The Home Upgrade Grant Scheme is a £2.5bn manifesto commitment to provide energy efficiency upgrades and low carbon heating to low-income households that are living off-gas grid in England to tackle fuel poverty and reach net zero ambitions.

Households were eligible if they:

• Had an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of D, E, F or G – the local Customer Journey Support service in your area can check this for you – and
• had a combined annual household income under £36,000 (gross) or live within an approved area

The HUG scheme allowed eligible homeowners to get £8,000 – £38,000 to install energy efficiency measures such as External Wall Insulation and Solar PV, as well as low-carbon heating methods such as low-temperature heat pumps, into their homes. The objective of the scheme is to alleviate fuel poverty, by lowering energy bills, while also helping transition to net zero.

The Midlands Net Zero Hub bid for £28m from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for the first phase of the HUG scheme which ran until 31st May 2023. A further £138m was received for the second phase of the HUG scheme which ran until March 2025.

We procured services to assist with the customer journey and implementation. The service supports local authorities within defined areas to providing a single point of contact and support for citizens. The service checks household eligibility, answers questions on the scheme and energy efficiency measures, as well as giving additional support to help tackle fuel poverty, income maximisation, for example.

To help enable regional delivery, we have set up two Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) for local authorities to use to procure installers and professional services. A DPS is a method of buying commonly used goods, services, or works. It combines a pre-qualification process for suppliers, similar in effect to a ‘select’ or ‘approved’ list, with elements of electronic tendering, and it aims to streamline the procurement process, reducing the workload and making it more efficient for both buyers and suppliers. This DPS provides a route to access qualified consultants and contractors to assist them to delivering energy efficient retrofits projects covering a range of measure and technologies.

The scheme is closed to new applications, but you can find out about the next iteration of domestic retrofit funding, Warm Homes Local Grant.