Warm Home Discount 2026-27: the £150 Off Your Electricity Bill and Who Qualifies

The Warm Home Discount is a one-off £150 discount off your electricity bill, according to GOV.UK, and for winter 2026 to 2027 the qualifying date in England and Wales is 23 August 2026, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) says. The money is not paid to you. This story adds an eligibility checklist by benefit for England and Wales and for Scotland, a timeline to 31 March 2027, a side-by-side with the Cold Weather Payment and Christmas Bonus, and a printable sheet.

What is the Warm Home Discount and how is it paid?

GOV.UK calls it a one-off £150 discount off your electricity bill and says “the money is not paid to you.” Prepayment meter customers are told by their supplier how they get it, for example a voucher to top up the meter, per GOV.UK.

You will usually get the discount automatically if you are eligible, GOV.UK says. You may need to apply directly to your energy supplier if you live in Scotland. GOV.UK also says the scheme is not available in Northern Ireland, and points residents there to the Affordable Warmth scheme.

What is the qualifying date for 2026-27?

DESNZ published its England and Wales eligibility statement for 2026 to 2027 on 7 August 2026. It says: “For winter 2026 to 2027, the qualifying date is 23 August 2026.” That is a Sunday. Last year’s statement, published on 30 September 2025, gave a qualifying date of 24 August 2025.

For Scotland, GOV.UK lists the same date as the day the conditions must be met: on 23 August 2026 your supplier is part of the scheme, you or your partner receive certain means-tested benefits, and your or your partner’s name is on the electricity bill.

Who qualifies for the Warm Home Discount in England and Wales?

The 2026-27 statement merges what were Core Groups 1 and 2 into one “core group”. It lists four qualifying benefits, and the recipient (or a partner notified to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)) must be named on the electricity bill.

Check	England and Wales, 2026-27 (DESNZ)
Pension Credit	Qualifies: both the Guarantee element and Savings Credit
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)	Qualifies
Housing Benefit	Qualifies
Universal Credit	Qualifies
Name on the electricity bill	The recipient or their partner notified to DWP must be named
Eligible domestic premises	Only households in eligible domestic premises may receive a rebate
Care home	A person living permanently in a care home is not eligible
Caravan	“Caravans will still be generally excluded from the scheme”
Park home	A separate route for Universal Credit recipients with an income of less than £1,758 for at least one relevant assessment period

Park home applications “are only open for a short period”, and the statement gives no dates here. The statement also sets no fixed number of eligible households: “we do not set a finite number of eligible households in this eligibility statement.” It refers to “the removal of the high-cost-to-heat threshold”, and this story does not go further than that wording.

How does the 2026-27 benefits list compare with last year’s?

Last year’s statement (2025 to 2026) listed Pension Credit Guarantee Credit as Core Group 1. Core Group 2 was income-related ESA, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, Universal Credit and Savings Credit. The 2026-27 statement lists four benefits. Last year’s list also named income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support, which the 2026-27 list does not.

The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) eligibility page still lists six benefits, including those two, but it appears to be older than the DESNZ statement. Use the DESNZ list for 2026-27 and check your supplier if you rely on a benefit that is not on it.

What changes in Scotland?

GOV.UK says the core group, for example people on Pension Credit, get the discount without applying and receive a letter instead. A broader group “must apply directly to their energy supplier, which may have extra eligibility criteria.”

Letters arrive “between late October 2026 and early January 2027”, per GOV.UK. If you are eligible, your electricity supplier will apply the discount to your bill by 31 March 2027. GOV.UK states that 31 March date on its Scotland page only, so this story does not apply it to England and Wales.

What do I do if I do not get a letter?

GOV.UK says to contact the Warm Home Discount Scheme if you do not get a letter by early January 2027 and you think you are eligible. You must contact them before 26 February 2027. The telephone number is 0800 030 9322, open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

GOV.UK does not say in the pages we used when letters start in England and Wales, so none is given here.

Warm Home Discount timeline: dates to mark

Date	What happens	Source
Sunday 23 Aug. 2026	Qualifying date for winter 2026 to 2027	DESNZ statement, GOV.UK Scotland page
Late Oct. 2026 to early Jan. 2027	Letters arrive (stated for Scotland)	GOV.UK Scotland page
Early Jan. 2027	If no letter, contact the scheme	GOV.UK
Before Friday 26 Feb. 2027	Last chance to contact the scheme	GOV.UK
Wednesday 31 March 2027	Scotland: supplier applies the discount by this date	GOV.UK Scotland page

The February printable calendar and the printable yearly calendar have room to mark the contact deadline and the March date.

How does it compare with the Cold Weather Payment and Christmas Bonus?

These are three different payments with different triggers. The facts below come from GOV.UK and are covered in our Cold Weather Payment 2026 to 2027 story and Christmas Bonus 2026 story.

	Warm Home Discount	Cold Weather Payment	Christmas Bonus
Amount	£150 off your electricity bill	£25 for each 7-day period of very cold weather	£10 one-off, tax-free
Paid to you?	No, a discount on the bill	Yes, into the account your benefits are paid into	Yes, paid automatically
Timing	Letters from late Oct. 2026; Scotland bill discount by 31 Mar. 2027	1 Nov. 2026 to 31 Mar. 2027, within 14 working days of each cold period	Before Christmas
Apply?	Usually automatic; may need to apply in Scotland	No, automatic	No, automatic
Benefits that count	Four listed (England and Wales)	Pension Credit, income-related ESA, Universal Credit, Support for Mortgage Interest	24 listed; Universal Credit alone is not on the list

Warm Home Discount printable sheet

The downloads below hold a one-page sheet with the three dated rows, the 23 August 2026 qualifying date, the 26 February 2027 contact deadline and the 31 March 2027 Scotland date, and what to check on each.

Checked 4 November 2026 against GOV.UK and the DESNZ statement. The England and Wales letter start month is not stated on those pages.