Guide for homeowners · Funding
The Warm Homes Scheme in Northern Ireland: what is open in 2026
By Conor Hamilton, Building & Renovation Contributor · 8 minute read
Published 4 July 2026 · Last reviewed 5 July 2026
Scheme names and openings are changing through 2026 and 2027. This guide is general information only, not advice: it reflects our team’s reading of the official sources linked below as at the review date above. Always confirm the current position with the NI Housing Executive, nidirect or the Department for Communities before you apply or spend money.
Edited by Mark Crawford, Digital Content Editor.
If you searched for the Warm Homes Scheme, the Warm Home Scheme, or the Warmer Homes Scheme in Northern Ireland, here is the short version: that scheme is being replaced. Its successor, the £150 million Warm Healthy Homes Fund, is not open yet, and the Affordable Warmth route remains the main government scheme in the meantime. This guide untangles the names, gives the honest July 2026 status of each, and tells you what you can actually apply for this year.
Warm Home, Affordable Warmth, Warm Healthy Homes: which is which?
Northern Ireland has run several similarly named schemes, GB news coverage adds a different Warm Homes Plan that does not apply here, and 2026 is the year the NI schemes are being merged. No wonder the names blur. This table is the current state of each.
| Name you may have heard | What it is | Status (July 2026) |
|---|
| Warm Home Scheme (also searched as Warm Homes / Warmer Homes Scheme NI) | An older NI Housing Executive energy scheme name. The Affordable Warmth Scheme took over this role, so it is not a route you can apply to today. | Legacy name only. Do not apply under this name; the current route is Affordable Warmth via NIHE. |
| Affordable Warmth Scheme | The NI Housing Executive-run energy grant for low-income owner-occupiers and some private renters, funding insulation and heating measures. | Open, and still the main government route in mid-2026. Due to run until March 2028 while the Warm Healthy Homes Fund takes over. Confirm current openings with NIHE before applying. |
| Warm Healthy Homes Strategy 2026-2036 | The ten-year fuel poverty strategy launched in February 2026. | Live as a strategy. Its delivery scheme is the Warm Healthy Homes Fund below, which will replace Affordable Warmth. |
| Warm Healthy Homes Fund | The successor scheme, with around £150m planned over its first five years: whole-house, fabric-first energy upgrades for low-income households. | Not open yet. Public consultation runs to 19 August 2026; the fund is expected from April 2027. |
| Warm Homes Plan (GB) | A Great Britain programme you may have seen in UK news coverage. | Does not apply in Northern Ireland. NI has its own schemes, listed above. |
Sources: Department for Communities Warm Healthy Homes Strategy 2026-2036 and Warm Healthy Homes Fund; NI Housing Executive grants pages. A July 2026 snapshot: confirm the live position before applying.
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The timeline that matters
- February 2026. The Department for Communities launched the Warm Healthy Homes Strategy 2026-2036, the ten-year fuel poverty plan under which the Affordable Warmth Scheme will be replaced.
- Now until 19 August 2026. Public consultation on the design of the Warm Healthy Homes Fund is open, including who qualifies and what gets funded. The Affordable Warmth route continues in the meantime.
- From April 2027. The £150 million Warm Healthy Homes Fund is expected to open and become the main scheme for private-sector homes, with Affordable Warmth due to run until March 2028 as the changeover completes.
The practical upshot: do not wait for the new fund if you need help now, and do not assume an older article describing the Warm Home Scheme still applies. Check what is open today, then apply under the current name.
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What you can actually apply for in 2026
- The Affordable Warmth route. Still the main open government scheme for insulation and heating in low-income households while the transition happens, run by the NI Housing Executive. Start at the NI Housing Executive grants pages.
- NISEP insulation funding. Open every scheme year on a first-come basis, with fully funded places for lower-income households. Our NI insulation grants guide covers the measures and criteria in detail.
- Everything else. Boiler funding, repairs and adaptations are covered in our full NI home improvement and energy grants guide.
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The oil-heating point every GB article misses
Around two thirds of NI homes heat with oil, the highest share in the UK, which is why NI has always run its own fuel-poverty schemes rather than borrowing GB ones. It is also why the incoming fund is fabric-first: insulating an oil-heated home cuts more cost, faster, than swapping the boiler. If your boiler is on its last legs anyway, our oil boiler replacement cost guide shows what the job should cost in 2026, and any grant-funded heating work must be done by an OFTEC-registered engineer.
One warning while the schemes change over
Transition periods attract cold-callers claiming to be "from the warm homes scheme" and offering surveys or free insulation. Government schemes in NI do not sell door to door. If someone lands on your doorstep quoting a scheme name, take the details and check them against the official pages linked above, and see our guide to rogue traders and doorstep scams in NI for what to do next.
What to do next
Four steps before you sign anything.
1
Ignore the old scheme names: check what is open now on the NIHE or nidirect pages linked above.
2
If you may qualify, apply under the current route and wait for written approval before any work starts.
3
Watch for the Warm Healthy Homes Fund opening (expected from April 2027).
4
Need the work done regardless? Post the job free below and vetted NI trades will quote.
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About this guide. NI Trades is a tradesperson directory, not a government body or an advice service, and nothing on this page is financial, legal or benefits advice. The scheme details above reflect our understanding of publicly available government information at the review date shown; schemes, criteria and dates change, sometimes at short notice, and we may not catch every change immediately. Treat this page as a starting point, do your own research, and rely on the official sources (NI Housing Executive, nidirect, Department for Communities) for any application decision.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Warm Homes Scheme still open in Northern Ireland?
Not under that name. The old NI Housing Executive Warm Home Scheme is a legacy name whose role passed to the Affordable Warmth Scheme, and Affordable Warmth is now itself being replaced under the Warm Healthy Homes Strategy, launched in February 2026. In mid-2026 the NIHE-run Affordable Warmth route remains the main open government scheme, due to run until March 2028, and the new £150 million Warm Healthy Homes Fund is expected from April 2027. If you heard about "the warm homes scheme", check what is currently open at the NI Housing Executive rather than applying under the old name.
What replaced the Warm Home Scheme in NI?
The Affordable Warmth Scheme took over the old Warm Home Scheme role, and Affordable Warmth is now being replaced in turn. The Warm Healthy Homes Strategy 2026-2036, launched by the Department for Communities in February 2026, is the ten-year framework, and its delivery vehicle is the Warm Healthy Homes Fund, with around £150 million planned over its first five years and a whole-house, fabric-first approach for low-income households. The fund is under public consultation until 19 August 2026 and is expected from April 2027, with Affordable Warmth due to run until March 2028 during the changeover.
Who qualifies for the Warm Healthy Homes Fund?
The final criteria are being settled through the public consultation that runs to 19 August 2026, so nobody can tell you the exact thresholds yet. The Department for Communities has said the fund targets low-income households in energy-inefficient homes, with a whole-house, fabric-first approach, meaning insulation and the building fabric come first, then heating. Previous NI schemes used a gross household income test that excluded disability benefits like PIP and DLA from the count, and something similar is expected. Check the Department for Communities or NIHE for the confirmed criteria once the scheme opens.
What help can I get with heating and insulation in NI right now, in 2026?
Two things are worth doing now rather than waiting for the new fund. First, check the Affordable Warmth route, which remains the main open government scheme through the transition, run by the NI Housing Executive. Second, NISEP, the NI Sustainable Energy Programme, funds insulation measures each year with fully funded places for lower-income households, and it is open on a first-come basis each scheme year. If you qualify for neither, insulation is still one of the cheapest improvements to buy outright, and getting three quotes from vetted local installers keeps the price fair.
Is the Warm Homes Scheme the same as the Warm Homes Plan I saw in the news?
No, and this catches a lot of people out. The Warm Homes Plan you may have seen in UK-wide news coverage is a Great Britain programme and does not apply in Northern Ireland. NI runs its own schemes: historically the Warm Home Scheme, then Affordable Warmth, now being replaced under the Warm Healthy Homes Strategy and its fund. Always check NI-specific sources, nidirect or the NI Housing Executive, rather than GB money-saving sites.
Do I need an approved installer for warm homes funding?
Yes. Grant-funded work in NI must be carried out to the scheme standard, almost always by an approved or registered installer (OFTEC for oil heating, Gas Safe for gas, NICEIC or NAPIT for electrical work), and the work must not start until your approval is in writing. Starting early is the most common way applicants lose funding. Once approved, NI Trades can match you with a vetted local tradesperson holding the right registration.
About the author
Conor HamiltonBuilding & Renovation Contributor · Newtownards, Northern Ireland
Conor writes the NI building and renovation cost benchmark guides for NI Trades. He draws on a civil-engineering background and on quotes from working FMB, OFTEC and NICEIC tradespeople across Northern Ireland to keep the price ranges realistic. He holds a BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast.
BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast