Warm Homes Social Housing Fund: free council home repairs & upgrades
What is the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund?
The Warm Homes Social Housing Fund is a scheme that provides funding for social housing landlords and local authorities to deliver energy efficiency upgrades to their most energy inefficient homes. Despite rapid improvements to England’s social housing stock since 2010, nearly one million homes remain expensive to heat and uncomfortable to live in during colder and warmer weather.
The fund is part of the Government’s manifesto commitment to spending £13.2 billion to help retrofit housing to improve energy efficiency. Its specific aim is to improve social housing with poor energy efficiency (EPC) ratings to deliver the following benefits to tenants:
- Healthier environment – warmer homes reduce the risk of damp or mould
- Better comfort – homes aren’t just warmer in winter, they’re cooler in summer too
- Reduced energy bills – will lift more people out of fuel poverty thanks to lower heating costs.
The scheme has been rolled out in ‘waves’ starting in 2021, which have already delivered around £1 billion to fund energy-efficient upgrades to eligible social housing, including those owned by private landlords, housing associations and local authorities. The current wave, Wave 3, has allocated £1.29 billion in funds to over 140 applicants, who will spend the money on energy improvements over the next few years (2025-2028).
What upgrades are included?
The Warm Homes Social Housing Fund aims to deliver energy-efficient upgrades to housing that will help improve their EPC rating to C. Upgrades that can help lift social housing to this level include:
Insulation (loft, cavity wall, underfloor)
One of the most fundamental ways in which heat loss can be reduced to improve a home’s energy efficiency rating and help cut bills is through insulation. Most upgrades focus on three key areas when it comes to improving thermal efficiency:
- Loft – heat rises, so insulating your home’s loft and/or roof will go a long way to keeping it warm. It also works in the opposite direction, helping to keep heat from entering your home through the roof in the summer months
- Walls – another area where heat escapes is through your walls. Find out how both solid and cavity wall insulation can help reduce heat loss in your home
- Underfloor – you don’t need to be living in an older house with suspended floors to benefit from floor insulation – find out more about underfloor heating's potential benefits with our guide.
Heating systems
There are many ways to heat your home, and if your current heating system is at least 10 years old then it may be replaced as part of your home’s energy efficiency upgrade. Upgrades that may be fitted include:
- Heat pumps (both air source heat pumps and ground source heat pumps)
- Replacement boiler
- Solar thermal systems (for hot water)
- Smart heating controls, including smart thermostats.
Windows and doors
Another area where heat can be lost is through your windows and doors. Even if your home already has double glazing installed, if it’s 20 years old it’s probably due for replacement. Today’s double-glazed (and triple-glazed) windows are much better at keeping your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Another way you can make your home more comfortable and increase its thermal efficiency is by draughtproofing doors and windows. This is a relatively simple job and may be included as part of your home’s energy efficiency upgrade.
Solar PV systems
The Warm Home Social Housing Fund does have provision for solar PV installations, which allow tenants to save money on their energy bills by taking advantage of the sun to generate free electricity. You may even be given a battery, which stores excess electricity you can use when the sun isn’t shining, such as at night.
How to check if your home is included
There’s no method by which you can easily check to see if your home will be included in energy efficiency upgrades through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund scheme. In most cases, you will be contacted directly by your landlord, housing association or local authority if your home has been chosen to receive energy efficiency upgrades.
However, if you rent through your local authority or a housing association, you can do a little research to see if it’s likely you may be eligible to get an upgrade. First, check your council house’s EPC rating using GOV.UK’s energy certificate finder – if it’s rated D or lower then your house is eligible.
Next, check both Challenge Fund and Strategic Partnership lists of successful applicants on GOV.UK to see if your landlord has successfully applied to be part of the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund Wave 3 scheme. If it has, it’s likely that information about its warm homes strategy has been published on its website and may include additional details such as many houses it plans to retrofit and what criteria it will use to determine which houses will be selected for improvements. If you can’t find it, look for a section on home improvements – in the case of local authorities, this is likely to be within the dedicated council housing part of the website.
Timelines and what tenants can expect
The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund has been rolled out in so-called ‘Waves’ since it was launched under a different name (Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund) in 2021. After processing applications for funding, the project allocated £1.29 billion to 144 projects nationwide, which will fund energy efficiency retrofit projects from 2025 to September 2028.
This means you may be contacted at any time during this period to be informed that your home has been chosen to receive energy-efficiency upgrades.
Once contacted, the process will broadly follow this timeline:
- Home survey – the contractor carrying out the work will visit your home to inspect your property and discuss with you what upgrades will be carried out. They should also explain what they’ll be doing, what access they need, what kind of disruption you should expect (e.g. temporary loss of power or water) and how long the work should take to complete.
- Stay informed – check with your landlord regularly for information about the retrofitting. This may involve attending meetings, reading information and checking websites for updates.
- Be prepared – in the days running up to the work starting, clear the areas where the upgrades are being carried out as well as any surrounding areas. Cover furniture and other items with protective sheets if necessary.
- Consider moving out temporarily – if the required work is likely to be highly disruptive and take longer than a day to complete, consider moving to temporary alternative accommodation like a friend or family member
- Learn how things work – once the work is completed, the contractor should demonstrate what they’ve done and, where applicable, how to use any new controls or systems.
Free repairs and maintenance responsibilities
Should you run into a problem with any energy efficiency upgrade, then your first port of call should be to check your tenancy agreement or housing association repairs and maintenance policy for confirmation of what you and your landlord’s responsibilities are. Broadly speaking, your landlord is usually responsible for the following repairs:
- Structure and exterior condition of the property, including walls, roof, windows, window frames and stairs
- Pipes (gas, water and sewage) and guttering
- Central heating system
- Sinks, baths and toilets (minus the seats unless they’re specially adapted).
This would cover most energy efficiency improvements – your landlord will be covered by the contractor’s guarantee, but it is their responsibility to repair any faulty upgrades. In addition, all SHF-funded upgrades must comply with PAS 2035 retrofit standards, which means your landlord or housing association is also responsible for monitoring their performance and ensuring existing systems (such as ventilation and heating) continue to meet safety and efficiency standards.
Remember, too, your own obligations under your tenancy agreement. Free council house repairs don’t usually extend to those required because of deliberate damage, neglect or misuse on your part. The Housing Ombudsman has a useful guide to repairs and responsibilities for tenants.
FAQs
Does the Warm Home Social Housing Fund cover the whole UK?
No, it only covers England, including combined authorities like the Greater London Authority, West Midlands Combined Authority and Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Each authority has received lump sums to distribute among social housing providers within its own area.
If you live in Scotland or Wales, check Warmer Homes Scotland and the Optimised Retrofit Programme respectively for schemes offering similar energy efficient upgrades.
How do I find out if my council home is included?
First, check to see if your council house is eligible by viewing its current EPC rating. If it’s rated ‘D’ or lower, check to see if your landlord, housing association or local authority has received Wave 3 funding for the programme. If it has, contact your landlord directly or check your housing association or local council’s website for more information about which properties are likely to be eligible. In most cases, however, you’ll only find out if your council home is included in the scheme when you’re contacted directly by your landlord.
Will these upgrades reduce my energy bills?
Yes, in making your home more energy efficient, these upgrades will each shave money off your energy bills in addition to making your home more comfortable to live in. Amounts vary depending on the current state of your home and the type of upgrades fitted, but some example savings might include £300-400 per year for insulating their home and £140 a year by upgrading your windows.
You can find out exactly how much you might save by using Atom’s Retrofit Explorer online tool, which takes your home’s current EPC rating and reveals how much money you could save through selected home improvements.
What if my council house is freezing now?
If you’re currently suffering from a poorly insulated home, there are many steps you can take that may help make things more comfortable in the short term, such as draughtproofing your doors and windows, fitting thermal curtains and bleeding your radiators. You’ll also find free help and advice from organisations like Green Doctor and National Energy Action along with our energy efficiency guides.
If your problems are severe – for example, your heating system has broken down or isn’t running at anywhere near the level it has in the past, contact your landlord. Use its online portal or email for non-critical requests, or phone it directly for emergency repairs, such as burst pipes. The Housing Ombudsman offers useful advice on how to report problems.
What about the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund Wave 4?
As yet, Wave 4 of the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund hasn’t been officially confirmed. However, the government has committed £13.2 billion into funding its Warm Homes Plan from 2025 to 2030. Therefore, once the current Wave ends in 2028, Wave 4 will follow. We’ll update this page with information as it arrives.
