The government’s long-promised strategy for improving home energy efficiency and expanding the use of low-carbon heating is now expected to be published in early 2026, following a series of delays.

The Warm Homes Plan, which will outline how almost £15bn of public funding is to be spent, was originally due in the autumn. It was later expected before the end of the year, but officials now say details will not be set out until January.

The plan is central to the government’s approach to cutting household energy bills, tackling fuel poverty and supporting the transition away from gas boilers. One of its key elements is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which currently offers homeowners grants of up to £7,500 to replace gas boilers with heat pumps.

Industry figures have warned that uncertainty over the future of the scheme is slowing uptake, as households and installers are unclear whether the level of support will remain unchanged. Heat pumps are intended to play a major role in decarbonising domestic heating over the coming decades.

Ministers have said there will be no immediate reduction in the subsidy and that support is likely to be extended to cover a wider range of technologies. However, it remains unclear whether the per-household grant will stay at its current level in the longer term.

The government has previously said funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme would rise each year and that it would run until 2030. Other measures expected to be included in the Warm Homes Plan are targeted assistance for low-income households and state-backed loans to help homeowners spread the cost of insulation and other efficiency improvements.

At the recent Budget, the Chancellor announced plans to remove green levies from energy bills, with the aim of cutting average household costs by £150 a year. The Warm Homes Plan is expected to explain how environmental and efficiency programmes will be financed once those levies are scrapped.

A spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero commented:

“We are investing an additional £1.5bn into our warm homes plan, taking it to nearly £15bn – the biggest ever public investment to upgrade homes and tackle fuel poverty ever. We are doubling down on support for home upgrades and will set out our plans to help households, and support thousands more clean energy jobs, soon.”