Warm Homes: Local Grant in Hampshire: Up to £30,000 Towards Solar, Insulation & Low-Carbon Heating

The Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG) is the government's main council-delivered energy-upgrade scheme in England. It launched on 1 April 2025, is funded by the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, and is expected to run until 31 March 2028 — replacing the old Home Upgrade Grant (HUG2). Unlike a loan or a discount scheme, eligible works are fully funded: there is nothing to repay.

Timing matters in 2026. The Great British Insulation Scheme closed on 31 March 2026, and while ECO4 was extended to 31 December 2026 (confirmed by the government in January 2026), it remains benefits-focused. For most working Hampshire households on modest incomes, the Warm Homes: Local Grant is now the primary route to funded solar and insulation — and it's the one this guide focuses on.

You do not need to be on benefits. There are three routes in, and you only need one:

• Income route: gross household income of £36,000 a year or less — this is the route most working households don't realise they qualify under;
• Benefits route: someone in the home receives a qualifying means-tested benefit; or
• Postcode route: the home sits in a designated lower-income area.

On top of one of those, the property needs an Energy Performance Certificate of D, E, F or G — the scheme's goal is to lift homes to EPC C. That describes a huge slice of Hampshire's housing stock: the Victorian and Edwardian terraces of Portsmouth and Southampton (often solid-walled, EPC D–E) and the older off-gas village properties across the New Forest and Test Valley are exactly the homes this grant was designed for.

Tenure rules: owner-occupiers are fully funded. Private tenants can benefit too — a landlord's first rental property is fully funded, with 50% funding for additional properties (so if you rent and your home is cold, it costs your landlord little or nothing to say yes).

Not sure what your EPC is? Look it up free on the government's EPC register — and if your rating looks wrong (old certificate, pre-improvement), say so when you apply, because an outdated EPC is one of the most common reasons Hampshire homes are wrongly screened out.

Delivery across our patch runs through the Warmer Homes consortium, led by Portsmouth City Council with delivery partner AgilityEco. The GOV.UK successful-authorities list (updated 2 July 2026) shows the Portsmouth consortium holding £34,807,254 of Warm Homes: Local Grant funding across 32 local authorities. Every Hampshire council area is in:

• South Hampshire: Portsmouth, Southampton, Fareham, Gosport, Havant, Eastleigh, New Forest
• Central & North Hampshire: Winchester, East Hampshire, Test Valley, Basingstoke & Deane, Hart, Rushmoor
• Across the water: Isle of Wight
• Just over the border: Chichester and the West Sussex districts sit in the same consortium — useful if you're on the Emsworth/Chichester side of our 30-mile patch

On the Dorset side, Dorset Council holds a separate £4,441,457 allocation with BCP Council (Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole) as its consortium partner, so Christchurch-area readers apply through that route instead.

One honest caveat: each council's pot is finite and allocated year by year — the July 2026 GOV.UK update reflects budgets being re-adjusted mid-scheme based on delivery. If you think you qualify, register now rather than waiting for winter, when demand (and waiting lists) peak.

The survey decides which measures your home gets, but solar PV with battery storage is one of the headline measures the Warmer Homes programme installs. Here's what the grant-funded measures would typically cost if you paid for them yourself in 2026:

Hampshire is a genuinely good place to put those panels: the Solent coast records some of the highest annual sunshine hours in Britain, so the same 4 kWp array generates more here than almost anywhere else in the UK.

A technical point most guides skip: every solar or battery system in Hampshire connects to SSEN's Southern licence-area network, our regional Distribution Network Operator. Systems up to 3.68 kW per phase go through a G98 notification; anything bigger needs G99 approval before installation, plus an export registration if you want paying for surplus power. Grant-scheme contractors handle this within the programme — and when we install privately, I handle every SSEN application myself.

Being straight with you: grant-funded installs are carried out by the consortium's appointed contractors — you don't get to choose your own installer under the scheme, so this isn't a sales pitch for us. Where Solent Solar fits: checking your EPC and eligibility before you apply, giving you an independent view on what the survey recommends, and quoting properly (at 0% VAT) if you don't qualify or don't want to wait.

1. Check your EPC on the government's free EPC register. D, E, F or G? Carry on.
2. Register with Warmer Homes — the consortium's application portal at warmerhomes.org.uk covers every Hampshire council, or call the freephone 0800 038 5737. Alternatively, start from GOV.UK's "Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant" page (support helpline 0800 098 7950).
3. Eligibility checks: the scheme verifies income/benefits/postcode and tenure. Some councils also contact likely-eligible households directly — a letter about it isn't a scam, but you can always verify by ringing your district council.
4. Free retrofit survey: an assessor visits and recommends measures for your specific home — which is where solar, battery storage, insulation or a heat pump get specified.
5. Installation by the scheme's approved contractors, at no cost to you (owner-occupiers and eligible tenants).

Realistic expectations: from registration to installation commonly takes months, not weeks — funding is released in tranches and surveys are batched. Apply early in the year, not when the first frost arrives. And if your circumstances change (income, tenure), tell the scheme — eligibility is checked at the point of delivery, not just at registration.

Most households we survey across the Solent don't meet the £36,000 income test. If that's you, you still have four genuine levers this year:

• 0% VAT until 31 March 2027. Domestic solar, battery storage and installation carry zero VAT until then, when the rate is due to revert to 5% — on a typical 4 kWp-plus-battery install that's roughly a £400–£600 saving locked in only while the relief lasts. See our 0% VAT guide.
• Solar Together Hampshire. Hampshire County Council's group-buying scheme (run with iChoosr) holds a reverse auction among pre-vetted installers; the 2025 round took registrations from 22 August to 27 October, and rounds have run each year — our Solar Together Hampshire guide covers how it compares with a direct quote.
• Smart Export Guarantee income. Getting paid for exported power is a right, not a grant: typical flat export rates sit around 12p/kWh in mid-2026, premium flat tariffs reach 24–25p/kWh, and battery time-of-use tariffs pay considerably more at peak. Rates change often — we check the live numbers as part of every quote.
• ECO4 (to 31 December 2026) if someone in your household receives qualifying benefits and your heating is inefficient — a different, supplier-led route worth checking before it closes.

If you'd like a straight answer on which route fits your house, book a free, no-pressure survey. I'm Tom — Solent Solar is my company, based in Whiteley, and my team and I do every survey and every install within 30 miles of the Solent. One small team. Every install. MCS-certified, HIES member, RECC member. Call 07833 448687 or use the contact form — and see our companion guides to every solar grant in Hampshire and battery funding in 2026.

How much is the Warm Homes: Local Grant worth in Hampshire?

Do I need to be on benefits to qualify?

Can I get solar panels and a battery through the grant?

I rent my home in Hampshire — am I covered?

When does the Warm Homes: Local Grant end?