Amending regulations laid for 2025 to 2026 Warm Home Discount expansion

The Warm Home Discount (Amendment) Regulations 2025 were laid in June 2025 and are expected to come into force in September 2025, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero¹. The changes apply to the Warm Home Discount scheme for winter 2025 to 2026 and remove the high-cost-to-heat threshold for households in England and Wales receiving means-tested qualifying benefits, while increasing funding in proportion for the Broader Group in Scotland¹.

Around 6 million households in Great Britain are expected to be supported through the scheme this winter, an increase of around 2.7 million on the previous year¹. In winter 2023 to 2024, 3.35 million households were supported through a £150 rebate taken directly off their electricity or gas bill¹. Since 2011, the scheme has provided £4.53bn in rebates to low-income and vulnerable households, and support through Industry Initiatives¹.

The high-cost-to-heat criteria was not based on actual energy costs but calculated from a property's type, age and floor area using Valuation Office Agency data for England and Wales¹. For winter 2025 to 2026, Core Group 2 households in England and Wales are eligible for the £150 rebate if the person named on the energy bill, or their partner or legal representative, was in receipt of a qualifying benefit on the qualifying date¹. The qualifying date for winter 2025 to 2026 was 24 August 2025¹.

The Core Group 2 qualifying benefits for winter 2025 to 2026 are Housing Benefit, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit, and Universal Credit¹. On 5 April 2025, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit became legacy benefits and were removed as qualifying benefits for winter 2025 to 2026¹. Core Group 1 is unchanged: households are eligible if the person named on the bill, or their partner or legal representative, received the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit on the qualifying date¹.

The scheme applies across Great Britain, with differences in how it operates in England and Wales compared with Scotland¹. It is not available in Northern Ireland, where separate support is available¹. Domestic energy suppliers with over 1,000 domestic customers are obligated to participate, and Ofgem administers the Industry Initiatives and the Broader Group in Scotland¹. In 2023 to 2024, around 280,000 rebates were provided to households in Scotland across the Core and Broader Groups¹.

Why it matters for households

The removal of the high-cost-to-heat test means households in England and Wales on the listed means-tested benefits no longer need their property to be assessed as expensive to heat to qualify for the £150 rebate for winter 2025 to 2026¹. The government expects around 6 million households across Great Britain to receive the rebate this winter, around 2.7 million more than the previous year¹. Households that received Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit no longer qualify through those benefits, following their move to legacy benefit status on 5 April 2025¹. Eligibility depends on being a domestic customer of a participating supplier on the qualifying date of 24 August 2025 and being named on the energy bill or account¹.

What happens next

The current regulations, the Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2022 and the Warm Home Discount (Scotland) Regulations 2022, end on 31 March 2026¹. The government consulted on continuing the scheme for a next scheme period anticipated to run for five years from winter 2026 to 2027 to winter 2030 to 2031, with the consultation issued on 25 September 2025 and responses due by 20 November 2025¹. It proposes producing annual estimates of total spend for the upcoming winter based on the expected number of eligible households¹. The government has said it will lay regulations in time to ensure the scheme is in place for winter 2026 to 2027¹.