Affordable Warmth Scheme NI (& the Warm Homes Plan): 2026 Guide

Update, 19 July 2026. An earlier version of this page described the Warm Homes Plan as a Northern Ireland scheme that had replaced the Affordable Warmth Scheme. That was wrong, and we have corrected it. The Warm Homes Plan is a Great Britain scheme and does not apply in Northern Ireland, where energy efficiency policy is devolved. NI’s main home energy grant remains the Affordable Warmth Scheme, which is open and now due to run until March 2028, with the new Warm Healthy Homes Fund expected from April 2027.

The Short Version

If you searched for the Warm Homes Plan, the warm homes scheme, or the Affordable Warmth Scheme in Northern Ireland, here is where things actually stand in 2026:

• The Warm Homes Plan is the UK government’s energy efficiency programme for England, Scotland and Wales. It does not operate in Northern Ireland and has not replaced any NI scheme.
• Northern Ireland’s main home energy grant is the Affordable Warmth Scheme: up to £7,500 (or £10,000 where solid wall insulation is needed) for households with a gross income under £23,000. It is open, and Department for Communities publications show it running until March 2028.
• A successor, the Warm Healthy Homes Fund, is expected to launch in April 2027 as part of the ten-year Warm Healthy Homes Strategy.
• Affordable Warmth funds insulation and heating, not solar panels. If solar is what you are after, the help available to every household, regardless of income, is 0% VAT until March 2027, export payments for surplus power, and comparing installer quotes.

The rest of this page covers each of those in detail.

Does the Warm Homes Plan Apply in Northern Ireland?

No. The Warm Homes Plan is the UK government’s multi-billion-pound programme to upgrade homes in Great Britain with insulation, heating improvements and low-carbon technology. Energy efficiency is a devolved matter, so Northern Ireland sets its own schemes through the Department for Communities and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, and the Warm Homes Plan does not reach here. Any devolved funding that flows from it arrives as budget for NI’s own programmes, not as a scheme you can apply to.

The confusion is understandable. Northern Ireland ran its own scheme called the Warm Homes Scheme until 2015, when the Affordable Warmth Scheme replaced it, and many people still search under the old name. When the UK government announced a Great Britain programme with almost the same name, the two blurred together. If a website or advert tells you the Warm Homes Plan will fund work on an NI home, treat it with caution; our guide to solar panel scams covers the warning signs of grant-led sales tactics.

The Affordable Warmth Scheme: NI’s Main Home Energy Grant

The Affordable Warmth Scheme is Northern Ireland’s principal fuel poverty programme. It is funded by the Department for Communities, delivered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, and aimed at lower-income households living in homes that are expensive to heat. Originally due to finish in March 2026, the scheme has been extended, and the Department’s own publications now show it running until March 2028, when the changeover to the Warm Healthy Homes Fund completes.

The grant is worth up to £7,500 per household, rising to £10,000 where solid wall insulation is required. The money covers approved works carried out by scheme contractors; it is not a cash payment, and there is nothing to repay.

Who qualifies

Eligibility is deliberately targeted. You are likely to qualify if all of the following apply:

• You own your home and live in it as your main residence, or you rent it privately (with your landlord’s consent for the works)
• Your total gross annual household income is under £23,000
• Your home needs energy efficiency improvements, which the scheme’s home assessment confirms

Housing Executive and housing association tenants are not covered, because their landlords run separate improvement programmes for their own stock.

What it funds

The scheme takes a fabric-first approach: it deals with the building before the heating system. Depending on your home’s assessment, measures can include loft and cavity wall insulation, solid wall insulation where needed, draught-proofing, and heating work such as replacing a broken or inefficient boiler, upgrading controls, or installing central heating where none exists. In some cases the replacement of single-glazed windows can be included where the assessment identifies it.

What it does not fund: solar panels

Affordable Warmth is an insulation and heating scheme. It does not install solar PV, and any company suggesting you can get free solar panels through it is misleading you. The honest position for NI households is that there is currently no income-based grant that funds domestic solar. What every household does get is set out in the solar help section below.

How to Apply

There is no application form to download, which surprises people who go looking for one. The route in is a phone call or email:

1. Contact NI Energy Advice on 0800 111 4455 (or email [email protected]). The service is free and run by the Housing Executive. Have your address, household income details and tenure (owner or private tenant) to hand.
2. A referral and home assessment follow if you appear to qualify. A surveyor confirms which measures your home needs.
3. Approved contractors carry out the work, funded by the grant up to the scheme limits.

If your circumstances sit just outside the criteria, it is still worth calling the advice line. They cover every energy support available in NI, not just Affordable Warmth, and can point you to anything else you qualify for, including supplier-funded NISEP schemes.

What Comes Next: The Warm Healthy Homes Fund

On 5 February 2026 the Department for Communities launched the Warm Healthy Homes Strategy, a ten-year framework running to 2036 for tackling fuel poverty in Northern Ireland. Its headline delivery vehicle is the Warm Healthy Homes Fund, which Department publications describe as replacing the Affordable Warmth Scheme, with the fund expected to launch in April 2027 and Affordable Warmth running until March 2028 during the transition.

Detailed eligibility rules for the new fund had not been published as of July 2026. If you think you qualify for Affordable Warmth now, apply now rather than waiting; the current scheme remains open, and improvements made under it do not disqualify you from future support.

Solar Help That Every NI Household Can Use

Because no NI grant currently funds domestic solar, the real levers for getting panels at a fair price apply to everyone, whatever your income:

• 0% VAT applies to domestic solar installations (panels, and batteries fitted with them) until 31 March 2027. Your installer applies it automatically; there is no paperwork. That is a 20% saving against the pre-2022 position, worth roughly £1,000 on a typical system.
• Export payments. NI electricity suppliers, including Power NI, pay for the surplus units your panels send to the grid. Our guide to solar export payments in NI compares the current rates.
• Comparing quotes. Installed prices for the same system vary by well over £800 between NI installers. Comparing quotes from MCS-certified installers is free, takes about a minute, and carries no obligation.

For what a system should cost in the first place, our guide to solar panel costs in Northern Ireland breaks down current prices by system size.

NISEP: The Other Genuine NI Scheme

The Northern Ireland Sustainable Energy Programme (NISEP) is funded through a levy on electricity bills and run by energy suppliers and approved scheme managers. Each year it funds a changing set of energy efficiency schemes, with around 80% of the budget reserved for vulnerable and lower-income households. Measures are typically insulation and heating; schemes open and close as their funding is used, so availability changes during the year. Ask your electricity supplier what NISEP schemes are currently open, or check with NI Energy Advice on the number above.

Related Guides

• Home Energy Grants in NI: Every current grant and support route for insulation, heating and energy efficiency.
• Solar Panel Grants in NI: The honest picture of solar-specific support, including 0% VAT and export payments.
• Solar Panel Costs in NI: What you would actually pay, with pricing by system size.
• Compare Solar Panel Quotes: Free quotes from MCS-certified NI installers.