Home Upgrade Grant (HUG)

The Home Upgrade Grant is a government-funded scheme that pays for energy-saving improvements in low-income, low-efficiency homes that are not connected to the mains gas grid. The current phase, often called HUG2, runs through local councils across England and can fund a package of measures rather than a single product. Depending on what your property needs and what your assessor recommends, that package can include solar panels, insulation, low-carbon heating such as a heat pump, and other efficiency upgrades.

The defining feature is the off-gas-grid focus. HUG exists specifically for homes heated by oil, LPG, electric storage heaters, solid fuel or similar, because those households tend to face the highest bills and the hardest path to a warm, efficient home. If your home runs on mains gas, HUG is usually not the right route and a scheme like ECO4 is more relevant.

Because funding is delivered locally, the exact measures, the order they are installed, and any contribution are decided after a property assessment rather than fixed in advance. We are independent and supplier-neutral, so our role is simply to check which scheme fits your circumstances and point you to a free eligibility check.

The two questions we are asked most are whether HUG and ECO4 are the same thing, and which one a household should apply for. They are separate schemes with different sponsors and different rules, and the simplest way to choose is to start with how your home is heated.

If you are off the mains gas grid and on a low income in an inefficient home, the Home Upgrade Grant is usually the natural fit. If you have mains gas, or you are on a qualifying benefit (or qualify through your council’s ECO Flex income or health-condition route), ECO4 (the Energy Company Obligation, funded by energy suppliers rather than government) is more likely to be your route. Both can fund solar panels alongside insulation and heating measures for suitable properties.

It is not always either/or. Households sometimes move between schemes, or combine grant-funded measures with the Smart Export Guarantee, which pays you for exported electricity once you sign up to a licensed supplier’s SEG tariff. The comparison below sets out the headline differences so you can see at a glance which scheme to ask about first.

The Home Upgrade Grant applies to England only. If your home is elsewhere in the UK, the equivalent support comes through different national schemes, so it is worth knowing which door to knock on.

• Scotland — Home Energy Scotland typically offers solar PV as an interest-free loan (commonly up to around £5,000) rather than a grant, while Warmer Homes Scotland provides fully funded measures for eligible low-income and vulnerable households. Standalone solar PV is generally the loan route, not a grant.
• Wales — Nest (Warm Homes Wales) can provide free energy-efficiency measures for eligible households. HUG itself does not operate in Wales.
• Northern Ireland — support comes via the Affordable Warmth Scheme and NISEP. ECO4 is a Great Britain scheme and does not run in Northern Ireland.

Wherever you live, energy-supplier schemes such as the Smart Export Guarantee can still pay for exported solar electricity in Great Britain once panels are installed (in Northern Ireland, export is handled through supplier arrangements). If you are unsure which national scheme covers you, a quick eligibility check will point you to the right one rather than leaving you guessing.