Summary of the Great British Insulation Scheme: May 2026
Published 21 May 2026
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
© Crown copyright 2026
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Introduction
The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) is a government scheme to help people insulate their homes, make them more energy efficient and save money on their energy bills.
The Government announced the scheme at the end of March 2023. The £1 billion scheme aims to help the least energy efficient households across the country with the cost of installing new home insulation.
The scheme officially ended on 31 March 2026, and provisional statistics up to then are included in the current publication. Given there will be small revisions to existing measures for some months after this, we are currently gathering views via GOV.UK on the frequency of future GBIS statistics releases.
What you need to know about these statistics
These statistics are based on data provided by Ofgem covering installation of measures since the start of the scheme at the end of March 2023 up to the end of March 2026. Data on associated costs to the end of December 2025 (Tables 9 and 10) are based on quarterly GBIS cost reports submitted by energy suppliers.
Data are based on the date of completed installation of measures as recorded in the Ofgem register.
All figures are provisional and subject to revision.
Key statistics
Delivery by month
Since the start of GBIS, there have been 139,200 measures installed in 100,900 households up to the end of March 2026. 31 March 2026 is the end date of the scheme.
There were 3,500 measures installed in 2,300 households during March 2026. This was a decrease of 30% in measure delivery compared to February 2026.
Average measure delivery per month in the last three months (January to March 2026) was 4,400, a drop of 27% compared to the average monthly delivery in the previous three months (October to December 2025).
Figure 1: Number of Measures Installed and Households Upgraded by Installation Month
The data used in Figure 1 can be found in Tables 1 and 2 of the Accompanying Tables.
GBIS targeted two eligibility groups: a low-income group, similar to the Help to Heat Group in ECO4, and a general eligibility group. Within the low-income group, Local Authorities identified and referred on to the scheme households that were low-income, fuel-poor or vulnerable to the effects of living in a cold home through a mechanism called Flexible eligibility. More information on these eligibilities can be found in the GBIS delivery guidance.
To the end of March 2026, around 74,300 (53%) of the measures installed under GBIS were delivered to households in the low-income eligibility group. Of these measures, around 11,600 were delivered under the Flexible Eligibility mechanism.
To the end of March 2026, around 38,700 (38%) of the households upgraded under GBIS were in the low-income eligibility group. Of those, around 4,300 were upgraded under the Flexible Eligibility mechanism.
Innovation measures are measures that can demonstrate an improvement over comparable measures currently deliverable under the scheme. To the end of March 2026, around 10,600 innovation measures were installed.
Delivery by measure type
The most common measure so far has been cavity wall insulation, accounting for 51,400 (37%) of the total 139,200 measures. This was followed by loft insulation which accounted for 39,500 measures (28%) and heating controls which accounted for 35,000 measures (25%).
Figure 2: Number of Measures Installed by Measure Type (April 2023 to March 2026)
The data used in Figure 2 can be found in Table 3 of the Accompanying Tables.
Following the ECO/GBIS mid-scheme changes, which came into effect in Spring 2025 for measures installed from mid-November 2024 onwards, households became able to receive two primary measures under GBIS in certain circumstances. The current data provisionally shows around 3,300 households in receipt of two primary measures between January 2025 and end of March 2026. This was 6% of households upgraded since the first household with two primary measures appeared in the data in January 2025. Over the last 6 months (October 2025 to March 2026) there were around 2,100 households in receipt of two primary measures, accounting for 11% of households upgraded during that period.
Delivery by region
The highest regional delivery of measure installations has been in the North West and the West Midlands (both 15%), followed by the North East (13%) and Yorkshire and The Humber (11%).
Figure 3: Proportion of Total Measures Installed and Total Households Upgraded by Geographic Region (April 2023 to March 2026)
The data used in Figure 3 can be found in the ‘Percentage of Total Measures Installed’ and ‘Percentage of Total Households Upgraded’ columns of Table 4 in the Accompanying Tables.
The regional breakdown of upgraded households is largely the same as the regional breakdown of measures installed, as the majority of households (around 80,500 out of 100,900) have had only one measure installed under the scheme up to the end of March 2026. Most of the remaining households had one or more heating control measures installed (these are secondary measures that can only be installed in households in the low-income eligibility group under the scheme).
There have been 100,900 households upgraded under GBIS up to the end of March 2026, meaning they have had at least one measure installed under the scheme. This is around 355 households upgraded per 100,000 households in Great Britain (based on estimated household levels for 2023). The rate of upgrades is higher in Wales at around 423 per 100,000. In England, the rate is closer to that of Great Britain at around 364 upgrades per 100,000. Scotland has seen a lower rate of around 234 upgrades per 100,000. The region with the highest rate of upgrades is the North East with 919 households upgraded per 100,000.
Delivery by local authority area
GBIS measure delivery, upgrades and estimated rates per 100,000 households are provided at the local-authority level in Table 5 of the Accompanying Tables. The estimated rate of upgrades per 100,000 households is also presented in Map 1.
The level of delivery under GBIS varies at the local authority level. The local authorities with the highest rate of upgrades so far are Stoke-on-Trent (2,228 per 100,000 households), West Lindsey (2,185 per 100,000 households) and Barking and Dagenham (1,676 per 100,000 households).
Map 1: Households upgraded under GBIS per 100,000 households by Local Authority (April 2023 to March 2026)
The data used in Map 1 can be found in the ‘GBIS households upgraded per 100,000 households’ column of Table 5 in the Accompanying Tables.
Delivery by property type and tenure
This month’s release provides an update to quarterly data on the property type and tenure of properties receiving measures under GBIS (Tables 7 and 8 of the Accompanying Tables).
Houses were the most common property type upgraded under GBIS to the end of March 2026, accounting for around 80,600 (80%) of the upgraded households. This was followed by Bungalows, which accounted for 15%, Flats, which accounted for 5%, and Maisonettes, which accounted for less than 1%.
The most common tenure of households upgraded under GBIS to the end of March 2026 was owner-occupied, making up around 81,100 (80%) of the upgraded households. This was followed by socially rented households, which accounted for 12% and private rented households, which accounted for 8%.
GBIS costs
Data on associated costs (Tables 9 and 10 of the Accompanying Tables) were last updated in the earlier release published on 26 March 2026, covering quarterly GBIS costs data to the end of December 2025. Those tables are based on quarterly GBIS cost reports submitted by energy suppliers.
GBIS delivery costs are the purchase costs of a GBIS measure in a property which may include the costs associated with searching for properties, installation costs and marketing costs by delivery partners involved with promoting the scheme. These costs exclude VAT.
GBIS administrative costs include direct administrative costs (IT set up and maintenance, lead generation and marketing, delivery, commercial strategy and policy, processing, reporting and compliance, and technical monitoring) and indirect administrative costs (legal, finance and HR costs, accommodation and ‘other’).
Total GBIS delivery costs up to the end of December 2025 were around £366.0 million, with an additional £22.1 million in administrative costs. This made the total cost of the scheme to the end of December 2025 £388.1 million.
Up to the end of December 2025, the average cost of delivering the GBIS obligation was £25.44 per £ annual bill savings. This was similar to the end of September 2025 where the cost was £25.43 per £ annual bill savings.
The next update to the quarterly GBIS costs data will be in the 25 June 2026 release.
Annex: Further Information
Next publication date
The next publication will be at 09:30am on Thursday 25 June 2026.
Scheme Information
More information on the GBIS scheme can be found at the Department’s website and at Ofgem.
Accompanying tables
Tables showing the number of measures installed and households upgraded under GBIS are available.
Revisions policy
The department’s statistics revisions policy sets out the revisions policy for these statistics, which has been developed in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Statistics.
User engagement
Users are encouraged to provide comments and feedback on how these statistics are used and how well they meet user needs. Comments on any issues relating to this statistical release are welcomed and should be sent to: EnergyEfficiency.Stats@energysecurity.gov.uk. The Department’s statement on standards for official statistics published by DESNZ sets out the department’s commitments on public engagement and data standards as outlined by the Code of Practice for Statistics.
Pre-release access to statistics
Some ministers and officials receive access to these Official Statistics up to 24 hours before release. Details of the arrangements for doing this and a list of the ministers and officials that receive pre-release access to these statistics can be found in the department’s statistics release policy which is in line with The Pre-release Access to Official Statistics Order 2008.
Contact
Responsible statisticians: Amelia Ash and Mark Piatek
Email: EnergyEfficiency.Stats@energysecurity.gov.uk
Media enquiries: 020 7215 1000
Public enquiries: 07511163145