Search for a roof grant and plenty of pages suggest the government will pay. The accurate answer is shorter. No national grant exists for replacing a roof covering, and any caller or advert that promises one is describing something that is not on the books.
That is not the end of the matter. Several schemes have helped households with the energy side of a home, including loft and roof insulation, and a disability grant can pay for adaptations. They are narrow, they have eligibility rules and some have ended. None of them should be assumed to cover the tiles, the battens or the labour of a re-roof.
This guide takes each scheme in turn, with the dates and conditions as the official pages give them, and says what a new roof owner can sensibly do with the information. It also covers how storm damage and insurance fit in, because that is the other route people ask about.
Nothing here promises that you will qualify, and we do not handle applications or claims. The aim is to save you chasing something that does not exist and to point you at the official pages for the schemes that do.
The plain answer on roof grants
There is no government grant for a new roof. GOV.UK and Ofgem describe a handful of schemes, and every one is about insulation, heating or adaptations. A roof in poor condition may be a sign that you need work, but it is not a qualifying reason in itself.
Why people expect one
A damaged roof is expensive, and the government has run large insulation programmes for years. The two get confused. A programme that pays for loft insulation does not pay to replace the covering above it, and a scheme that helps with heating does not fix gutters.
What cold callers say
Anyone who rings, knocks or leaves a leaflet promising a free or heavily subsidised new roof deserves caution. If there is no national scheme, the offer is either a different product dressed up, or a way into a contract you did not plan to sign. Ask for the scheme's official name and check it on GOV.UK before you give any personal details.
What to do instead
Treat the roof as a normal home improvement. Get a survey, a written price and at least 3 quotes to set side by side. Then see whether any of the schemes below touch part of the job, usually the insulation.
If you are weighing whether to replace at all, our guide to the signs you need a new roof helps you decide, and the new roof cost guide shows what published figures look like. Neither depends on a grant. The cost guide in particular is useful for budgeting, because it shows how widely published figures vary and why the survey matters more than any average.
ECO4 and its end date
The Energy Company Obligation, ECO4, is a government scheme in which energy suppliers fund energy-saving measures in eligible homes. Ofgem, the regulator, says it will run until 31 December 2026.
What that date means for you
The scheme stops at the end of this year. If you are reading this late in 2026, any installation would need to be arranged, assessed and completed very soon, and a decision to start from scratch in the new year would fall outside it. Ofgem's page is the place to check the position on the day you read it.
What the scheme is for
ECO4 is about energy efficiency. It pays suppliers to install measures such as insulation and heating improvements in homes that meet its criteria. It is not a fund for roof repairs. A covering worn out by age is a building maintenance cost, and it sits outside what the scheme exists to pay for.
Where a roof job might meet it
If an assessor decides that your home qualifies for roof or loft insulation under the scheme, that insulation is the funded item. The surrounding work of stripping and relaying a covering is something else, and you should ask exactly what is and is not included before agreeing to anything.
How to approach it
Start from the official route. Ofgem explains how ECO4 works, and a council or an energy supplier can tell you how to be assessed. Do not hand over bank or personal details to a caller who says they are from the scheme.
We do not take part in ECO4 and cannot tell you whether your home qualifies. We can tell you what your roof needs, and that is the number a scheme assessor will also want to see.
GBIS has closed
The Great British Insulation Scheme, GBIS, offered help with insulation in certain homes. It is no longer open.
GOV.UK's page on the scheme states that installations must be complete by 31 March 2026, when the scheme ends. A website or caller who still offers GBIS funding as though it were running is out of date, or is not offering what it says.
Why this matters
Search results and older articles still describe GBIS as live, and lead-generation pages keep the wording long after a scheme closes. Treat any page that does not carry a recent date and an official link with suspicion.
If you had a GBIS enquiry in progress
Check with whoever was handling it. An installation that was completed before the closing date stands, but a job not finished by then will not be funded. You should have written confirmation of what was done and when.
What else exists
The Warm Homes measures are described in the next section. They are not a like-for-like replacement, and their eligibility rules differ. In particular, the Local Grant uses a household income test.
A key point for roof owners is that GBIS was always about insulation. Even when it was open it did not pay for a new covering. If you have a leaking roof and a cold loft, the order of work is: repair or replace the roof if it needs it, then insulate. Insulating a roof that leaks does not help, and the Energy Saving Trust advises against spraying foam onto a leaking roof.
You can read how the sums fit together in re-roofing and Part L, which sets out when insulation has to be upgraded as part of the roof work.
Warm Homes: Local Grant and the wider plan
The Warm Homes: Local Grant is a current government route for help with insulation and other upgrades, aimed at lower-income households. It is part of a wider programme that the government calls the Warm Homes Plan, backed by £15 billion.
Eligibility
GOV.UK's page says your household income must usually be £36,000 a year or less. It sets out other conditions too, and the rules may change, so use the official application page for the current position. Nothing on this page confirms that you will qualify.
What it covers
The Local Grant covers insulation, among other upgrades. That could include loft or roof insulation, which links directly to a re-roof, since a roof that is open is the ideal moment to improve it. It is not a grant for the covering, labour for tiling or scaffold.
Timing a roof job around it
If you think you may qualify, apply before you commission insulation work, because a grant usually cannot be claimed for work already paid for. Ask the scheme how it treats work done during a re-roof, and whether you can keep the roof job separate from the funded insulation.
VAT on insulation
Separately from any grant, GOV.UK says the zero rate of VAT on installing energy-saving materials runs for installations between 1 May 2023 and 31 March 2027, with the reduced 5 per cent rate applying from 1 April 2027. Whether it applies to your job depends on what is supplied and installed, so ask the firm how it treats VAT before you sign.
For the regulations side of insulation during a re-roof, see the Part L guide. For the roof itself, a survey gives you the facts to take into any application.
Disabled Facilities Grant: adaptations, not roofs
The Disabled Facilities Grant, DFG, helps pay for changes to a home so that a disabled person can live in it more easily. GOV.UK describes it under what you will get: money for adaptations.
What it is for
Typical adaptations include ramps, wider doors, a level-access shower and stairlifts. These are changes that make the building fit the person. The scheme is about independence at home.
Why a roof does not usually fit
A roof covering is part of keeping the building weathertight, which every home needs whoever lives in it. It is a maintenance cost, so a DFG does not normally pay to replace one. There can be an overlap where an adaptation affects the roof, such as a through-floor lift or a new accessible extension. In that case the roof work serves the adaptation and is part of the application.
How to find out
The route starts with your local council, which assesses need and decides what can be funded. The GOV.UK page explains the process and who to contact. If you or someone in the household has a disability and also needs roof work, mention both at the first conversation so the council can tell you what falls within the grant.
What we can help with
If a DFG adaptation involves the roof, we can survey the part affected and provide a written price that you can pass on with your application. We cannot tell you whether the council will approve it, and we do not handle the paperwork for the grant.
The same honest rule applies to any scheme. If a roof is simply worn out, that is your cost to meet, and the best use of time is a plain survey and a clear price.
Insurance, storms and other routes to help
If your roof was damaged by a storm, your home insurance may respond. That is a claim, not a grant, and it turns on your policy's own wording.
What to do first
The sequence is: contact your insurer, stop further water getting in with a modest temporary repair, and hold on to every photograph and receipt. The Institution of Structural Engineers calls photographs vital, because they are the visual evidence a claim rests on.
What counts as a storm
The Financial Ombudsman Service explains how it looks at storm claims. In its words a storm normally means strong winds, frequently with rain, hail or snow, though heavy rain, hail or snow by themselves can sometimes count. It weighs the Beaufort Scale and asks which cause did most of the harm: the weather itself or an older fault. Use your policy's own storm definition as the starting point.
What often goes wrong
The Ombudsman is unlikely to side with a policyholder who knew the roof was failing before the weather arrived, or where wind simply revealed a defect that was already there. Policies tend to exclude slow deterioration and ordinary ageing. A worn-out roof is therefore a poor candidate for a claim, however heavy the weather was.
Which? and payouts
Which? reported that only 32 per cent of storm-related claims made in 2024 resulted in a payout. Nobody can promise an outcome, and we do not handle claims.
Other help
For a dispute with a trader, call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133. For insurance complaints, the Financial Ombudsman Service is on 0800 023 4567.
The roof replacement page explains what a survey includes, and our cost guide shows how to budget when no grant is available.
