing associations and registered charities owning social housing.
Eligible organisations could also participate through consortium arrangements.
At property level, existing social housing falling within the relevant statutory definition and below EPC band C was generally eligible, irrespective of housing archetype.
The application window for Wave 3 has closed and the programme is now in its delivery phase, which runs through to September 2028.
What this means for installation contractors
Contractors are not generally helping an individual homeowner apply for WH:SHF.
They are more likely to be delivering installations as part of projects already commissioned by housing providers, local authorities, managing agents or principal contractors.
That can create additional operational requirements around programme visibility, evidence, documentation, reporting and coordination across multiple properties.
How WH:SHF fits within the wider Warm Homes Plan
WH:SHF sits within the broader Warm Homes Plan, but it is distinct from the Warm Homes: Local Grant, which is focused on eligible privately owned homes.
How Instalr relates to WH:SHF delivery
For installation businesses delivering work under WH:LG, Instalr can help manage the operational journey around each property and job, including surveys, appointments, installation activity, evidence and documentation.
Each property can be tagged with the appropriate LA for future reporting/searching and LA's can be given web portal access to view progress without the need for creating weekly reports.
Eligibility critera and evidence documents can be recorded at property level for easy reference.
This can be particularly useful where contractors are working with multiple LA's, field teams and properties at the same time.
- Record eligibility criteria
- Upload benefits evidence
- Group work / report by LA
- Portal access for LA's
- Reduced internal admin