Can You Get a Government Grant for a New Roof?

There is no general government grant for replacing a roof, and none for repairing one. If a website or a caller promises a free roof from a government scheme, treat it with suspicion, because that is not how the money is set up. Some of these offers come from firms that want to book a survey, and others are not genuine at all.

The money that does exist is aimed at energy use. It pays for things like loft, wall and underfloor insulation and for heating upgrades, and it goes to households that meet certain tests, such as income or the energy rating of the home. Where it touches a roof at all, it is through insulation going into the loft or onto the roof structure, not a new covering.

Rules and funds change, and the position here was checked on GOV.UK in October 2026. Before relying on any scheme, read its current page and ask the scheme's own helpline whether your home qualifies. Nobody, ourselves included, can promise you will be eligible.

The Energy Company Obligation, known as ECO4, is an energy-supplier scheme. Ofgem says it will run until 31 December 2026, following a nine-month extension. It pays for energy efficiency measures for eligible households, not roof coverings.

The Great British Insulation Scheme has closed. GOV.UK says installations must be complete by 31 March 2026, when the scheme ends. Anyone who tells you it is still open is out of date.

The Warm Homes Plan, updated on GOV.UK in March 2026, sets out £15 billion of public investment and an orderly closure of the Energy Company Obligation. Within it, the Warm Homes: Local Grant offers wall, loft and underfloor insulation to homes with an energy performance certificate rating of D, E, F or G, where household income is usually £36,000 a year or less. The application page on GOV.UK gives the helpline details.

Disabled Facilities Grants are worth up to £30,000, but they pay for adaptations that help a disabled person live at home, such as a stairlift or a level-access shower. They are not for roofs. Ask your council's housing team how to apply.

Loft insulation is the nearest link. If a scheme fits insulation in your loft, the roof above has to be sound, because insulation added under a leaking roof goes damp and stops working. A funder or installer may refuse to insulate beneath a roof that is failing, and the repair is then yours to pay for.

It is worth fixing the roof first in that case, and doing it properly. A leak found during a survey for insulation is a leak you would want fixed anyway.

Spraying foam over a leaking roof without mending the roof is not a repair either. The Energy Saving Trust advises against it. If a funded scheme proposes it, ask the installer in writing how the condition of the roof is dealt with.

For a rough idea of what a new roof costs without a grant, our roof work costs guide uses dated national figures. Our home page shows how a Crown survey leads to one written total price, so you can see the whole job before deciding how to pay for it.

With no grant, the options are your own savings, a loan or, for work done as part of a bigger project, the same finance. Whichever you use, read the terms carefully, and never agree to finance arranged at the door by a salesperson who arrived unannounced. Our answer on a roofer who knocked on my door explains why.

A staged approach can help if the roof is ageing but not failing. Repair the worst slope or detail now and plan the rest for later. A survey with photos shows which parts are urgent, so you can put the money where it counts first. Ask any roofer to say in writing what the repair now will and will not cover, and what the next stage would involve later.

Energy-saving materials such as insulation have their own VAT treatment, which GOV.UK sets out. It is zero-rated until 31 March 2027 and then reverts to the reduced rate of 5%. Our page on VAT on roof repairs covers what applies to ordinary roof work. Check any quote to see whether it includes VAT.

To begin, tell us what you hoped a grant would cover and share pictures of the roof slopes and the loft. They show whether the problem lies in the covering, the structure or the insulation, and which of those a scheme might touch. If a letter or call has promised a grant, keep the details, because they help you check the offer against the scheme's own page.