Green Home Grants 2025: What Support is Available for Landlords?

Buyers are prioritising energy efficiency[1] in the current market, while the government also clearly has long-term sustainability in mind[2]. Many property investors and landlords will likely be thinking about green home grants for 2025.

The process of making a property greener can be costly, and time-consuming, however. Fortunately, public support schemes are available to investors for these issues.

In recent years, the main supportive programme available to landlords was arguably the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme[3]. This scheme provided grants to homeowners and landlords to make energy-efficient improvements to their assets.

But this scheme closed to new applicants in 2021, and the vouchers can no longer be redeemed. Guidance for the scheme was officially withdrawn in 2023 – there is no “official” Green Home Grants 2025 scheme.

This doesn’t mean landlords have been left without options, though. There are several schemes still available for investors who want to make their properties greener, with a bit of help from the state.

1. The Great British Insulation Scheme

The Great British Insulation Scheme[4], also known as ECO+[5], allows eligible applicants to get free or cheaper insulation to reduce their home’s energy bills. This can include cavity wall insulation, solid wall insulation, loft insulation, and more.

The scheme is open to homeowners, landlords, and tenants. Support can be received if the home involved has an energy performance certificate (EPC) of D to G, and is in council tax bands A-D in England, or A-E in Scotland or Wales.

To be eligible, landlords will either need to be a “low-income[6]” applicant or, be a “general” applicant – the latter likely to be more common for property investors. General applicants will only be able to get one type of insulation installed, but may still be able to benefit from lower costs.

To apply for free insulation, investors will need to head to the Government’s online eligibility checker. They’ll need to identify who their energy supplier is, along with their personal details. So long as they’re eligible, they should be contacted by their supplier within a few days to get the ball rolling.

Some of the UK’s biggest energy suppliers participate in this scheme, including British Gas, EDF Energy, and Octopus Energy. There are many elements to this scheme though, and so landlords may need to make sure they know its ins-and-outs before moving forward.

2. ECO4

The Energy Company Obligation[7] (ECO) is another government effort similar to the Great British Insulation Scheme which aims to tackle fuel poverty and help reduce carbon emissions. The scheme has seen 4 iterations so far, with ECO4 being the current version in use. It applies to measures introduced in 2022, and will cover a four-year period until 31 March 2026.

Eligible applicants can request support for the installation of various insulations, boiler upgrades, and solar panels. Generally, landlords with tenants who receive specific benefits, or who reside in fuel poverty-stricken areas[8], will likely be able to benefit.

To check on their eligibility, homeowners will need to head to the ECO4[9] website, where further guidance can also be found.

3. Home Upgrade Grant – HUG for landlords

This is a green grant scheme specifically designed for landlords and their tenants. Under the scheme, funding was available to improve the energy efficiency of privately rented properties that are off the gas network[10], or which have no central heating system installed.

Again, to qualify for funding, a landlord’s tenants needed to be on certain means-tested benefits, or have a household income of £31,000 or less. The property, as well as being off the gas network, needed to have an EPC rating of D or E.

By utilising the scheme, landlords could save thousands on upgrades made to their home. For instance, installing an air source heat pump in a semi-detached house could cost around £14,000, according to e.on[11]. But, with HUG funding, this could’ve been lowered to £4,667.

It should be noted however, that it is no longer possible to apply for HUG funding. However, it’s still possible to install HUG-related measures up until March 2025[12].

4. Green home grants 2024 – alternative options

Looking ahead, additional support schemes will be coming to the forefront. And while some of the schemes may not impact landlords directly, they’ll certainly affect the wider market enough to make property investors sit up and pay attention.

Late last year, the government unveiled plans to ramp up its Warm Homes Plan[13]. A manifesto initiative, it aims to improve the properties of low-income homeowners and private tenants in homes with EPC ratings of D to G to at least C[14]. Rachel Reeves said in the autumn budget that £3.4bn would be spent up until 2028 to upgrade some 5 million homes.

Eligible homes will be able to access £15,000 for improvements, and an additional £15,000 for installations such as heat pumps. While homeowners will not have to put any of their own cash to these upgrades, landlords will get only one home’s upgrades paid for under the scheme. Beyond this, they ‘ll need to pay 50% of the cost of improving each extra home they own. Also, as part of the Warm Homes Plan, homeowners could be handed grants to convert to solar power over the coming years[15].

Then of course, there are the government’s plans to build 1.5 million homes over this Parliament[16]. While it remains to be seen if this target will be hit, we know that new homes, generally, are greener than their older counterparts. If more environmentally friendly stock comes to market over the coming years, it could give expanding landlords food for thought.

On top of all this, there is also the Boiler Upgrade Scheme[17], Electric vehicle charge point and infrastructure grants[18], Disabled Facilities Grants[19], and more available. Investors will need to figure out what support is right for their circumstances.

Why property investors should care

Property investors, and landlords specifically, should at least be aware of what schemes are available to them. Multiple grants and support initiatives may fall under the “Green Home Grants 2025” umbrella. Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) targets are back on the agenda[20] and those who fall foul of the rules could face costly repercussions.

There is also a financial incentive to act here. Demand is there for greener homes[21], and better energy performance often leads to higher house prices and/or rents[22].

Fortunately, many landlords already seem to be on the ball here. Many landlords across the country are increasingly engaging with, or adopting green initiatives[23]. Millions may be forced into action too if they haven’t already started. Roughly half of landlords will need to make improvements to their properties to meet an EPC standard of C by 2030, according to Simply Business[24].

For many of these green conscious landlords, the various grants available may prove to be of great use over the coming months. Where further financial support is needed however, Market Financial Solutions will be there with flexible funding to help bring their properties up to scratch.