Warm Homes: Local Grant for landlords: the rules for a let property

The short answer on how it works for landlords

Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG) is a government funded scheme delivered by councils in England. The DESNZ policy guidance for local authorities says landlords with low-income tenants, living in properties that meet the scheme’s property rules, can access grant funding. The landlord does not need to be low income. The tenant’s household does.

Two regions sit outside it. The guidance says the Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities received their share through devolved settlements, so they and their member councils, including Manchester, Birmingham and Coventry, cannot take part in the national scheme. Their own grants set their own landlord terms. The West Midlands landlord offer, for example, covers 70% of the cost for up to 4 properties and 50% from the fifth, so the rules below do not apply there.

London is inside the national scheme but runs through one lead body. The Greater London Authority’s decision MD3366 (approved 2 April 2025) set up a single Warm Homes London project for 30 boroughs and the City of London, with Barking and Dagenham and Croydon residents served through their own boroughs’ allocations. MD3366 applies the same landlord rule, one property funded then 50% from the next, with the caps it set at the time. See the London page.

This page summarises that guidance (updated June 2026, GOV.UK update 2 July 2026). It is independent and is not the scheme, the council or government, and the guidance can change. Always check the live position with your council.

Who qualifies: the tenant, then the property

The tenant’s household must be income eligible through one of three routes. It needs to meet only one.

Route	Test
Postcode	Lives in an area in the two most deprived income deciles of the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (2025 data now used for new households)
Income proxy	Receives a specified means-tested benefit, or meets Route 2 of ECO4 Flex
Income	Gross household income of £36,000 or less, or below an “after housing costs” threshold for the household’s size

The after housing costs thresholds start at £20,000 for one adult or two adults, and rise with dependants. Self declaration is not accepted, so the council checks evidence.

The property must be an existing domestic dwelling in England with an EPC rating in bands D to G (a SAP score of 68 or below). Bands A to C are ineligible in all circumstances. New builds and self builds not previously occupied are not eligible. All fuel types can qualify, on gas or off gas.

Councils also keep discretion. The guidance lets them decline a household they do not consider to be at risk of fuel poverty, for example because of large savings or assets.

What the landlord gets and pays

	First property	Second property onwards
Landlord contribution	None	50% of the total cost
Maximum grant	£33,200 (£16,600 + £16,600)	£16,600
Landlord pays	£0	£16,600 at the cap
Tenant pays	Nothing	Nothing

Notes that sit behind the table:

• Caps are £16,600 per home for energy performance upgrades and £16,600 for low carbon heating. The guidance treats these as project averages, so an individual home can come in above or below.
• The 50% rule applies to the second property upgraded and beyond. The guidance says there is no maximum on what a landlord may contribute, so a council can accept more than 50%.
• Tenants are not required or expected to contribute anything.
• Fully funded means one property per landlord. A central database checks this using the owners named on the title deeds.

Measures must be installed by TrustMark registered installers certified to PAS 2030, or MCS certified for heat pumps, and designed to PAS 2035.

Worked example (modelled, not a real project)

A landlord has two terraced houses, both EPC E, each with a tenant whose household meets the income test. Both sit in a council area delivering the scheme. The inputs are assumptions chosen to show the arithmetic, not typical prices.

Input	Property A (first upgraded)	Property B (second upgraded)
Assumed cost of the council’s package	£20,000	£20,000
Landlord share	£0	50%, so £10,000
Grant share	£20,000	£10,000
Tenant pays	£0	£0
Landlord rent declaration	Yes	Yes

Total landlord cost across both houses is £10,000 on £40,000 of work, and £30,000 of public subsidy counts towards the landlord’s £315,000 limit. The guidance’s table caps grant funding for a second property at £16,600, so a package costing more than £33,200 would leave the landlord paying the excess as well as their share. The caps are project averages, so ask the council how it applies them to your property.

This is a model. The council chooses the package, the installer prices it, and the order in which properties are upgraded decides which one is fully funded.

EPC F and G: the exemption comes first

A rented property rated F or G must have a registered exemption under the 2015 minimum energy efficiency regulations before it can be treated. The reason given is that grant funding cannot be used to make a property compliant with existing regulations, but it can improve the property beyond the minimum legal requirement. Councils must check that landlords of F and G homes are compliant.

The practical consequence is simple. If your rental is F or G and you have no registered exemption, you may need to sort that out before you can use the council route. For more on the rules and cost cap, see the cost cap and exemptions guide.

The declarations you sign

The council gives the landlord a declaration form from DESNZ, and the guidance says it covers four things.

1. Eligibility: information to decide whether the property gets 100% or 50% funding.
2. Subsidy limit: confirmation that you have not exceeded £315,000 of Minimal Financial Assistance from all public sources over three years. The guidance describes this as the current and previous two financial years, set under section 36 of the Subsidy Control Act 2022.
3. Rent: confirmation that you do not intend to raise rent as a direct result of the funded upgrades.
4. Monitoring: acknowledgement that you will take part in DESNZ surveys or evaluations on private rented sector uptake and impact.

The council also verifies that your details match the title deeds. If the total subsidy to you exceeds £100,000, the council has to comply with the Act’s transparency requirements.

Charity owned rentals can qualify as private rented, but not if the charity is a registered provider of social housing.

How a landlord with a low-income tenant starts

1. Talk to the tenant. The tenant’s income is the test, and they must supply evidence. The landlord cannot self declare for them.
2. Check the EPC. Look up the rental’s certificate on the EPC register. It must be D to G. If F or G, confirm the exemption is registered.
3. Ask the council whether it delivers the scheme. The guidance says funding went to 74 funded projects covering 271 councils, over 97% of eligible councils in England. That does not mean your council has money left or is taking private landlord applications.
4. Expect a retrofit assessment. The council decides what package is installed, within its cost caps, so you may not get a heat pump. Insulation or solar may be the funded answer.
5. Complete the declarations and wait for the council to confirm the funding in writing before any work begins.

What can change

The guidance is blunt that policy may be changed in flight. DESNZ reserves the right to change the rules, including the maximum number of fully funded homes per landlord, or to remove the private rented sector from scope. The window for the scheme runs to 31 March 2028.

For a planning landlord that means do not build a portfolio plan on the current wording. Treat the rules here as the position on 8 October 2026.

When the council route is not the right answer

It is not a route for landlords whose tenants earn above the thresholds, whose properties are EPC A to C, or who need heating replaced quickly. Councils manage demand and assessments take time. In those cases the Boiler Upgrade Scheme or your own funding is likely to be faster, and insulation may still be the better first step. The Renters’ Rights Act page covers how planned upgrades interact with a periodic tenancy.

Next step

Compare your options on the landlord grants map, then put your own property into the heat pump landlord calculator. If you want installers to look at the property, send an enquiry on the quote page; relevant independent firms contact you, with no charge and no obligation.