Frequently Asked Questions

The Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG) provides energy efficiency upgrades and can include low carbon heating through Government funding, to privately owned homes in England that:

• Have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) between D and G; and
• Reside within an eligible postcode area or
• Are a low-income household earning £36,000 or less or below the equivalised after housing costs income threshold
• Somebody in the household is in receipt of a specified means-tested benefit (Income-Based, Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income-Related Employment and Support allowance (ESA), Income Support, Pension Credit (savings and guarantee), Universal Credit, Housing Benefit)

In general, no. The WH:LG is for privately owned homes, which means owner-occupied homes and privately rented homes, not social housing. You should contact your social landlord for further information.

Leicestershire County Council have secured £4.7m to support the retrofitting of homes across Leicestershire. The amount of funding that can be spent on each property that is eligible will depend on the type of property, the type of heating and the property’s current condition. There are cost caps for some types of measure, therefore any energy improvements offered to you will need to meet scheme budgets and may mean not all of the measures proposed can be delivered in your home.

There may be other are grants that may be more suitable, please visit the Leicestershire Energy Efficiency Grants web page: www.leicestershire.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/community-schemes-and-funding/energy-efficiency-grants for other funding programmes available currently.

The Leicestershire County Council scheme is for residents of:

• Blaby District Council
• Charnwood Borough Council
• Harborough District Council
• Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council
• Melton Borough Council
• North West Leicestershire District Council

Residents of Oadby & Wigston Borough Council / Leicester City Council should contact their respective local authorities.

You are likely to qualify if you meet the following criteria:

This can be checked on the following webpage https://www.warmhomesleicestershire.co.uk/local-grant-eligibility-checker-warm-homes-leicestershire/ and includes a Postcode checker for Pathway 1 route

• you are an owner-occupier or rent your home from a private landlord*
• your property has a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D, E, F or G.  We will check your EPC rating as part of the property assessment process when a household is being considered for WH:LG and after a resident is deemed eligible for the programme.

To qualify one of the following statements must also apply:

• Pathway 1: You live in one of the eligible postcode areas set by the Government.
• Route 2: Yourself or a permanent member of your household receives a specified means tested benefit.
• Route 3: Your combined household income is below £36,000 before tax (or the equivalised after housing costs income threshold)

*For owner-occupiers, grants will fund the full cost of works required (inc. surveys).  Private tenants are eligible for assistance; however, your landlord may be required to contribute to the total cost. Please discuss your application with your landlord before applying as their consent will be required.

Owner occupiers will not be required to contribute to the costs of any work approved under the scheme. Private tenants should not be charged for upgrade costs by their landlords, but private landlords may be required to contribute depending on the number of properties involved.

There are several ways you can register your interest for WH:LG. You can register your interest through our webpage: www.warmhomesleicestershire.co.uk. Alternatively, you can register your interest through the government’s webpage Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant to improve a home – GOV.UK.

The funding is available on a first-come, first-serve basis, subject to availability and household / property criteria (including all relevant evidence to support your application). Installations must be complete before the 31st March 2028, although we are only allowed to improve a fixed number of properties each year. Works carried out after this date will be ineligible for funding unless an official extension is granted by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

The government sets out the conditions for all funding programmes. In the instance where the funding cannot help all those who have applied, we can signpost you to other funding programmes or if we are successful with future funding applications and you meet the eligibility criteria, advise you of those schemes when they become available.

If you do not meet the eligibility criteria, we will do our best to signpost you to current alternative funding programmes that you may be eligible to apply for. We can also direct you to services that offer free impartial advice on energy efficiency, billing, fuel debt, and more. You can also check with your energy supplier or search for grants online.

Landlords will not be required to contribute anything for their first property under the scheme, any additional properties owned by the same landlord, will need a contribution of 50% towards the cost of upgrades. There are no eligibility restrictions on the number of properties landlords can access the funding for. Landlords are free to upgrade as many eligible properties as they wish, so long as they do not exceed the minimum financial assistance limit* and pay the contribution required to the cost of the upgrades for the second and any other properties treated across all local authorities areas. Please note that all properties will also need to meet eligibility criteria above too.

* The minimum financial assistance limit states that landlords cannot receive more than £315,000 in public funding over the past three financial years, as per UK and EU regulations.

Yes, your tenant could still benefit from the scheme. Private rented tenants must still meet the eligibility criteria above. *However, as the landlord your first property will be free and any subsequent properties you own, a 50% landlord contribution will be required before any works can start. Eligibility for home improvements can also be determined once a retrofit assessment has been completed.

In addition to your initial application form, you are likely to need to provide consent for us to check details through Government approved portals, such as DWP and Land Registry checks. If your property has been approved for improvements, you will be asked to sign a Homeowner Retrofit Agreement before any work starts. This is a legally binding agreement that sets out the work being offered to your home, and the agreed terms and conditions that all parties will be required to follow. Private landlords will be required to complete a landlord declaration for each property.

To check if you meet the eligibility criteria, you will need to provide proof of ownership of your home, such as land registry title, but we can support with this by applying for a land registry check at no cost to you.  You will also need to provide proof of occupancy, such as a recent utility bill and proof of identity such as a driving license or passport. If your property is within an eligible postcode,

you will not need to provide any income evidence otherwise you will need to provide proof of benefits or pay slips. With your consent, we can also undertake checks with the DWP, for those on eligible benefits, at no cost to you. Private Landlords must declare that they have not received subsidy over the Minimal Financial Assistance limit of £315,000 (including the value of WH:LG support to be given for the current application, and any previous assistance given to the landlords over the current and previous 2 financial years).

To receive WH:LG funding, you must meet the eligibility criteria. If you do not meet the criteria, you will not be eligible for funding. Eligibility for home improvements can also be determined once a retrofit assessment has been completed.  Below are some other common reasons for unsuccessful applications:

• Evidence cannot be verified, or is not supplied to meet scheme criteria, such as bank statements, payslips, P60s, benefits letters, mortgage statements or title deeds or property ownership.
• EPC rating too high – Properties rated EPC band A, B and C do not qualify for WH:LG because the scheme aims to upgrade the most inefficient properties first.
• Property unsuitable – Not all homes are suitable for certain energy efficiency measures. A survey will be completed to determine what improvements your property needs from what is available under this scheme.
• Access difficulties – Your application may be cancelled if installers are unable to access relevant parts of your property safely. This could be due to narrow passageways or not enough room to erect scaffolding. For health and safety, loft spaces with small loft hatches are often declined for measures such as loft insulation.
• Planning constraints – Some measures may not be appropriate for your property due to planning restrictions. For example, we may encounter planning restrictions if your property is listed or in a conservation area.

If you meet household eligibility, and the property is also eligible (EPC band D to G from a housing energy efficiency perspective), an appointment will be arranged for a Retrofit Assessor to attend your home. The assessor will carry out a whole-house assessment to confirm if your home needs any energy efficiency improvements and identify what the best type of improvements are for your home. Suitability for home improvements can also be determined once an assessment of your home has been completed. The assessment can take up to around 2 hours, however, some homes may also need extra technical surveys afterwards before improvements can be approved.

Energy surveys are conducted by trained and qualified energy assessors, known as retrofit assessors.

Government standards, known as PAS 2035, and current Building Regulations (Part F), mean that households who qualify for WH:LG funding must have their existing ventilation in their home assessed against Building Regulations (Part F). This often leads to either having the home’s existing ventilation upgraded, or new additional ventilation installed. At the survey stage, your home’s suitability for specific energy efficiency improvements and the ventilation needed will be assessed together. Should your property require any ventilation measures, they will be fitted prior to any energy improvements being installed, at no cost to you. These are a requirement of the WH:LG funding and no works can proceed without the highlighted ventilation upgrades having been installed. Upgrades could include extractor fans, trickle vents on windows or gaps beneath internal doors. These allow air to move throughout your home keeping your home safe and healthy.

Often, yes. Once your eligibility for the scheme has been confirmed, an assessment of your home, and sometimes extra home technical surveys depending on the measures proposed would be needed. Tenants and landlords should expect several contacts or visits during the process.

If an assessment finds that there are no improvements that can be made to your home within the project budget, you will still receive signposting to further advice and support, and an up to-date EPC rating.

This is a question that cannot be answered, as one size does not fit all. Your neighbour or family member’s property may look similar or have been built around the same time, however, how people live or how a property has been changed can mean that the efficiency of each property is different. The Retrofit Assessors and Retrofit Coordinators are trained and qualified to identify the best improvements for each individual property.

Eligible households could receive funding towards renewable, low carbon technologies including Solar Photovoltaics (PV), Solar Thermal (Hot Water) systems, and Air Source Heat Pumps, provided that the property has appropriate levels of insulation. If the required levels of insulation do not exist, funding will generally first be used to insulate the home to achieve a fabric first approach, as set out by central government, although packages of renewable technologies such as solar panels, etc. may be considered if they can be shown to provide high bill savings cost-effectively. Whether an Air Source Heat Pumps will be recommended, will be considered following an assessment of your home to check whether it is an appropriate replacement for the current heating system.

Yes, your property can still qualify for WHLG funding, provided you meet the eligibility criteria. Please note that only non-fossil fuel heating systems, such as Air Source Heat Pumps or High Heat Retention Storage Heaters could be offered through the scheme, and not a replacement gas boiler.

This is difficult to estimate and will depend on the type of upgrade offered and the current condition of your home. Some upgrades may take longer to organise than others. For example, some may require planning permission and/or are weather-dependent.  If needed, you will not need to pay or apply for planning yourself.  You may have multiple surveys depending on the measure. Once your home has been surveyed and we have confirmed your grant, there is a formal compliance process to meet funding requirements. This happens in the background and does not require any input from you to complete. However, this can take several weeks to process and must be done before the work can begin. From your initial application to installation, it could take several months or more.

You will be provided with a customer liaison contact once your work has been approved and they will be your contact throughout your journey.

You will receive usage and maintenance documentation on the works and improvements installed, advice on how to maximise the use of the measures installed, alongside product warranties and installation and workmanship guarantees. This information will be provided digitally to you.

After the works have been installed, we will need to send an Assessor back to your property to review the measures installed, and provide you will an updated EPC highlighting your improved energy rating.