Other help
Energy help in Liverpool that isn't a solar grant
Several schemes get mistaken for solar grants, often because a salesperson mentions them in the same breath. Each has a real purpose; none is a route to solar panels for an ordinary Liverpool household. Knowing which is which saves time and protects you from misleading offers.
Where you stand
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays towards heat pumps, not panels. ECO4 runs only to 31 December 2026 to finish existing work. The Household Energy Payment is a one-off payment, not an installation. Council and housing association homes are improved through their landlord's own fund.
Who decides: Each scheme's own administrator: GOV.UK, energy suppliers, the council or your social landlord.
At a glance
Schemes that aren't for solar
| Scheme | What it's for | Solar? |
|---|---|---|
| Boiler Upgrade Scheme | Heat pumps and biomass boilers, for owners replacing fossil fuel heating | No |
| ECO4 | Supplier-funded work, extended to 31 December 2026 to complete existing obligations | Not for new households |
| Household Energy Payment 2027 | A one-off payment towards energy costs, per Liverpool City Council | No |
| Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund | Improvements to council and housing association homes, through the landlord | Only via your landlord |
| Warm Homes loan | Borrowing for homeowners | Yes, but it's a loan |
Heat pumps
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme
Despite its name, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme doesn't pay for boilers that burn gas, and it doesn't pay for solar panels or batteries. GOV.UK lists its grants as payments towards air source, ground source and air-to-air heat pumps and towards biomass boilers. It's for property owners replacing fossil fuel heating, and an MCS certified installer applies on the owner's behalf.
It's relevant to solar only indirectly. A household replacing gas heating with a heat pump will use more electricity, which can make panels more useful. But the grant itself stops at the heat pump. If someone tells you the Boiler Upgrade Scheme will cover panels, they're wrong.
Energy suppliers
ECO4, and why it isn't a route now
ECO4 is the fourth phase of the Energy Company Obligation, under which larger energy suppliers funded improvements in lower-income homes. Solar panels could be part of an ECO4 package. Liverpool City Council's fuel bills page still describes ECO4 and its ECO4 Flex route.
The government's response on extending ECO4 is clear, though: the end date moved to 31 December 2026 solely to let suppliers complete their existing obligations. It isn't a fresh window for new households. Anyone selling ECO4 solar to a new household in late 2026 deserves close questioning. ECO4 Flex route 2 still matters for one reason: Liverpool's Warm Homes: Local Grant accepts it as part of its benefits pathway.
Payments
The Household Energy Payment 2027
Liverpool City Council's fuel bills and energy efficiency page lists a Household Energy Payment 2027, which it describes as a new one-off £100 to help households with rising energy costs, with details of who qualifies and how it's paid. It's a payment, not a home improvement, and it has nothing to do with solar. The same council page links to advice on saving energy and getting help with bills.
Social housing
The social housing fund
Council and housing association homes aren't covered by Warm Homes: Local Grant. Their landlords can bid for the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund to improve their stock, and Sefton Council's page points housing association tenants to their landlord for exactly that reason. In Liverpool, where about a quarter of households rent socially, it's the route by which many homes will be improved. Ask your landlord whether your home is in its programme. See social housing tenants.
Borrowing
The Warm Homes loan is not a grant
The Warm Homes loan helps homeowners pay for improvements including solar panels and batteries, but it's borrowing, repaid with interest, from a participating lender. GOV.UK points people on low incomes to Warm Homes: Local Grant instead. Offers that blur "loan" and "grant" are a warning sign. See paying yourself.
The one grant
Back to the scheme that can fund solar
For a Liverpool household, Warm Homes: Local Grant is the only grant route that can include solar panels and batteries, and only for homes rated D to G where the household meets a pathway. Everything else on this page is either for something else or has run its course. See Liverpool's scheme and who qualifies.
Telling them apart
A quick test for any scheme name
When someone names a scheme, ask three questions: who runs it, what does it pay for, and where is it described on a council or GOV.UK page? The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is run nationally and pays for heat pumps. ECO4 was run by energy suppliers and is ending. Warm Homes: Local Grant is run by your council or the Combined Authority and can include solar. If the answers don't line up with that, check before going further.
Other-help questions
Is ECO4 still open in Liverpool?
ECO4 was extended to 31 December 2026 only so that suppliers can complete existing obligations. It isn’t a route for new households to get solar panels.
Can the Boiler Upgrade Scheme pay for solar?
No. It pays towards heat pumps and biomass boilers. If you replace gas heating with a heat pump, it may help with that, but not with panels.
What is the Household Energy Payment 2027?
Liverpool City Council describes it as a new one-off £100 to help households with rising energy costs, with details of who qualifies on its fuel bills page. It isn’t connected to solar.
My housing association says it’s improving homes. Is that the same grant?
No. Social landlords bid for the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund for their own homes. Ask your landlord whether yours is included.
Sources for this page
- GOV.UK › Boiler Upgrade Scheme: what you can get, read 3 November 2026
- GOV.UK › Boiler Upgrade Scheme: how to apply, read 3 November 2026
- GOV.UK › Extending the ECO4 end date: government response, read 2 November 2026
- Liverpool City Council › Fuel bills and energy efficiency, read 3 November 2026
- Sefton Council › Warm Homes Local Grant, read 3 November 2026
- GOV.UK › Warm Homes loan, read 3 November 2026
- GOV.UK › Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant to improve a home, read 3 November 2026
- Liverpool City Council › Apply for a Warm Homes Local Grant, read 3 November 2026
- Nomis › Census 2021 TS054, tenure, read 3 November 2026
A question about solar funding in Liverpool?
Tell us what you're trying to find out. Your message reaches SEO-DONS LTD, which publishes this guide, and we answer by email. We don't run any grant scheme, decide eligibility or install panels, but we can point you to the scheme and the council that does.
What happens next
- Your message reaches SEO-DONS LTD, publisher of this guide.
- We answer by email, pointing to the scheme or council that applies.
- Any application is made to the council or scheme itself.