If you live in Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Northampton, or anywhere across the East Midlands and you are wondering which solar and renewable energy grants are still available in 2026 — and which ones have quietly expired — this is the guide for you. At Carbon Legacy, we work with homeowners and landlords across the NG, DE, LE, and NN postcode areas, and we see the confusion caused by outdated information every week. Here is an honest, up-to-date picture of what you can access right now.
The Grant Landscape in 2026: What Has Changed
The UK government's renewable energy support landscape has shifted considerably since 2023. Some schemes that were widely publicised have either ended, been significantly amended, or had their funding pots exhausted. Others are newly available or have been extended. Across the renewable energy industry — from D&R Energy in Bristol to Carbon Legacy here in the East Midlands — installers are fielding daily enquiries from homeowners who have read outdated blog posts and are disappointed to discover a particular scheme is no longer running.
The most important thing to understand in 2026 is that the headline government grant specifically for solar panels for owner-occupiers above the fuel poverty threshold — a standalone solar grant — does not currently exist as a universal scheme. What does exist is a patchwork of means-tested, property-targeted, and technology-specific support that can collectively deliver substantial savings for eligible households.
ECO4: Still Active, But Targeted
The Energy Company Obligation 4 (ECO4) scheme is the largest domestic energy efficiency programme currently running in the UK. It is funded by the major energy suppliers and administered under Ofgem oversight. ECO4 targets fuel-poor households and those in low EPC-rated properties (typically band E, F, or G), and it can fund insulation, heat pumps, and in some cases solar panels where they form part of a broader energy efficiency package.
In the East Midlands, ECO4 Flex extends the scheme's reach through a local authority referral route. Nottingham City Council runs its own ECO4 Flex declaration, meaning households in NG1–NG16 postcodes who do not automatically qualify via benefits can be referred by the council if they meet local deprivation criteria. Derbyshire County Council operates a similar mechanism, covering DE1–DE75. Leicestershire and Northamptonshire have more limited ECO4 Flex provision in 2026, though Leicester City Council has historically been active in this area.
Carbon Legacy is an approved ECO4 installer, and we regularly work with householders across Nottingham, Mansfield (NG18–NG21), Newark (NG24), Derby, and the surrounding areas to assess eligibility. The key eligibility triggers for automatic ECO4 qualification include receipt of means-tested benefits (Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Child Tax Credit, and others), low income thresholds, or the local authority referral route described above.
One important note: ECO4 is not a solar-specific scheme. Solar panels are fundable only where the property's EPC assessment determines they are an appropriate primary or secondary measure. Many households in terraced NG or DE properties with north-facing or heavily shaded roofs will not qualify for solar under ECO4 even if they meet the income criteria, because the scheme's energy efficiency modelling will not show sufficient benefit. We always carry out an honest EPC and roof assessment before raising expectations.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS): £7,500 for Heat Pumps
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme remains live in 2026, providing a £7,500 voucher toward the cost of an air source heat pump or ground source heat pump (and £7,500 for biomass boilers in rural off-gas areas). This is not a solar grant, but it is highly relevant because the most financially compelling home energy upgrade in 2026 for many East Midlands households is a solar and heat pump combination — the solar generates cheap electricity that the heat pump converts into very low-cost heat.
The BUS voucher is applied at the point of installation and reduces the customer's upfront cost directly — it is not a cashback or tax credit. Applications are made by the MCS-certified installer, not the homeowner. The scheme is currently funded through to March 2028 under current government commitments, though annual budget limits mean vouchers can be issued on a first-come basis. Demand from rural East Midlands properties — particularly in the DE and NN rural fringe, where off-gas-grid properties are common — is high.
Installers such as Cornwall installer CCS Heating & Renewables have reported consistent BUS voucher availability throughout 2025 and into 2026, and we are seeing similar availability in the East Midlands. If you are on oil or LPG heating in an NG24, DE4, or NN rural postcode, the combination of BUS plus solar represents one of the strongest upgrade packages available in 2026.
HUG2 (Home Upgrade Grant 2): Status in 2026
The Home Upgrade Grant Phase 2 (HUG2) targeted owner-occupied and privately rented homes in England that are off the gas grid and have an EPC of D or below. Administered by local authorities with Warm Homes funding from DESNZ, HUG2 could fund solar, insulation, heat pumps, and other measures for eligible off-gas households.
HUG2 as originally constituted officially closed in March 2025. However, its successor mechanisms under the broader Warm Homes Plan are beginning to deliver funding through a new integrated local authority delivery model. In the East Midlands, Nottinghamshire County Council and Derbyshire County Council are among the local authorities receiving Warm Homes Plan allocations for 2025–2028. The delivery model varies by authority — some are running open application processes, others are targeting specific areas via area-based schemes.
The ECO4 scheme and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme are both live and accepting applications in 2026. The Warm Homes Plan local authority grants are rolling out in phases — contact your local district or county council directly to check whether an active scheme covers your postcode. Carbon Legacy can assist with this check for households in our core service area.
0% VAT on Solar: What It Means in Practice
Since April 2022, solar panel installations on residential properties in the UK have been zero-rated for VAT. This was extended and confirmed under amended HMRC guidance in early 2024. For a typical 4kWp domestic system in Nottingham or Derby costing £6,500–£8,000 fully installed, 0% VAT represents a saving of £325–£400 compared to the previous 5% reduced rate — not a huge amount individually, but an important consumer protection that makes the quoted price the true price.
Battery storage installed at the same time as solar panels also qualifies for 0% VAT. Standalone battery retrofits (being added to an existing solar system) are also zero-rated following the 2024 clarification. This matters in the East Midlands context because we are seeing strong demand for battery retrofits from households who had solar installed in the 2010–2015 period and are now looking to add storage as electricity prices have risen.
An installer like Doncaster's ElectriFusion Solutions — operating just across the county boundary in South Yorkshire — confirms that all their residential solar and battery quotations are issued at 0% VAT, and we operate the same way at Carbon Legacy across our East Midlands coverage area.
Typical Savings and What to Realistically Expect
For a typical semi-detached house in Leicester (LE3, LE5), Nottingham (NG5, NG8), or Northampton (NN3, NN4) with a 4kWp solar system and no battery storage, annual electricity bill savings in 2026 run to approximately £700–£900 depending on self-consumption rate (typically 30–45% without storage) and the household's electricity tariff. Adding a 5–10kWh battery increases self-consumption to 60–80% and pushes annual savings to £900–£1,100.
The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) remains in place — all licensed electricity suppliers with over 150,000 customers must offer an export tariff. In 2026, competitive SEG rates run from 3p to 15p/kWh depending on the supplier and tariff type. Octopus, E.ON, and EDF have historically offered the most competitive rates. For a typical 4kWp system exporting 800–1,200 kWh/year, SEG income adds £40–£180/year to the financial case — useful but not transformative compared to the consumption savings.
Lumos Energy in Wiltshire and Hull-based Snug Services Group both report similar saving profiles for their respective regions — the East Midlands irradiance figures (around 950–1,000 kWh/kWp/yr for NG and DE, slightly higher at 980–1,020 for LE and NN due to more southerly latitude) sit in the mid-range of UK performance, meaning East Midlands households neither benefit from the extreme savings available in Cornwall and Devon nor suffer the lower yields of Northern Scotland.
How Carbon Legacy Can Help in 2026
As an approved ECO4 installer covering Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Mansfield, Newark, and Northampton, we carry out free eligibility assessments for all enquiries. If you qualify for ECO4, we handle the full application and installation process at no cost to you. If you do not qualify for funded schemes but are considering a self-funded installation, we provide detailed, no-obligation quotes with full breakdown of estimated savings, payback period, and applicable tax and VAT treatment.
Our recommendation for any East Midlands household in 2026: do not assume you qualify or do not qualify for a grant without a proper assessment. The eligibility rules are complex and change regularly. The schemes that are available — particularly ECO4 Flex through Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire councils — can cover the full cost of a solar installation for qualifying households. That is a significant opportunity that is worth investigating before the funding allocations are exhausted.
