Consultation on Warm Healthy Homes Fund

Overview

The Department for Communities is proposing a new Warm Healthy Homes Fund – an energy efficiency scheme to help low‑income households experiencing or at risk of Fuel Poverty. The Fund will act as the Department’s principal, long-term sustainable solution to fuel poverty and will build on the success of the Department's current Affordable Warmth Scheme and lessons learned from similar schemes across the devolved nations.

Following extensive engagement with stakeholders and analysis of responses from the consultation for the Warm Healthy Homes Strategy last year, this consultation seeks views on the Department’s proposed model for the delivery of energy efficiency measures to low-income households.

The proposals include:

• Eligibility qualification criteria including income thresholds and the use of certain benefits to determine entitlement to the Warm Healthy Homes Fund
• Impact of householder personal savings
• Increased grant limits per household
• Support offered to those living in the Private Rented Sector
• Quality Standards and Redress for consumer

Privacy, Confidentiality and Access to Consultation Responses

For this consultation, the Department specifically asks respondents not to submit any sensitive personal data or information. There is no obligation to provide any personal details in responding to this consultation questionnaire. Any information you provide will be controlled and processed in line with Data Protection Legislation by the Department. To find out more about how we handle your personal information, please follow the link to see our consultation Privacy Notice. 

To facilitate the survey, Citizen Space, which is not operated by DfC, is used as a data processor. Follow the link to see details of Citizen Space's Privacy Notice. 

A summary of the questionnaire responses will be published. Individual statements will not be published, and the published material will reflect the opinions of respondents in general terms.

Your response, and all other responses to this consultation, may also be disclosed on request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR); however, all disclosures will be in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential, so that this may be considered if the Department should receive a request for the information under the FOIA or EIR. 

If you would like to discuss the content of this DPN or the template privacy notice, please contact:

Departmental Data Protection Officer

Level 4 Causeway Exchange

1-7 Bedford Street

Belfast

BT2 7EG

Email - dpo@communities-ni.gov.uk

Why your views matter

The aim of the consultation is to seek public opinion on the Department’s proposed model for the delivery of energy efficiency measures to low-income households. The new Warm Healthy Homes Fund aims to be more ambitious in terms of its delivery, offering a simple, streamlined approach ensuring ease of access and energy advice for low-income households.

The consultation documents are linked below. The Department has developed questions to help inform the final design of the Fund. Consultees will be provided with a yes/no option and commentary box to provide reasons for your answers.

If you require assistance or have any questions with regards to completing your consultation response, please contact the Home Energy team using heb@communities-ni.gov.uk

The deadline for responses is 19 August 2026. We very much welcome your feedback.

To inform consideration, please find the Warm Healthy Homes Consultation Documents:

Warm Healthy Homes Fund – Consultation Document