Landlords urged to remind tenants about Warm Homes Discount

The government has announced it has extended the Warm Homes Discount for another five years.

The scheme offers a £150 rebate on electricity costs for households in England and Wales.

The scheme is open to eligible households, including older people and low-income renters who receive benefits such as Universal Credit or Housing Benefit.

Tenants meet certain criteria

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) says tenants must meet certain criteria to qualify for the discount.

These include being a customer of a participating energy supplier and receiving a qualifying means-tested benefit, such as Pension Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Housing Benefit or Universal Credit.

The benefit recipient, their partner or legal representative must also be named on the electricity bill as of 24 August 2026.

Eligible tenants will usually receive the discount automatically, with no application needed, through data matching between government benefit records and energy supplier accounts.

However, the NRLA points out that tenants whose electricity bills are included in their rent, or who do not pay the electricity supplier directly, may not receive the discount automatically.

The NRLA says landlords can advise these tenants to contact the Warm Home Discount helpline, on 0800 030 9322.

Huge swathes of landlords will be left in the cold

As previously reported by Property118, the government also have a Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme, which allows landlords with properties rated EPC D to E to receive up to £30,000 for improvements on their first rental property and up to £15,000 for additional rental homes.

However, the grants are only available to tenants who are on low-incomes and only in certain postcodes.

A document by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, reveals landlords also won’t be allowed to increase rent during the energy-efficiency improvements.

The NRLA has previously said they welcome the funding but believe support should also be available for landlords who don’t qualify for the scheme.

Meera Chindooroy, the NRLA’s deputy director for campaigns, said: “The nature of the scheme means that huge swathes of landlords across the country will be, quite literally, left out in the cold.

“It’s also unclear if there will be enough to pay for improvements across the areas already selected to benefit.

“The PRS has some of the oldest, and hardest to improve, properties within the UK housing stock and what we would like to see is a comprehensive package of financial support available to landlords across the board.”