What the scheme is
Warm Homes: Local Grant is a government programme delivered by local councils in England. Liverpool City Council runs its own share of it, which matters because searching for the scheme by name also turns up versions run by other councils. The council's page is the one that applies to homes inside the city boundary.
The council says the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero awarded it £5,800,000 to improve the energy efficiency of approximately 450 properties over three years. It describes the programme as helping homeowners and private renters make upgrades such as wall and loft insulation, solar panels, heat pumps and ventilation, with the aim of lowering carbon emissions and reducing fuel poverty.
Who can apply
Two conditions apply to everyone. The property must be within the Liverpool boundary, and it must have an Energy Performance Certificate rated D to G. You can look up a certificate by postcode on GOV.UK. Then the household has to meet at least one of three pathways:
| Pathway | Test |
|---|---|
| 1. Postcode | The home is in a postcode within income deciles 1 and 2 of the Indices of Multiple Deprivation. The council publishes the eligible postcodes as a spreadsheet. |
| 2. Benefits | Someone in the household receives one of: Universal Credit, Pension Credit (the part that tops up weekly income), income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit; or the household qualifies under Route 2 of ECO4 Flex. |
| 3. Income | Gross annual household income below £36,000, or below the after-housing-costs threshold for the household's size (income minus rent or mortgage payments). |
The council is clear that meeting a pathway does not secure funding. Every home is assessed, funding is limited, and it may not be able to help every household that qualifies.
What it can pay for
If an application goes ahead, the council carries out a retrofit assessment and may offer one or more measures, subject to a full survey and to funds being available. The measures it lists cover insulation (flat roof, loft, solid wall, external and internal wall, underfloor and cavity), hot water cylinder and tank insulation, solar PV, solar thermal, PV batteries, smart controls, windows and doors, high retention storage heaters, biomass boilers, and three kinds of heat pump arrangement: hybrid heat pumps, ground source heat pumps and shared ground loops.
That list is worth reading closely if a heat pump is what you have in mind. The council decides the measures after assessing the home, so the outcome may be insulation first, a heat pump, storage heaters, or a mix. For the 20,288 Liverpool households that relied on electric heating alone in 2021, high retention storage heaters and heat pumps are both on the list. The council says it will not ask qualifying households for a financial contribution.
Where things stand
Year two of the programme runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 and the council says it is oversubscribed. Interest can still be registered for year three, which starts on 1 April 2027, but only through the government's referral portal on GOV.UK; the council will not accept applications or expressions of interest made directly to its Healthy Homes team by email or telephone.
- Check the property's EPC rating on GOV.UK. If it is A to C, this scheme is not for it.
- Check which pathway the household meets: the postcode list, the benefits list or the income test.
- Register interest through the GOV.UK portal linked from the council's page.
- Expect a letter or email acknowledging the interest and saying it will be considered in year three.
- If the application goes further, one of the council's engagement officers makes contact, and a retrofit assessment follows.
How it sits beside the Boiler Upgrade Scheme
The two are different kinds of help. The council's scheme is targeted at lower-income households in less efficient homes and decides the measures itself after an assessment. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is open to most property owners replacing fossil fuel or electric heating, takes a fixed amount off an installer's quote, and is applied for by the installer. In Liverpool the national scheme had paid for 184 heat pumps between May 2022 and September 2026. The two do not stack for the same heat pump: GOV.UK says the Boiler Upgrade Scheme cannot fund a property that has already had government funding or support for a heat pump. Insulation funded earlier does not count against it.
For tenants and landlords
The council's description includes private renters, and 26.1% of Liverpool households rented privately in 2021. The work is to the landlord's property, so a tenant needs the landlord on board. The council's description names homeowners and private renters; it does not mention social housing tenants, 26.4% of households, whose homes belong to the council or a housing association. The renters and landlords page covers each group.
A grant does not change the planning rules: a funded heat pump still has to meet the position and sound conditions explained in conservation areas and planning. The street check shows how those rules apply to your street, and terraces and flats covers the homes most applicants live in.