The Warm Homes Plan and what it means for local authorities

In the following briefings, expert delivery partners in the Innovate UK Net Zero Living Programme look at the implications for local authorities; in terms of impacts and opportunities, finance and investment, and heat network planning. Kevin O’Malley of Innovate UK introduces the subject.

Four in five homes in the UK that will be occupied in 2050 have already been built, and most will need retrofitting with low carbon heating systems to achieve net zero emissions. The Climate Change Committee envisages that by 2050 all home heating will come from low-carbon sources, with most from electric heating systems such as heat pumps or low-carbon heat networks. Today, however, fewer than 3% of homes are connected to a heat network and fewer than 1% have a heat pump installed.

The Warm Homes Plan, launched by the UK Government in January 2026, outlines an ambition to upgrade 5 million homes by 2030 to tackle fuel poverty and help families cut their energy bills.

Local authorities will be central to the successful delivery of this plan, which has enormous implications for this country’s just transition to net zero and future economic prosperity.
But many of the local authority teams that will be responsible are overstretched, need to develop new skills and have limited resources and investment.

Over the last three years, Innovate UK has been working with more than fifty local authorities on the Net Zero Living Programme. An important part of the Programme has been specialist assistance for local authorities from expert partners, so that they can adopt social, cultural, policy, and technical innovation and help their places prosper as they transition to net zero.

Here three of these expert partners offer their individual perspectives on aspects of the Warm Homes Plan, and what it means for places going forward.

• Regen led the work to provide the Net Zero Living Programme with expert support on policy and regulation. As specialists in decarbonisation they have worked with the National Retrofit Hub to produce this general briefing on the impacts and opportunities generated from the Warm Homes Plan.

  Read the Regen briefing
   

• City Science focused on providing financing support to the Net Zero Living Programme participants, to help them accelerate their decarbonisation plans. This City Science briefing reviews the finance and investment considerations around the Warm Homes Plan.

  Read the City Science briefing
   

• The Carbon Trust provided expert guidance on net zero planning to enable better place-based decision making, problem solving and innovation. This briefing summarises the key elements of the Warm Homes Plan for areas looking to deploy heat networks.

  Read the Carbon Trust briefing
   

While the Warm Homes Plan provides the framework and funding to work with communities to lower energy bills, tackle fuel poverty and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, there are many angles to the question of facilitating delivery at a local level.

As well as these three briefings, a wide range of other insights and advice generated through the Net Zero Living Programme is available on this web resource to help local authorities plan and deliver retrofit projects more efficiently and effectively.

Discover how the Net Zero Living Programme has driven change through place based innovation.