Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan
Grants and optional interest-free loans for homeowners living in Scotland to install heat pumps, insulation and other eligible home energy improvements.
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You can apply for a grant without taking a loan, or combine the two. For a heat pump or a connection that brings heat from a shared heating network into your home, the grant is up to £7,500, with an optional interest-free loan of up to £7,500. Heat networks supply homes from a central heat source rather than individual gas boilers. For energy-saving improvements such as insulation, grants cover up to 75% of eligible costs, subject to limits for each improvement and a combined grant ceiling of £7,500.
The rural uplift adds £1,500 to each of the heating and energy-efficiency grants. It applies to homes in remote rural and island areas, and to homes in accessible rural areas that are off-gas—meaning not connected to the mains natural gas network. The areas must qualify under the Scottish Government's Urban Rural Classification; not every rural home qualifies. Home Energy Scotland can assess eligibility using your postcode. When both types of work qualify, the combined grant maximum is £18,000.
The minimum funding request is £500. Grants and loans together cannot exceed the quoted installation cost or the funding limit for each improvement. Some work, such as insulated doors, receives loan funding only.
You repay any loan in monthly instalments, with no interest. A fee of 1.5% of the loan, capped at £150, is included in repayments; grant-only applications have no fee. Repayments start after any payment containing loan funds, including an advance. You can repay early without a penalty.
Eligibility
- You must own or jointly own and live in an existing Scottish home as your only or main private residence. Business-owned homes, business assets, second or holiday homes and self-build properties are excluded. The property must be registered for domestic council tax. You do not have to receive benefits.
- A loan requires credit and affordability checks. You must own the property, equipment and materials when the loan is paid.
- For energy-saving improvements, an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)—a report on your home's energy condition, heating and insulation—must list the work under recommended measures, not alternative measures. Renewable and low-carbon heating systems need not be recommended on the EPC; they are assessed through the application.
- If the current energy report recommends loft or cavity-wall insulation, you must install it before claiming funding for other improvements. The updated EPC must no longer recommend it. If it is unsuitable, include a qualified assessor's explanation for an exemption assessment.
- Energy-efficiency grants cannot be combined with another grant for the same improvement. Spray foam insulation is excluded. Window improvements receive loans only, and must replace single glazing—not existing double, triple or secondary glazing.
- Eligible heat pumps supply the home's full heating and hot-water needs and are air-to-water, ground-to-water or water-to-water systems. Hybrid heat pumps are excluded, and an application cannot fund two whole-house heating systems. Replacement heat pumps receive no grant. A replacement-renewables loan of up to £7,500 is considered individually, only if the original installation received neither Scottish Government funding nor Renewable Heat Incentive payments.
- Wood-fuelled (biomass) boilers or stoves can qualify for a grant only with evidence that zero-emission heating, including a heat pump and high heat retention storage heaters, is unsuitable. Non-automated, non-pellet stoves and room heaters are excluded. For high heat retention storage heaters, heat-pump unsuitability must be evidenced by an MCS-certified installer or an EPC showing the home is a flat.
How to apply
- Statut
- Candidatures au fil de l’eau
- Conditions de cette période de candidature
- First-come, first-served, subject to available funds within the financial year (1 April–31 March). Funding is reserved only on a written offer, not on application.[^c25][^c26]
- Call Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282 for advice and a referral email linking to the online application. Complete the application yourself; an installer or other third party cannot submit it for you. Supply itemised installer quotes, the EPC for energy-efficiency work and any documents required for your chosen improvements.
- Choose an installer meeting the scheme's requirements. For solid-wall, floor, flat-roof or room-in-roof insulation, the contractor must be TrustMark registered. Clean heating and renewable systems require an installer certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) and an MCS- or Solar-Keymark-certified product; micro-hydro is assessed individually. A heat network connection needs an operator-approved installer, a network meeting the Heat Network Act definition and an operator's letter confirming the home can connect.
- Do not start installation before the written funding offer. Funds are reserved only when the offer is issued, not when you apply. Sign the agreement within 14 days; installation can start only after signing. Obtain all necessary planning, building and electricity-network permissions before starting work.
- Complete the work and submit the final claim within nine months of signing. Claim through the portal with invoices, an updated EPC that no longer recommends the funded work, payment-account details and an MCS certificate for renewable installations. External-wall insulation claims also need the building warrant. Funding is paid to you; pay your installer and send proof of payment within 10 working days of receiving it.
For renewable systems only, you may request an advance of up to 60% after accepting the offer. Approval is discretionary. Advances are not available for energy-efficiency improvements.