Quick answer
The Warm Homes: Local Grant can include solar for lower-income owner-occupiers and private tenants in homes rated EPC D to G until 31 March 2028; social tenants are not in its listed groups. Switch Together is group buying, and its latest registration closed on 25 September 2026. Everyone pays 0% VAT on installed panels until 31 March 2027.
The list at a glance
| Scheme | What it is | Who it is for | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warm Homes: Local Grant | Grant for energy measures, can include solar PV | Lower-income owner-occupiers and private tenants, homes rated D to G | Open until 31 March 2028 |
| Switch Together Solar | Council group-buy with a reverse auction | Any household that registers | Latest registration closed 25 September 2026 |
| Zero-rate VAT | No VAT on installed panels and batteries | Homes generally | Until 31 March 2027 |
| SEG scheme | Payment for electricity exported | MCS installations up to 50 kW | Ongoing |
| ECO4 | Supplier obligation | Existing work only | To 31 December 2026 |
The sections below take each one in turn. Because Winsford has so many rented homes, the most important question for many readers is not what a scheme offers but whether it is open to them at all.
The Warm Homes: Local Grant
This is the one grant in west Cheshire that can pay for solar panels on a home. For Cheshire West and Chester residents it is run through a consortium managed by Cheshire East Council, which handles enquiries and decides eligibility, and its funding runs until 31 March 2028 (council support schemes page). Applications start on GOV.UK.
Who it is for
- Owner-occupiers and private tenants, the two groups the council lists.
- Living in a home with an Energy Performance Certificate rating of D, E, F or G.
- With a household that receives an income-related benefit, or has a total income of £36,000 or less before tax, or £20,000 or less after housing costs, or lives in a postcode the scheme treats as eligible.
Who it is not for
Social housing tenants, renting from a housing association or the council, are not among the groups the council lists. Nor are homes with a better energy rating than D, or households that meet none of the income or postcode routes. That matters in Winsford more than in most of the borough, because so many households rent from social landlords; for them, improvements come through the landlord’s own plans, as housing association tenants explains.
Landlords
A private landlord whose tenant is eligible has to agree to the work, and beyond the first property the council expects the landlord to meet half the cost or more. Confirm with the scheme how that applies to a particular portfolio. Private renters and landlords covers the written agreement both sides need.
What it reaches, ward by ward
The Census cannot say who qualifies, since income and energy ratings decide that, but it shows how much of each ward falls in the groups the grant serves. The table adds owner-occupied and privately rented shares together, beside the social-rented share that falls outside (Census 2021).
| Ward | Owned or private rent | Social rent |
|---|---|---|
| Over & Verdin | 69.3% | 28.2% |
| Wharton | 75.3% | 23.9% |
| Dene | 84.9% | 13.0% |
| Swanlow | 79.0% | 20.5% |
| Gravel | 89.8% | 9.1% |
| Borough | 84.0% | 14.6% |
In Gravel nearly nine households in ten are in a tenure the grant lists, and only 9.1% rent socially. In Over & Verdin the figure for social renting is 28.2%, so a much larger share of households will find the grant closed to them whatever their income. The wider tenure picture is on who decides about solar.
What the grant does and does not promise
Solar PV is one measure among several the grant can fund. An assessment of the home decides what is recommended, and a poorly insulated house may be offered insulation or heating work first. So an application is a route to an assessment, not to panels in particular. Ask how measures are chosen, how the firm doing the work is appointed, and whether the household is expected to contribute.
Switch Together Solar
Cheshire West and Chester operates Switch Together jointly with Cheshire East and Warrington as a way of buying panels in bulk (council page). Households register their interest; registration carries no charge and creates no obligation. Vetted MCS installers then bid for the group’s work in a reverse auction, and each registered household receives an offer that it can take up or turn down. Over its 2023 to 2025 rounds, the council reports, 473 people in the borough went on to have panels fitted.
The latest registration closed on 25 September 2026. Anyone interested should watch the council’s page for a further round. Two things are worth keeping in mind. First, it is not a grant: households who accept pay for their own systems. Second, the auction sets a price for a standard specification, so check that the offer fits your roof, especially a split east and west roof on a semi. How the scheme’s numbers sit within the borough’s overall growth is on solar take-up in the borough.
VAT on installed panels and batteries
Every household benefits from this one, without applying. HMRC’s Notice 708/6 sets a zero rate of VAT on panels and batteries put into homes up to 31 March 2027, and 5% from the following day. The firm applies the rate on its invoice. It applies whoever owns the home, so a landlord’s installation on a rented house is treated the same way.
The SEG scheme
The SEG scheme is not a grant either, but it is where most of the money from exports comes from. Larger electricity suppliers must offer a tariff above zero to installations of up to 50 kW registered under MCS that have a meter able to record exports (Ofgem). What it rewards is each unit exported; it puts nothing towards buying the system, and suppliers’ rates are far apart. In rented homes and flats, settle whose name the tariff will be in. Export and self-use explains how much a Winsford roof exports and when.
ECO4
ECO4 runs only until 31 December 2026, and only so that energy suppliers can finish work already under way. A household weighing up panels now should begin with the Local Grant instead.
The Great British Insulation Scheme
The Great British Insulation Scheme ended on 31 March 2026. It covered insulation rather than panels, and it is mentioned here only because older websites and some sales calls still refer to it.
Heating schemes
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is sometimes mentioned alongside solar. It is for low-carbon heating such as heat pumps, not for panels, and sits outside the scope of this guide.
Covering the part no scheme pays
For most households, schemes reduce the cost or improve the terms but leave a bill to pay. The options are a household’s own funds, ideally paid as a small deposit with the balance after commissioning; the Warm Homes Loan Scheme, a repayable loan described in a GOV.UK factsheet; and finance offered at the point of sale, which should come from an FCA-authorised lender and be judged on the full sum repaid. What solar costs in Winsford sets out the price figures and the questions to ask about each route.
Calls and visits to be wary of
Doorstep visits and cold calls sometimes claim that a national scheme will cover the whole cost of panels for anyone who signs today. Treat that with care. Check any claim against the council’s support page and GOV.UK before giving personal or financial details, never sign on the spot, and remember that a loan described as a grant is still a loan. A firm that is properly registered will not mind you checking; choosing an installer lists the registers.
Before applying for anything
- Look up the home’s current energy rating on the public register.
- Check the household against the income tests, or the postcode route.
- If you rent privately, write to the landlord before applying.
- If you rent from a social landlord, ask the landlord about its plans instead.
- Confirm whether the house is listed or in a conservation area, using planning rules.
This guide is independent of every scheme and of the council, so it cannot decide eligibility. For a question about your own household, use the question form.