Official Statistics

Warm Home Discount statistics, 2024 to 2025

Published 26 June 2025

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Summary findings

In 2024/25, the Warm Home Discount (WHD) Scheme delivered Core Group rebates of £150 to 3.22 million households in Great Britain ^{[footnote 1]}. The total spend on Core Group rebates was £483 million. In comparison with the equivalent parts of the scheme in 2023/24, this represents an estimated increase of around 80 thousand households receiving rebates and an increase of around £12 million of support. 

Warm Home Discount rebates by group between 2011/12 and 2024/25 (Great Britain)

Note: Figures for the number of WHD rebates delivered between 2011/12 – 2021/22 come from Ofgem and include the Core Group and Broader Group for Great Britain. Figures on the number of WHD rebates delivered from 2022/23 onwards are sourced from Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) administrative data. The England and Wales scheme was reformed in 2022/23 to extend and better target the rebate to those with the highest estimated energy costs. These figures do not cover the Broader Group in Scotland from 2022/23, as this data is not collected via DWP.

• Core Group 1 (known as Core Group in Scotland) provides rebates to all households in receipt of the guaranteed element of Pension Credit. This was given to around 954 thousand pensioner households across Great Britain in 2024/25, representing two thousand fewer households than in 2023/24. In England and Wales, 864 thousand households received the rebate as part of Core Group 1, representing 91% of the Great Britain Core Group 1 total. In Scotland, 90 thousand households received the rebate as part of the Core Group, representing the remaining 9% of the Great Britain Core Group 1 total.

• Core Group 2 provides rebates to low income households living in homes likely to have high energy costs. This was given to 2.27 million households across England and Wales in 2024/25, compared to 2.19 million households in the previous year.

• In 2024/25, the majority of households (3.10 million, 96%) received an automatic rebate based on data matching, with a further 124 thousand receiving rebates after contacting the WHD Helpline.

• The regions in England and Wales with the highest rate of households receiving the WHD rebate in 2024/25 were the North East (16.2%), followed by Wales (15.3%), the North West (14.8%), and Yorkshire and the Humber (14.1%). The regions receiving the lowest rate of WHD rebate were the South East (8.0%) and the South West (8.9%).

What you need to know about these statistics

The Warm Home Discount is a government scheme which places an obligation on larger energy suppliers to support low income vulnerable households with their energy costs in the form of direct rebates on their electricity bills. The England and Wales scheme was reformed in 2022/23 to extend and better target the rebate to those with the highest estimated energy costs. These households each received a rebate of £150.

In February 2025, DESNZ published a consultation on the expansion of the Warm Home Discount, giving more households £150 off their energy bills in winter 2025/26. These proposals would end the use of the property high cost to heat threshold, making all energy billpayers who are on a qualifying means tested benefit eligible for the Discount. The consultation closed on 24 March 2025. DESNZ has considered the responses and a Government Response was published on 19 June 2025, confirming that the government is going ahead with its plan to expand the WHD scheme next winter. These statistics do not reflect the changes for 2025/26.

These are Official Statistics in Development, which are undergoing an evaluation process prior to being published as official statistics. We welcome user feedback on this release of WHD statistics and are working with data providers to improve the timeliness of this release.

Accompanying tables

Tables showing the number of households receiving WHD are available here. The tables show the delivery of WHD at local area level, by dwelling type and household composition, together with the share of households receiving a rebate via the helpline and a comparison with historic data from earlier scheme years.

1. Introduction

The Warm Home Discount was introduced in 2011, with the scheme administered by energy suppliers and regulated by Ofgem. Reports on the number of households receiving the rebate in previous years were published by Ofgem. A summary of the number of rebates provided and value of those rebates is reported in Table 17 of the tables accompanying this report.

The changes made to the England and Wales scheme in 2022/23 now determine the recipients of the scheme primarily using administrative data. These changes enabled the production of these statistics that provide more detail on the households receiving the rebate. To administer the scheme, households are identified primarily based on data held by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on those receiving certain means-tested benefits or tax credits. Where applicable (for Core Group 2 outlined below), this data is then matched with energy costs derived from Valuation Office Agency (VOA) Council Tax Valuation Lists to identify households likely to have the highest energy costs. Additional data is obtained via the WHD helpline where households who consider that they meet the eligibility criteria can seek to obtain the rebate.

In 2022/23, there was an underspend on WHD as fewer eligible households were identified than expected, and fewer households than expected contacted the eligibility helpline. Therefore, in 2023/24, the eligibility criteria were made more generous by lowering the threshold at which a property is deemed to have “high energy costs”, making more households eligible to receive a Core Group 2 rebate. For 2024/25, the threshold was maintained at the same level as in 2023/24, to keep the level of core group spending broadly the same. More information on the eligibility requirements for the England and Wales scheme in 2024/25 is available here.

This release presents statistics on the following WHD eligibility groups:

Core Group 1 supports pensioners on a low income who are receiving the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit. This applies to households in Great Britain and is equivalent to the Core Group of earlier phases of the scheme. It is known as Core Group in Scotland.

Core Group 2 supports working age low income households receiving eligible benefits and assessed as living in a home with high energy costs. The high costs element is determined based on the VOA data held for the address of the household based on the type, age and size of dwelling. The specific criteria used to model this are updated on an ongoing basis by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. This aspect of the scheme only applies in England and Wales and replaces the Broader Group of the previous phase of the scheme.

There is a separate WHD scheme in Scotland. While there is a group equivalent to Core Group 1 in Scotland, known as the Core Group, there is no Core Group 2. Instead, low-income and vulnerable households apply to their energy supplier for a rebate as part of the Broader Group. As the Government does not have household-level data on the Broader Group rebates, this group is not part of these statistics. The published Ofgem figures show that, in 2023/24, approximately 190 thousand households received the WHD rebate as part of the Scottish Broader Group, representing a total expenditure of £29 million.

In 2024/25, the majority of households (3.10 million, 96%) received an automatic rebate based on data matching, with a further 124 thousand receiving rebates after contacting the WHD Helpline. This represents an increase in the percentage of households receiving an automatic rebate compared to 2023/24 (92%). The number of households receiving rebates after contacting the WHD Helpline dropped for Core Group 1 and Core Group 2 in 2024/25. These year-on-year changes may be explained by changes in numbers of households on benefits, data matching rates, households’ awareness of the scheme and the propensity of households to call the WHD helpline.

2.  WHD delivery rates by area

Overall, in England and Wales, 11.7% of households received the WHD rebate, up from 11.5% in 2023/24. There was a high level of variation in the rates of WHD between regions. In the case of Scotland, the figures in this report are restricted to the Core Group; Broader Group Scotland rebates and spend are not included in these statistics.

The regions in England and Wales with the highest rate of households receiving the WHD rebate in 2024/25 were the North East (16.2%), followed by Wales (15.3%), the North West (14.8%), and Yorkshire and the Humber (14.1%). The regions receiving the lowest rate of WHD rebate were the South East (8.0%) and the South West (8.9%).

The level of regional variability is affected by the share of eligible households and is a consistent pattern with fuel poverty statistics, with higher rates of fuel poverty in northern regions due to lower incomes. Fuel poverty statistics for England are available here.

Map 1: Proportion of households receiving Warm Home Discount, by Local Authority, 2024/25 (England and Wales)^{[footnote 2]}

In England and Wales, the share of households receiving WHD in urban areas was 12.4% (up from 9.5% in 2022/23 and 12.2% in 2023/24), higher than semi-rural areas at 10.1% and rural areas at 7.1% (slight increases from 9.9% and 7.0% in 2023/24, respectively). While homes in rural areas are more likely to have higher energy costs, they are less likely to qualify for eligible benefits. Analysis for data in Scotland has been excluded from this map since a different classification of rurality is used in Scotland and only part of the scheme covers Scotland. However, Figure 2 provides a breakdown of rurality for Scotland using the Scottish Government Urban Rural Classifications (2022).

Figure 1: Percentage of households receiving Warm Home Discount, by rurality, 2024/25 (England and Wales)

Figure 2: Percentage of households receiving Warm Home Discount, by rurality, 2024/25 (Scotland)^{[footnote 3]}

A breakdown of rurality for Core Group Scotland has been included in these statistics for the first time. These are based on the Scottish Government Urban Rural Classifications (2022). Figure 2 shows that in Core Group in Scotland the largest proportion of households receiving WHD is seen in remote small towns (15.9%), followed by remote rural areas (5.3%).

3.  WHD delivery rates by dwelling characteristics and tenure

In the following analysis of dwelling type, age and floor area, data for Scotland has been excluded since the classification used is based on data from the Valuation Office Agency for England and Wales only. This is consistent with the data linking used to identify eligibility of households in Core Group 2 with high energy costs. While these comparisons cover WHD delivered in both core groups, the patterns they show are driven by Core Group 2, where larger and older homes are more likely to meet the high costs eligibility.

Figure 3 shows the share of households receiving WHD by dwelling type in England and Wales. This is a mixed pattern with lower rates for detached homes (4.7%), reflecting their lower likelihood of receiving eligible benefits, and lower rates for flats (7.7%), reflecting their lower likelihood of meeting the high costs eligibility of Core Group 2.

Figure 3: Percentage of households receiving Warm Home Discount rebates, by dwelling type, 2024/25 (England and Wales)

Figure 4 shows the share of households by dwelling age receiving WHD in England and Wales. This shows a trend with households living in older properties more likely to receive the rebate. This is driven by the trend within Core Group 2 with older properties generally having higher energy costs. The highest rate of WHD receipt was 16.1% (for properties built between 1919 and 1944), compared with 1.9% for properties built post 2012.

Figure 4: Percentage of households receiving Warm Home Discount rebates, by dwelling age, 2024/25 (England and Wales)

Figure 5 shows the share of households by floor area receiving WHD in England and Wales. The variation is driven by competing drivers within households; whereby those that meet the Core Group 2 high costs eligibility criteria are more likely to be in larger properties, but households on lower incomes and which receive qualifying benefits are less likely to live in larger homes.

Figure 5: Percentage of households receiving Warm Home Discount rebates, by floor area, 2024/25 (England and Wales)

Figure 6 shows the share of households receiving WHD by tenure in Great Britain. The highest rate of WHD receipt was in social housing (24.6%), compared with private rented (10.8%), and owner occupied (6.8%). Overall, owner occupied housing accounted for 40% of the value of all rebates, social housing for 39%, and private rented for 18%.

Figure 6: Percentage of households receiving Warm Home Discount rebates, by tenure, 2024/25  (Great Britain)

Note: Experian’s Household Directory data estimates household characteristics using various survey and administrative sources. For WHD statistical breakdowns, VOA data is primarily used due to its robustness and completeness. As the VOA data lacked tenure information, Experian data was used as a substitute.

4.  WHD recipients by household characteristics

The following analysis shows the type of households receiving WHD in Great Britain based on the benefits they receive, benefit unit, and age of the lead beneficiary.

Figure 7 displays the principal benefit that determines if a household qualifies for the WHD. Since a household may receive multiple benefits, each household’s eligible benefit type is determined using a hierarchy of benefit types. If a household receives the guaranteed part of the pension credit, it qualifies as part of Core Group 1. Overall, 30% of households were eligible through Core Group 1. Households in receipt of other benefits qualify under Core Group 2. Of these households, 76% were in receipt of Universal Credit. If they do not receive Universal Credit, their eligible benefit type will be recorded as the next benefit type in the hierarchy, and so on. The order of this hierarchy corresponds to the order of the benefit types in Figure 7.

When comparing this breakdown to 2023/24, there are various changes across benefit eligibility type. This is due to legacy benefits, such as Tax Credits, Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income-based Employment and Support Allowance being phased out. As a result, there has been an increase in the proportion of WHD recipients qualifying through Universal Credit, and a decreased proportion qualifying through these ‘legacy’ benefits. The changes will also be influenced by the hierarchy described in the previous paragraph.

Figure 7: Share of households receiving Warm Home Discount rebates, by benefit eligibility, 2024/25 (Great Britain)

Eligibility for means tested benefits is determined based on a benefit unit (defined as a single adult or a married/cohabiting couple and any dependent children). Where the benefit unit includes a couple, the age could be either partner.

Overall, 1.16 million households (36%) which received WHD in 2024/25 had a lead beneficiary aged 66+, of which 954 thousand (82%) are eligible through Core Group 1. A further 919 thousand households (29%) had a lead beneficiary aged 46-65, and 1.03 million households (32%) had a lead beneficiary aged 26-45. Just 111 thousand households (3%) had a lead beneficiary aged 25 or under.

The variability by age reflects both the number of households receiving eligible benefits together with the type of housing these households live in.

Figure 8: Number of households receiving Warm Home Discount rebates, by age of lead beneficiary, 2024/25 (Great Britain)

Of the 3.22 million households receiving WHD, 1.23 million (38%) were households with dependent child(ren). Within Core Group 2, 54% of WHD recipients were households with dependent child(ren).

Figure 9: Number of households receiving Warm Home Discount rebates in 2024/25 by type of benefit unit (Great Britain)

5.  Methodology

The Warm Home Discount statistics have been published as Official Statistics in Development following reform of the England and Wales scheme for 2022/23, alongside a methodology handbook.

Annex: Further information

Related Data

The overall reports on the final delivery of the Warm Home Discount Scheme are published by Ofgem. These reports show the number of rebates delivered in previous scheme years and will report the overall final delivery of the 2024/25 scheme year next year. This report is used for Ofgem’s final reconciliation, which is the process of redistributing the costs of the scheme across energy suppliers so that each supplier pays a fair share of the costs. A comparison between these official statistics and the final Ofgem counts can be found in the accompanying tables (Table 17) for 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Official Statistics in Development

These statistics are deemed Official Statistics in Development, as work is ongoing to improve the quality and timeliness of these statistics. The WHD scheme was reformed for the 2022/23 scheme and new administrative data became available which has now been used for three years to produce these statistics.

The quality and completeness of the data is a key consideration. Much of the value of these statistics is acquired through linking to other data sources to provide further breakdown by property characteristics, such as Valuation Office Agency data. These rely on linking to a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN). Approximately 2.1% of DWP records do not match onto VOA data, and we are working with DWP on ways to improve the completeness of these data. Improvements to our validation procedures and data processing methods have increased data quality. More details on these improvements can be found in the accompanying WHD methodology note.

A comparison between these official statistics and the final Ofgem counts can be found in the accompanying tables (Table 17). We are encouraged that for 2023/24 the differences are small, but we will continue to monitor these and undertake further analysis to understand any significant differences. The differences between the figures in the Ofgem report and the figures from DWP reflect the two different administrative sources. Ofgem uses data directly from energy suppliers and these published statistics are based on data from DWP. The causes of these minor differences are discussed further in the accompanying methodology note.

It is crucial we engage with users to ensure the statistics are suitable to meet their needs. During our ongoing development of these statistics, we will collaborate with expert users to understand how these statistics are used, and to test the suitability of the statistical methods and outputs. We invite comments via fuelpoverty@energysecurity.gov.uk.

For these latest statistics, we have continued to improve our processes in addressing data quality issues, working with DWP. We have also added a breakdown of rurality for Core Group Scotland for the first time. Ahead of the next publication, we will consider the most timely way to publish WHD data in light of the scheme expansion in 2025/26.

Revisions policy

The Department’s statistical 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: fuelpoverty@energysecurity.gov.uk

The Department’s statement on statistical public engagement and data standards 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 statement of compliance with the Pre-Release Access to Official Statistics Order 2008.

Contact

Responsible statistician: Georgina Smalldridge

Email: fuelpoverty@energysecurity.gov.uk

Media enquiries: 020 7215 1000

Public enquiries: 07741701232

1. Broader Group Scotland rebates and spend are not included in the statistics and are additional to these figures. The scheme does not cover Northern Ireland. ↩

2. Figures for Scotland have been omitted from this map as they only cover households receiving WHD through Core Group, and therefore only represent part of the WHD scheme in Scotland. ↩

3. These figures only include rebates received through the Core Group. ↩